'Companions On The Path' 💫
Royal Pavilion - Plein Air Painting - Brighton, England
Royal Pavilion Tree - Plein Air Painting - Brighton, England
‘Violet Pavilion’
Last Light In Patagonia
'Under The Bridge' St. Stephens Green, Dublin - Plein Air Painting
Dún Laoghaire Plein Air Painting - Dublin, Ireland
Malahide Beach - Plein Air Painting - Dublin, Ireland
Street Sketching in Colombia 🇨🇴 ✍
Cartagena Street Plein Air Painting - Cartagena, Colombia
Window Into The Caribbean 🐠 🌴
Santa Monica Beach, L.A - Plein Air Painting
Mount Everest
Japanese Pathway
Tea Country
Nagoya Castle
Copenhagen Canal - Plein Air Painting
Kastellet, Churchil Parken - Plein Air Painting, Copenhagen, Denmark
Lund Rune Stones, Sweden
Ship Street Gardens - Plein Air Painting
Kipling Gardens - Plein Air Painting, Rottingdean, England
Kipling Gardens 2 - Plein Air Painting
Painting In The Desert - San Pedro De Atacama, Chile
Gates of Torres - Plein Air Painting - Patagonia, Chile
Torres Del Paine Painting - W-Trek
Waterfall Glacier - Patagonia, Argentina
The Pace of Glaciers - El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina
El Calafate, Patagonia - Plein Air Painting
El-Bolsón, Patagonia, Argentina, Plein Air Painting
Iguazu Falls , Argentina - Plein Air Painting
Iguazu Falls Brazil - Plein Air Painting
Iguazu Waterfall Interior - Plein Air Painting
St. Anne's Well Gardens, Hove, England
William IV Gate - Plein Air Painting - Brighton, England
San Pedro De Atacama, Chile - Watercolour & Gouache Painting
Lewes - Plein Air Paintings
The Rock Gardens - Autumn Leaves - Plein Air Painting
The Rock Gardens - Plein Air Painting
'Companions On The Path' 💫The image of the wolf has appeared to me on a few occasions in recent months. And not just from the Game of Thrones! Even though I am fan.Wolves have appeared in my dreams a few times. Do you have animals appear in your dreams? Do you remember your dreams? This is my finished white wolf watercolour & gouache painting. A personal piece. I want to paint at least one or two more paintings of the wolf to make a small collection.
Royal Pavilion - Plein Air Painting - Brighton, EnglandThe Royal Pavilion Gardens (The Pav) is a place I spent many hours and days during my late childhood and throughout my teenage years.It is basically my garden. Well that’s how I’ve always looked at it. Less than a 5 minute walk from my house, not too bad to have a palace and its gardens as a place you go to every day as people usually do with their own actual gardens, is it?This is one of 2 of my first plein air paintings in Brighton. I’ve wanted to paint Brighton en plein air for a while, the other day I just grabbed my kit and headed over.I found this little view, and a decent tree to sit against, and went for it.This is the result!I’m hoping it will find a home with a Brighton local, but it can also be shipped anywhere in the world. :) Painted with watercolour & gouache, Aquarelle pad, 5.9in x 8.3in.
Royal Pavilion Tree - Plein Air Painting - Brighton, England “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” - William BlakeI hope you lift your eyes off from your device and appreciate all that is phenomenal and nice around you this weekend, and if something catches your eye, don’t be afraid to pause, put away your phone for a minute or two and look twice. My latest plein air painting of a tree that caught my eye in the royal pavilion gardens.
‘Violet Pavilion’ My latest watercolour & gouache painting of the Royal Pavilion Brighton (my back garden) ;) 5.9 x 8.3” This original painting of mine is framed and ready to ship anywhere 🚢 ✈️If you’re a Brighton Local and want to buy it, I’ll personally deliver it to your door!
Last Light In PatagoniaEl Chaltén - Fitzroy & The Glacier After an amazing day trekking over 20km for 8 hours up and around Mt. Fitzroy, onto the incredibly vibrant blue glacier lake, and coming close to another huge glacier after trekking through the dense forest, I returned back to my camp site to set up my tent. After getting everything ready and settling down, I realised I had about 1 hour left of light to try a little plein air painting. It was 4 degrees Celsius, the wind was blowing and the rain started to fall. I sat it out to finish what I started, and this is the result. You should be able to make out the glacier in the background and hopefully how I represented it in my watercolour/gouche painting. This is was my fourth plein air painting in Argentina's Patagonia.
