A Cypriot Villa

Beautiful, Michael - love the crispness of the sunlit buildings and the red tiled roofs.

I agree with jane, this is beautiful Michael, I love your watercolours! :)

This is sort of what I had in mind when commenting on Alan Owen's latest - I find this sort of crisp, immediate work hard to do; I seem to need to work on watercolours, adding layers with the obvious danger of making them dull and heavy. Surprising how often I get away with it (I think I do, anyway....). I'd love to capture this sort of freshness - as a matter of interest, do you remember what surface you used? My usual paper is rough - I wonder if that's half my problem..... I did sort of comment on your painting, if you look in there carefully! And if you couldn't find it, it's a lovely piece, fresh, sunlit, evocative, and highly skilled. (Hope your wife is feeling better for your break, by the way.)

Lovely watercolour, beautiful sunny scene

Thanks so much to you all. Robert - yes I do work in single washes and rarely ever go over them again - I love the work of Curtis for example but i wouldn't want to paint in that style - I like the crispness of single washes and allowing the paper to sparkle through - as for the paper I used Bockingford 200lbs NOT for this painting although I am now using Bockingford rough which I prefer but I don't find as rough as some other makes - Arches for example which I love but the cost is a bit prohibitive. Thanks for asking - yes we had a great break and Jeanne really enjoyed it but it will be 12 months before she is fully recovered so long trips are not currently an option - we will be going away for several UK trips during the year until she feels she can face longer trips.

Lovely fresh watercolour Michael, can feel the light and heat of Cyprus. Glad your wife enjoyed the break.

Absolutely beautiful Michael. Clean, bright, crisp colours......I lived in the Med for a few years...once upon a time, and when I saw this I could feel the heat and smell the dust! My very best wishes to your wife, for a continued recovery.

Forgot to add Michael that it reminds me of Ray Campbell Smith's work, hope you don't take that as an insult, I mean in the way that his work is always 'bright'.

Thanks Stephen and Fiona. Nothing wrong with RCS - not all his work appeals to me but I love his general approach - in fact he was quite an influence on me and I use a similiar palette - but one colour I do use a lot is cobalt blue which if memory serves me right RCS doesn't use

A really fabulous piece, Michael! It has loads of atmosphere and spontaneity.

A lovely painting, great sky and great colours.

A super gallery Michael. I too would like to get away with single washes and plenty of white paper showing! This is so fresh and spontaneous.

I agree with all the above comments, Michael, this is super: so sunny and atmospheric, great building and composition! :) Mia

Many congratulations Michael, top ten again! you really deserve it :)

I think I missed this one first time around. I just love it and I think it is one of your very best. I was brought up in Cyprus, so feel qualified to say that you have captured the look of the island. Many congrats as well for this painting making the Top Ten this month - richly deserved.