English | 8 x 25 minutes

Producer: InProduction Ltd.
Availability: Worldwide, all media.



Crawshaw's Watercolour Cruise follows Alwyn on a fabulous cruise on board the Saga Rose, an elegant ship built for Cunard in the 1960s. The series starts in Jordan, and from there Alwyn cruises down the Red Sea to Egypt, then up through the Suez Canal to Israel. Finally, he crosses the Mediterranean, spending a day in Sicily before reaching his final destinations, Cadiz and Seville.

Alwyn visits and paints some wonderful locations during the cruise, including the rose red city of Petra, the banks of the Nile from a felucca, the Pyramids, Jerusalem and Seville.

Combining travel with painting and Alwyn's infectious enthusiasm, this popular and colourful series gives a real flavour of the exotic places he visits.

Programme 1 - Petra:
Alwyn introduces the series from the ship sails as it sails into Aqaba. From there he travels to Petra, the ancient city carved into stone and reached only by a narrow passage through the Shera Mountains.
Painting and sketching subjects: the Siq, a natural gorge that connects the famous Treasury to the rest of the city, and the Urn Tomb.

Programme 2 - Amman:
Starting at the The Citadel, site of the ancient city of Philadelphia, Alwyn takes us around the Jordanian capital, visiting an archaeological dig, the spice market, two mosques, a pastry shop and a street-side café.
Subjects: the Temple of Hercules; archaeological diggers; the spice market; the Blue Mosque and a man smoking a hubble-bubble.

Programme 3 - Luxor and the Suez Canal :
Arriving at Safaga on the Red Sea, Alwyn crosses the desert on his way to Luxor for a trip on the Nile in a felucca, followed by a visit to the Colossus of Memnon. Finally, he cruises through the Suez Canal, on his the way to Cairo.
Subjects: Feluccas, camels, boatmen and the Temple of Luxor, all done on board a felucca; the Colossus of Memnon; a variety of subjects along the Suez Canal.

Programme 4 - Choosing your subject, and sketching in oils:
How to choose and frame your subject, the importance of focal points, sketching in oils and watercolours, a three minute sketch of a conch shell.

Programme 5 - Tonal values, using colour and black and white:
How to achieve shapes using tonal values and shadows, sketches of a bowl of fruit in charcoal, a fish in acrylic and a stall in watercolour.

Programme 6 - Sketching moving objects: people and animals:
How to sketch moving objects: sketches include Changing of The Guard, people leaving church and flamingos. A three minute sketch of a policeman under a canopy in Nassau.

Programme 7 - Sketching in pen and ink:
The famous Straw Market in Nassau is the location for this Programme. Sketches include a basket stall, a woman weaving and a man carving, all using pen and ink. Also, a three minute sketch of a straw hat.

Programme 8 - Sketching animals in different media:
How to observe. Sketches include a parrot on Alwyn's head in felt-tip, fish thirty feet under the sea in pencil, biro and watercolour, and iguanas and stingrays in conté crayons.