Your yacht or motor launch, custom painted in watercolor. Or the yacht or launch of a friend, or relative. Or even your favourite tall ship, recalling the great age of sail.

Send me your best 4x6" snapshot and I will transform it into your own, one-of-a-kind marine painting, suitable for framing. Captured under a full head of canvas, or resting quietly at berth.

Your original watercolor is rendered on on acid-free, 140 lb musuem quality, 100% rag paper to ensure long-term stability, made in France by Arches et Cie since 1492. Your nautical painting is signed and dated in the margin by my hand, and if you'd like, for a presentation gift, I can also add the greeting or dedication of your choice as well.

Your nautical watercolor is available in four sizes: 6" x 9", 8" x 12" and 12 x 18" as well as 18" x 24",(15 x 23 cm, 20 x 30 cm, 30 x 45 cm & 40 x 60 cm). Or for something different and quite unique, I can paint your yacht or launch as a miniature, at only 4 x 6 " (10 x 15 cm).

Nautical watercolors larger than 18" x 24" are also available, and I can custom paint to any size or proportions to suit your requirements.

Please click on my Breakwater Light painting to view larger image

All watercolors are painted to match the proportions and content of your original photo, showing your yacht or motor launch in its actual setting - whether at berth or under a full head of canvas - unless you request specific changes.

For example, in my watercolor Breakwater Light, Rockland, Maine, the most interesting segment of the original photo has been selected, hilighting the yacht Tranquil Bay in the foreground, while framing the landmark lighthouse at the harbor's entrance between the cluster of yacht masts.

Since photographs may not always be perfect, I can modify your photo content by deleting or adding specific objects, or alter sizes to help emphasize your own yacht or motor launch.

     Click on painting for detail

All portraits are normally painted to match the content and color of your original photo. However, if you request specific changes in composition or viewpoint I can work with you to create the watercolor representation you desire. Likewise, your watercolor can be custom-painted in any size or format you'd like, either to match your taste or requirements, or to fit that antique frame you've been saving for something really special. For custom sizes, or different formats, please just send me an e-mail.

I can also custom paint your own historical watercolor, painting your chosen yacht or tall ship in the nautical setting of your choice. I can highlight a specific or famous ship, or simply a well-known class of ships, as the clipper ship in my watercolor Rounding the Cape, 1860, above. Greeting sunrise off the southern tip of Africa with its cargo of first-crop China Tea, the tea clipper Indian Prince surges ahead under a full head of sail, racing flat out against the clipper ships Ivanhoe and Seawitch for the highest prices that await the first arrival, in the Port of London.

For something totally different, I can even paint your own yacht in company with the famous historical ship of your choice - for example, with the Mayflower crossing the Atlantic, racing ahead of a Viking Ship off the coast of Vineland, or abreast of the Golden Hind as Sir Francis Drake sails her out to meet the Spanish Armada...

Makes a very unique gift for the skipper who thinks they have everything already.

For information or a quote on your own Historical Tall Ship Watercolor, please contact me, including details or any specific ideas you may have on your chosen subject.

Email: jnresrch@fundy.net

For an added aura of antique warmth or crisp definition your nautical watercolor can be custom rendered in old fashioned sepia or mood-setting black-and-white, as in my paintings Steady She Goes and Sunday Morning, Grand Manan, featured below.

I can custom paint your color photograph in monochrome or render your existing black and white image into the size watercolor of your choice.

Sunday Morning, Grand Manan

Email: jnresrch@mailcity.com

Mail: 90 Gorham Road, Glenwood, Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada, E5M 2N2

More Information

Unlike photographs, if protected from light and dampness, your portrait in watercolor can last forever. Watercolors by Albrecht Dürer painted on paper in the 1500's survive today, as do Chinese works, dating from the 8th century.

Your original watercolor is rendered on acid-free, musuem quality, 100% rag paper to ensure long-term stability. Made in France by Arches et Cie, since the year 1492.

Each work is signed and dated by my hand, and a dedication or text of your choice can be inscribed on the reverse side as well, if you wish.

Website and all original watercolors copyright 1997 - 2006 James Smith, All Rights Reserved

"I just finished carefully opening your multilayered packing and viewed the portrait for the first time. All I can say is "Wow!!!"
This is indeed a work of art that we will treasure for our lifetime.    Again -- "Wow!!!!!" I really didn't realize watercolor works could be so absolutely breathtaking and lifelike. You are one terrific artist with a very special gift. My wife will be thrilled beyond words when I present this special gift to her."
             H. Elliot     Washington