Painting my town in watercolours!

One brushstroke at the time.

Marco.D.Blanco

Apr 10, 2025

If you are wondering what has been happening in the last couple of months, this is it!

If you follow me on Notes you may already have seen some of what I’m going to show here, since for once, I feel like I did a pretty good job at sharing what I’m working on, but I am now compiling all the progress here for you.

This is a follow up to the post below!

From Sketch to Postcard

Marco.D.Blanco

Jan 26

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What is going on?

So much! For the better part of three months, I have been dedicating my time to the theme of this year, becoming an independent artist. Easier said than done let me tell you. I want to be able to sell some work of my own while I am working on the bigger projects that do not pay the bills yet, and the big brain idea was to appeal to the very strong tourism market in my seaside town of Bournemouth. In my next post I will be detailing exactly what my strategy is, but for today I am taking you on a trip to the five locations captured thus far.

My subject of choice was having our fearless boy Mago wobbling about the county of Dorset in the south of England, visiting all of my favourite landmarks.

Westbourne Arcade

This one you may have already seen in the previous post, but I’ll include it regardless.

Now that It’s been a while I painted it, I can’t believe just how much I learned about watercolours and reproducing art. So many things went wrong while making this one, to the point I thought about remaking the painting, but while no one else will see it this way, it is a symbol of perseverance to me.

Corfe Castle

For the longest time I didn’t get why people like this “Castle”, I often drove by the ruins, not really paying attention. Until one day I stopped at the foot of the hill and had a proper walk around the village, I popped into the bakery by the castle to grab a sausage roll and sat in the cold by the church looking at the view, I have loved the place since that day. Like many others for the last 1000 years, whenever I travel by and see the Castle peak over the tree canopies, it kind of feels like home.

Upton House

Next on the timeline is Upton House, a Georgian Mansion House built in 1818, well known by its park and gardens. A place that I personally often visit with my family, this was a must for me, going for a bite at the tearooms and running around the fountain, it’s a quintessential day with the family.

Mudeford Quay

I wanted to really push myself with this series, and this painting was for sure the most difficult. The weather was freezing cold, the late afternoon wind blowing from the sea was cutting through me like daggers. Because I wanted to take references before the sun set I was scrambling all over the place in a rush trying to get the right framing. I’m not even sure I was allowed to walk around the boats but what is art without a little thrill.

It was not until almost the end of the painting that I felt it all come together, and now I love it for how unique it looks.

Durdle Door

This landmark is most likely the most iconic in all of Dorset, and so, a natural choice to end this run.

A change of pace from the last one for sure, this was my first time visiting the site and boy does it deliver. The day was perfect for some plein air painting and I had a lot of people stopping by to talk to me and look at my work.

These cliffs are beautiful and frightening, and it is no wonder they serve as inspiration for so many pieces of art and literature.

Once they were all complete and stretched, I got some frames to keep them safe, and I now have a stupid smile on my face every time I look at these. But there is no time to waste, and the next step needs taking.

I’m now knee-deep in printing and reproducing these artworks into a few formats so I can start selling them at local art markets, so I will be writing about that experience very, very soon.