David Bellamy

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About David Bellamy
Born in Pembroke, South Wales, David travels widely in search of subjects to paint and is especially fascinated by mountains, the Arctic in its various moods, wild coastlines and desert scenery. In his search for subjects to paint he has fallen over a crocodile in Kenya, sketched on dog-sledges in Greenland and taught Maasai warriors to sketch in Tanzania even though they insisted on retaining a spear in one hand, the pencil in another. While sketching a natural ice bridge in Iceland he suddenly found the ground beneath him disintegrating, and he only just managed to leap to safety at the last moment.
His 19th book, Arctic Light, was awarded Best Outdoor Book 2017 by the British Outdoor Writers' & Photographers' Guild. His latest book, Arabian Light, again published by Search Press covers his travels in the Middle East over all his working life, going back to the dying days of colonialism to more recent times.
David’s paintings are mainly landscapes in watercolour, though increasingly with mixed media. These are all based on first-hand experience, his original sketches often showing signs of being done in pouring rain, or washes frozen into intricate patterns, or mud-spattered. It is from his love of the natural environment, wildlife, and especially the wild places, that he draws his inspiration. He has paintings in the collections of mountaineers Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott, broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and the author Bill Bryson, among others.
He has exhibited widely, including Lincoln Joyce Fine Art in Surrey, Mathaf Gallery in Belgravia, London, Osborne Studio Gallery in London and many others.
A full time artist and author, David has written 21 books illustrated by his paintings, with several translated into other languages. Eight films on watercolour painting by David have been produced by APV Films of Chipping Norton, England, and he has also made three DVDs on his Arctic expeditions in Greenland and Svalbard. He writes for Leisure Painter magazine as well as others such as BBC Wildlife Magazine and Greenland Today. He also runs occasional watercolour courses and demonstrates to art societies.
David has been featured on radio and television in numerous programmes, including his own series Painting Wild Wales on HTV(Wales). He is featured in Who’s Who in Art. Further information can be found on his website www.davidbellamy.co.uk
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Books By David Bellamy
In this second book in a series covering elements of the landscape, renowned watercolourist, David Bellamy shows how to paint skies, light and atmosphere and how choices involving these three key elements can affect a painting. Starting with skies, David Bellamy covers basic techniques, composition, clouds, special effects like silver linings, sunsets and shafts of light, and much more, then there is a step by step dramatic sky demonstration. Next comes light, with plenty of advice including warm and cool light, using glazes, cast shadows, light from different directions, painting the sun and reflected light, followed by a step by step demonstration featuring strong light and shadow. The atmosphere section covers haze and mist, fog, mountains in cloud, smoke and steam, rain, storms and tranquil moods, and is followed by an atmospheric step by step painting of a waterfall. David Bellamy’s extensive travels and much admired painting style ensure that there are plenty of beautiful, inspiring paintings of skies, light and atmosphere throughout the book.
Renowned watercolourist David Bellamy shares his passion for painting seas and shorelines in this inspiring and practical book. His extensive travels mean that seas and shorelines from all over the world appear in the paintings—and you can benefit from his knowledge and experience with advice on:
- finding subjects and painting the different moods of the sea
- rocks, crags and cliffs
- adding figures and animals into your artworks
Also included is an in-depth look at the painting and sketching techniques required, so painters at every level can start creating their own beautiful seascapes.
Master artist and best-selling author David Bellamy shares with you his techniques, ideas and approach to painting his beloved landscape throughout the year. A revised and expanded edition of David Bellamy's Winter Landscapes in Watercolour, David looks at each season in detail and explores the challenges and surprises they present to the landscape artist.
Also covered are learning techniques for seasonal effects such as rendering hoar frost on trees; misty and atmospheric effects; injecting rogue colours to add excitement to your work; how to tackle a variety of tree branches for different species; depicting light branches against dark backgrounds; altering the composition to suit your needs, and so much more.
Explore the deserts, mountains and souks of the Middle East, with best-selling author and artist David Bellamy.
Following on from David’s highly acclaimed Arctic Light, this book provides an intriguing and often entertaining insight into South Arabia and the Swahili Coast, Jordan, Lebanon and Oman. It describes the history, culture, customs and geography of the region and the daily life of its inhabitants, as viewed through the eyes of a world-renowned watercolour artist and life-long adventurer. Filled with personal anecdotes and humour, David Bellamy’s unique account shines a light on the Middle East and highlights the incredible beauty and fascinating culture of this much-neglected region.
David’s stunning artwork, that he painted during his various expeditions, features throughout the book and captures perfectly the diverse and majestic nature of the region. Watercolourists will be inspired by the author’s awe-inspiring ability to depict sweeping vistas and create a sense of space in his paintings, and to capture the very essence of a place through his art.
This book is the culmination of various expeditions made by well-known artist and bestselling author David Bellamy to his beloved Arctic. His descriptions of his travels, written from an artist’s point of view, vividly bring to life the challenges he faced when painting outdoors in one of the harshest environments on the planet, and make for an exhilarating and captivating read. Filled with David’s watercolour paintings and sketches, made during his various expeditions, the book provides a fascinating insight into the wildlife and people that live within the Arctic Circle and captures perfectly the majesty and breathtaking beauty of the world’s final wilderness.
This is David Bellamy’s favourite time for being out sketching, often in watercolour. In this book he explains the challenges and joys of capturing winter subjects, from how to achieve rapid pencil sketches in less than perfect conditions to painting in watercolour on the spot. Snow completely changes the landscape, simplifying it for the artist, creating marvellous opportunities for reflected light and subtle use of exciting colours. The book begins with the stunning warm colours of late autumn, then moves into the second section covering winter scenes without snow. The following deep mid-winter section shows you how to tackle snow scenes with various types of snow conditions, before we move on to the final section covering early spring.
Also covered is gearing up for working outdoors in winter, techniques for rendering hoar frost on trees, misty and atmospheric effects, injecting rogue colours to add excitement to your work, how to tackle a variety of tree branches for different species, depicting light branches against dark backgrounds, altering the composition to suit your needs, and so much more. For those who really don’t wish to venture out, even on the mildest of winter days, there is a whole host of examples of winter landscapes to help you tackle this fascinating time of year.
A DVD entitled Winter Landscapes in Watercolour has been produced as a companion to this book, and is available from David's website www.davidbellamy.co.uk or from APV Fiilms at www.apvfilms.com
Renowned watercolourist, David Bellamy shares his passion for painting mountains and moorlands in this inspiring and practical book. There is advice on finding subjects and painting trees, water, rocks, crags and buildings, as well as an in-depth look at the painting techniques required. David's extensive travels mean that mountains and moorlands from all over the world appear in the paintings.