This is a journey through searches of images and inspiration on painting the River Torridge.
My starting point is John White Abbott (1763-1851). Abbott was an amateur painter who captured many places around his home town of Exeter in Devon, and one painting of the Torridge at Bideford.
He was a prolific painter and made many studies of places on Dartmoor and the surrounding area.
His teacher was Francis Towne (1739 or 1740 – 7 July 1816) a watercolour artist. You can clearly see this making a comparison of their work. Towne worked by making many sketches and paintings of his landscapes (much like Turner). Little is known about the artist and his techniques as he was a fairly unknown artist until the mid 20th century. He left his watercolours to the British Museum, where they still are today. He was at the forefront of the emergence of watercolours being used as an art medium in Britain.