'Under The Bridge' St. Stephens Green, Dublin - Plein Air PaintingOn one of the the days I had to go and explore Dublin, I decided to head to the center. I got on the bus from Dun Laoghaire, and got off at the stop by St. Stephens Green, one of the many beautiful parks in the center of the city. I walked into the park and saw the lake straight ahead of me, it was busy with lots of people all around sitting on the many areas of grass, enjoying the sun. But straight away I noticed the glistening reflections on the lake from the sun, and went to get a closer look. I had intended to find a nice area to do some plein air painting in the city center, but I didn’t expect to find such a great spot as soon as I got off the bus!As I approached the water towards a shelter which looked like the perfect place to sit my back against to paint, I noticed a girl was sitting alone, hidden away from the crowd, eating her lunch. She was looking at the water, and confirmed for me the spot I had selected from a distance, was the right one. People came over to see what I was doing and some would comment. Then somebody who also wanted to do a watercolour painting saw me and asked for a sheet of watercolour paper from my sketchbook, so she could also paint. She sat next to me with her friend and ended up painting the exact same scene in her style. I had to leave before her, so she sent me a photo of her painting when she had finished. What a great experience!I was actually really happy with this painting, I was feeling excitement of its potential at certain points towards the end, but this was distracting me from focusing so I had to try and ignore it and keep my mind clear. I could have worked the tree branches with the right hand tree just a little bit more, but I had to call it done because I really needed the toilet and didn’t want to potentially risk ruining what I already had. Then when I brought it back to my cousins house, and he saw it, he decided he loved it and really wanted it. His Birthday was just a few days away. I left the painting behind with him in Dublin City, where it is now enshrined for eternity! Definitely one of my personal best plein airs so far, given away as a gift.
Dún Laoghaire Plein Air Painting - Dublin, IrelandOn one of my free mornings in Dún Laoghaire, I decided to head down to the center of town to go and find something to paint. I thought about painting some of the boats or the harbour in the port area of Dún Laoghaire, but the sun was already very high and I couldn’t really see any interesting shadows or colours, just a massive glare with the sun bouncing off the sea. So I decided to walk a little bit further, and eventually I ended up here, outside the National Maritime Museum of Dublin. I chose a spot to the left of the entrance where I had a little bit of shelter to shield my sketchbook away from the sun, took out my paint kit, got comfortable and went for it. This is the result!I had to photograph the painting back in my hometown Brighton because I ran out of time to do it in Dublin before I left.Painted with watercolour & gouache. Aquarelle pad, 5.9in x 8.3in
Malahide Beach - Plein Air Painting - Dublin, IrelandI started the day by enjoying the rare bit of Irish sun, packing my bag, heading out the door and walking into central Dún Laoghaire, where I caught the train to Malahide. I got off the train, headed over to tourist information, and then began my walk towards Malahide Castle. I first enjoyed the gardens, and I really wanted to paint so much there but I didn’t know how much time I had. So I took the tour, and actually it was pretty good. I learned about the fascinating history of this medieval castle, and all about the Tallbot family who owned it, and how throughout the centuries, the castle was used as a meeting place for European nobility. I also learned that it is considered to be one of the most haunted places in Ireland, if you believe in that possibility. After Malahide Castle I headed back into Malahide town and straight to Malahide beach, where i would have to race against time to get this little plein air painting finished before my train back to central Dublin to meet up again with the fam. This was the result!Painted with watercolour & gouache. Aquarelle pad, 5.9in x 8.3inPurchase
Street Sketching in Colombia 🇨🇴 ✍A few months ago I was travelling alone through Colombia in South America. Eventually I arrived in the port city of Cartagena on Colombia’s carribbean coast. The old town here was vibrant, colourful, and full of great opportunities to sketch and paint. Think cobblestone streets, historic and beautiful Spanish colonial buildings, fruit and veg markets stalls, and lots of interesting colour and light combinations from the architecture, decoration and design. On one of my days in Cartagena I went out to explore with my watercolour & gouache kit, and I found this little spot in the street, just by a restaurant where I could have a go at Sketching the famous old building in front of me. A Colombian woman who was walking past stopped and asked to take my photo, and she did with both my phone and hers.
Cartagena Street Plein Air Painting - Cartagena, Colombia
Window Into The Caribbean 🐠 🌴Plein air painting on site in San Andres, Colombia March 2019.
Santa Monica Beach, L.A - Plein Air Painting
Mount Everest Have you climbed Mount Everest? I haven’t but I could see the Himalayas up close (kind of) form Central Kathmandu in Nepal when I visited there years ago after spending months travelling around India!Better late than never, this is my #pleinairpril Day 1 entry that I painted today in watercolour & gouache from reference.
