Powerful Watercolor Tutorial: Painting Belfast’s Albert Memorial Clock- Learn Now
Stacy (my girlfriend) and I visited Belfast last October. I’ll be honest: I didn’t expect to see the sun directly (we did not), but Belfast still completely won me over. We spent two nights in the Cathedral Quarter—an area packed with alleyways, old architecture, great food, and enough character to make Dublin feel a little too polished. (More of our adventures are on this page: HERE
The goal: recreate a photography “bokeh” effect in watercolor
For this demo, I wanted to mimic shallow depth of field—that creamy, blurred background look you get when shooting at f/1.4–f/2.8. In photography, only a narrow slice of the scene is sharp; everything else dissolves into softer shapes and edges. My challenge was: how do you translate that into watercolor without it turning into a mushy mess?
I chose the Albert Memorial Clock at Queen’s Square. To get the reference photo, I had to step partially into the street (the taxi cabs loved that). Yes, there was honking. Yes, I deserved it.
Step 1: Background blur (wet-into-wet + timing)
I started with the background, because that’s where the “out of focus” illusion is built. The goal was to keep the Clock—and elements on the same plane—more defined, while letting everything else fall back into soft shapes.
I worked wet-into-wet, laying down a generous wash, then dropping in thicker pigment as the surface shifted from shiny-wet to damp. That timing is the whole trick: you want the paint to move, but not take over. This creates soft architectural edges that read as distance and blur.
Step 2: Foreground taxis (still wet-into-wet, but controlled)
Next came the taxis in the foreground. These were also done wet-into-wet, but with tighter control—adding color into wet paper, watching the spread, then shaping edges as the wash slows down. The cars stay loose, but they still feel intentional, which is key to making the whole scene believable.
I hope you enjoy seeing this painting come to life:
If you Finishing: soft focus is about edge control, not “painting blurry”
Because this began as a classroom demo, I didn’t have time to finish the entire piece on-site. When I returned to the studio, I recorded a time-lapse while completing the painting. You’ll notice I jump around the page—working in one area while another dries.
If you take only one thing from this tutorial, let it be this:
soft focus in watercolor is all about timing and edge management.
Use a thirsty brush to lift backruns or creeping pigment. Drop darker darks into a wash while it’s still flat and workable. Decide which edges stay crisp—and let everything else soften on purpose.
I hope you enjoy watching this painting come to life.
And if you want to help my YouTube metrics, click the Watch on YouTube button (hint, hint).
Fine art prints are available online: HERE
Explore More Ireland
- Cliffs of Moher
- Rock of Cashel
- Kilkenny
- Belfast
- Killarney
- Dublin
Ryan Fox AWS, NWS, TWSA
Ryan Fox Painting
(919) 645-8345