Evening Tide Keyhaven ( Watercolour on Arches Rough 300gsm) approx 9.5" x 13.5"

That is a beautiful watercolour, Bob

Thanks for your encouragement Seth.

Honest opinion is - I like most things about it; the colour of the boats and water, the drawing. There are bits that I think show you've been away from the brushes for a while; those boats at the top right are a bit stark; the water looks a little laboured in places (masking fluid?) although I like the shape of the water, the way it ripples and embraces the scene. I do admire your choice of paper - would you find a NOT or HP surface a little more receptive than the Rough?* It's all very well for me to talk, by the way - I'm not at all sure I'd try a complex scene with boats in watercolour; and you've managed the perspective on the buildings, and their variety, very well. *I like using Rough paper, but I'm not so sure it benefits such technique as I possess (I mostly work in acrylic or oil). You've got all the ingredients in place to make an even better painting in future, so all the best with that. Take a look at Patrick Ley-Greaves' work on YouTube: he's a fellow Arches devotee, and I think his approach would suit you particularly well.

That's extremely useful Robert, thank you. I agree about the water ripples...they were masking fluid. The top right boats, I wasn't sure whether to leave them so white, but I thought that at least it would draw the eye and make that area the centre of interest, rather than have the hulls in shade...perhaps a middle road with a faint wash might have been better. I'll look up Patrick Ley-Greaves' work on YouTube....always on the look out for good tips and advice. Thanks again. Bob.

Lovely Bob.

Thank you Carole...my aim is to be able to paint a little more loosely than I do...to achieve in landscape painting what you manage to achieve with your lovely flower paintings.

It's a fabulous scene of course Bob, inspiration for any artist. I always work on larger watercolours if I am using rough, full imperial usually. Because of the time of day there are little or no shadows, this never helps does it?. A few darker tones would spice it all up a bit, nothing too drastic. A good piece all the same.

Nice one, Bob

Thanks Alan. I might try Paul Talbot-Greaves' method of darkening some of the tones on the computer before altering it. Stan Miller puts a piece of thin glass over a painting and actually paints watercolour over areas he wants to try stuff out on as an alternative to a computer, but he says that the paint needs to be fairly thick for this method to be successful.

Thank you Maureen.