Japanese Pathway ‘Japanese Pathway’ 🍂Hey everyone, how’s it going out there?For my second Plein-Airpril, I decided to take a look at some of my photos that I took on my first trip to Japan, and I came across one which showed this little pathway in a wooded area which led through a gate. I really liked how the light of the sun was shining through the green of the trees, creating this cool dappled light effect on the ground. Also I had the place completely to myself, I was the only one there! I believe I took this photo from my short stay in the city Hakodate in Hokkaido.This is my study from that photo, painted in watercolour & gouache. 8.2” X 5.9”
Tea Country Back in 2011 I travelled alone to Sri Lanka during an early break from my 3 month trip in India which started in Chennai. I spent just over 3 weeks travelling around the country, and about half way through my trip, I visited Sri Lanka's hilly countryside called 'Tea country'. Whenever I passed a small stall or shop on the side of a road, I was greeted with a smile, a quick wag of the head, and welcomed in for some 'chai', a small cup of (usually very sugary unless asked to have without) tea for the equivalent of about 10 pence. I had a great time there. This is my watercolour & gouache painting based on a photo I took on location of a local woman collecting tea leaves which I painted for the Plein Airpril challenge, my day 4.Again I didn’t find out about this challenge until late, but I’m aiming to have at least 5 paintings down by the end of April.
Nagoya Castle I often get asked “Rob, what’s your favourite country you’ve travelled to?” It’s a difficult one to answer, I can more easily name my top 3. But Japan has most of the time been my favourite (I’ve been 3 times), and that’s what I usually tell people. I had many incredible things happen to me there, and there was so much I liked about the people and the place. On my first visit, it was my first time trying out couchsurfing in a foreign country, and I stayed with families and friendly Japanese people, some who couldn’t speak a word of English, and it all worked out really well.I painted this study yesterday from my own reference photo of Nagoya Castle, which I took on my last visit in 2016. I found these samurai castles fascinating, I wanted to explore all of them, and Japan has so many!This one in Nagoya was very impressive, if you visit one day, go check it out.
Copenhagen Canal - Plein Air Painting
Kastellet, Churchil Parken - Plein Air Painting, Copenhagen, Denmark
Lund Rune Stones, Sweden
Ship Street Gardens - Plein Air Painting Fresh from the Brighton Laines!And down one of those old, narrow streets not far from where I live.A plein air painting of mine from today in Brighton’s South Laines, down Ship Street Gardens 🌱I was actually sitting on the doorstep of a small block of flats, two of the people who lived inside came out and had a quick chat, also an older man who was living in a house just opposite of where I was sitting, about 1 meter down the alley, saw me twice and said hello and was happy to see me painting there. A few tourists and locals walked by and said a few words.
Kipling Gardens - Plein Air Painting, Rottingdean, England This is my plein air painting from today, from inside Kipling Gardens, situated in the historic village area of Rottingdean, Sussex, England. Named after Joseph Rudyard Kipling, who was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He lived on the grounds for 5 years as he wrote. One of his works of fiction was ‘The Jungle book’.I cycled along the coast for about 30 minutes from Brighton to get there, and I sat under and against a tree throughout the painting. There’s plenty of good spots to paint in the gardens and around the area, so I will be back again.Two ladies came up to me to see my painting after I was finished. The much older lady who looked like she was in her 80’s said “Well look at that, what a charming little gate!” and said I could make my painting into a Birthday card, and that it should be displayed somewhere.
Kipling Gardens 2 - Plein Air Painting Today I cycled back along the coast, stopped off at the beach where there was sand, then went back to Kipling Gardens in Rottingdean. This time I sat on a bench along this pathway, I saw people come and go through the entrance and left/right side, but nobody came up, so I was able to sit there and paint without any interruption.On the way home was a stunning red sunset!
Painting In The Desert - San Pedro De Atacama, ChilePainting In The Desert - Laguna Chaxa, San Pedro De Atacama, Chile This is my second painting in San Pedro De Atacama, this time in a place called Laguna Chaxa.I wasn't able to include them in the photo, but from this view there were a number of flamingos in the water. You could see a wide range of colours in this environment from every angle. The salt lakes, grass, sky and mountains all gave off a great vibrancy. A great place to paint en plein air, even in the heat.This was one of 3 lagoons In the area, another close by which I swam in, was one with a high concentration of salt where you could float effortlessly in the water, similar to the dead sea in the Middle East.I spent 4 days cycling in the desert here, an incredible place.
