The wild places of Britain

by David Bellamy

The Wild Places of Britain

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

David Bellamy is a full time artist and author. He specialises in painting mountains and wild coastal scenes. Through his painting and writing he hopes to bring about a greater awareness of the threats to the natural environment.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Timothy Neesam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my absolute favourite books to read in 2022.. I became a fan of David Bellamy in 2022, first discovering Arabian Light, his book about travelling through the Middle East with his watercolours. That led to Arctic Light and some of his instructional books about watercolour painting en plain air. I picked up Wild Places from the library and ended up buying a copy from a second-hand bookstore in the UK. I LOVE this book. I love his explanations of what it’s like to paint watercolours outdoors, his descriptions of some of the places he’s visited, and the variety of sketches, drawings and paintings of locations he discusses. It’s part travelogue, part memoir, part instructional and entirely enjoyable. Love, love, love this book.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a novice watercolour painter, I have found Bellamy's instructional books very helpful, so I was interested to read this account of his travels to paint the wild places of Britain.

It is lavishly illustrated with Bellamy's distinctive and beautiful watercolour paintings and is a real joy to look through. I did find his narrative to be somewhat repetitive (there are only so many times you can read about trying to make a watercolour sketch in the midst of a snowstorm!), but in general, it is a lovely book that will be inspiring for watercolour artists and those who love the British countryside.