Gates of Torres - Plein Air Painting - Patagonia, Chile Painted en Plein air on the final day of the w-trek in Torres Del Paine, Patagonia, Chile.This was my final painting that I completed on the 3rd day of the amazing 4 day hike/trek in Torres Del Paine, Chile. 🇨🇱 I arrived at the the final campsite which was set in a really nice location with stunning views of the surrounding mountains after hours of trekking. After setting up my tent, I made sure to try and get my best effort down with this little painting while the group of 3 guys I did the trip with went to the bar.The weather and conditions were perfect to paint. The celebratory pint of beer could wait a little longer. And it was worth that extra effort.
Torres Del Paine Painting - W-Trek This a painting I finished today from a photo I took on location while I was on the W-Trek in Torres Del Paine, Patagonia, Chile. At the time I was carrying my own tent, food and equipment for 4 days, 3 nights of trekking, and camping in what was one, if not the major highlight of my South America trip 2018/2019.I remember standing in this spot very well, the natural environment and landscape in all directions was incredible to see and experience.I painted this in watercolour & gouache, on Aquarelle Watercolour pad, 5.9” x 8.3” (heavyweight).
Waterfall Glacier - Patagonia, Argentina This is another one of my paintings of a place I trekked around in Patagonia, this time in Argentina’s El Chaltén. I saw this waterfall, which was connected to a glacier at the top, just after hiking up to the mountain peaks in this area, back down, and through a forest. This was towards the end of the day, and not long after I went back to my tent, grabbed my paints, and completed a study of the same glacier, but from much further away. I painted this in watercolour & gouache, on Aquarelle Watercolour pad, 5.9” x 8.3” (heavyweight)
The Pace of Glaciers - El Calafate, Patagonia, Argentina
El Calafate, Patagonia - Plein Air Painting
El-Bolsón, Patagonia, Argentina, Plein Air Painting
Iguazu Falls , Argentina - Plein Air Painting
Iguazu Falls Brazil - Plein Air Painting
Iguazu Waterfall Interior - Plein Air Painting
St. Anne's Well Gardens, Hove, England Plein air sketch from today in Hove, England. First time taking the watercolour & gouache kit out for a few months.Just a quick study in St. Ann’s Well Park, a bit of practice keeping it to about 1 hour.It felt good to get back out there again and get a sketch down. It always does.
William IV Gate - Plein Air Painting - Brighton, England
San Pedro De Atacama, Chile - Watercolour & Gouache PaintingMy first watercolour & gouache sketch in a while, one of San Pedro De Atacama desert in Chile 🇨🇱The landscape was stunning, lots of vibrant colours, and even a few lush trees scattered around, with mountains and volcanos nearby. 🌋I stood in this exact same spot to take the photo, about midway through cycling through the desert on my own little day trip, which went on for 4 days. I much preferred to go on my own and have the freedom of doing what I want and when I want, instead of being stuck on a tour guide bus with limited time for each location. And it was an amazing experience.
Lewes - Plein Air Paintings 4 quick, watercolour & gouache plein air painting studies complete! 🧑🏻🎨The light was running out fast, so I wasn’t able to get a great photo, and I was the last person on this path way up on the hill. I packed my things away and then made my way back down in the dark to Lewes town before heading home.I had to go quite impressionistic with these as I needed to be quick to get 4 studies done in time before it got dark.Which one do you like the most?
The Rock Gardens - Autumn Leaves - Plein Air Painting‘The Rock Gardens’ 🍂 Painting in the Rockery in Brighton this morning, the colours and lighting was amazing. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go back and paint more. A number of people walked past, stopped and chatted, including 4 happy and curious children from two different families who also loved to paint and draw. One girl told me how she was doing some clay modelling in the morning, and how she has this gargoyle figure made from clay, that comes to life and tells her stories sometimes, and that he likes to eat grass and soil. Also an older Irish gentleman stopped by and was intrigued, he stopped for about 5-10 mins talking and watching me paint, and then went on to tell about how his granddaughter is an artist in the film industry in London, and how his son does lighting effects for big events. A very enjoyable Sunday morning, I'll be back!Watercolour & Gouache 5.8” x 8.3”
The Rock Gardens - Plein Air Painting Painting in the Rock Gardens again opposite Preston Park, on an extended lunch break (2 days ago). 🎨I only went a few paces away from my painting study the day before, and found this other great spot looking up the path to the left. There was something about the bright yellow leaves hanging over the darker background area along the top of the path that I wanted to capture, with the stone stairs leading up that I also liked.A few people walked past and said hello, and two children walked up to me again, one sat right in front of my easel and wanted to relax there on one of the steps while her mum was calling for her to go down. Her brother stood behind watching me paint for a minute. After that, I was there alone.Watercolour & gouache 5.8” x 8.3”
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