Verona Reflections

Back from a fab sketching trip with pals to the wonderful city of Verona at the start of May: now trying to make something out of my sketches.

My aim was modest - to do SOMETHING from my sketches.  However, I set myself a challenge....not just to reproduce one of my sketches, but to play around with motifs and details and try to come up with something a bit more interesting. I also set a time limit - 2 weeks.

I started by scribbling and working things out in my sketchbook.  Thinking about composition, really, but also thinking about the essence of the city - what did I love about it?

What I found particularly fascinating was how the city has adapted itself through time - Roman details in mediaeval buildings, the preponderance of brickwork, and the dominance of the Adige River...and so on. But already I was forgetting things, and the trip was taking on the feeling of a dream
Anyway...initially I did some small watercolours.

Then trying larger ideas in acrylic.

 Thought I'd try to combine different motifs on one picture plane.  

However, this one looked a bit too busy

So I cropped it....and refined it, but it probably needed more space.










 I then decided to play around with a few details to enrich the picture-making. Not just brickwork and castellations!  I referred back to photos I had taken of details and drew these out with a dip pen. Hard work!

Then back to painting, thinking about using some of the details.

But convinced myself that a double-arch motif didn't really work in this one.

And finally decided to simplify by losing the main arch and adding a bit of shadow.
This is where it is now.

Then I had another idea, based on arches and statues, from memory.

And then I refined this, referring back to a very quick sketch I had made at the theatre colonnade - trying to get the proportions better. And I wanted to make the statue a bit dreamier. So this is how it looks now.  Interesting to compare....maybe the first version was better...

But I really didn't think I had achieved what I had (somewhat vaguely) set out to do.  And, in a flash of inspiration, I thought I'd have a go at making a couple of monoprints...well three actually.

I think these are kind of interesting and they're closer to achieving the 'dreaminess' of Verona that I was trying to capture.
And it has taken me 3 weeks to get here, so I think I probably have to move on now....
Comments welcome!

Sketching In The South

I've been off to warmer climes recently - not just once, but twice!  I had a holiday in Soller, Mallorca at the end of April, followed by a 5-day sketching trip to Lisbon.  What luck!  It's been quite a change for me sketching in such bright sunlight, and sketching lots of buildings and exotic trees.

Mallorca was an active holiday - lots of walking in the countryside around Soller.  The landscape in the area is pretty spectacular - it's a World Heritage Site described as a cultural landscape with "the near-perfect symbiosis between the action of human beings and nature, which has occurred for centuries".  It is this integration between human intervention and nature that makes it such an interesting landscape - it is described as "a merging of culture, traditions, aesthetics, spirituality and identity". 

The Barranc de Biniaraix is one of the best places to see this unique landscape.  It's a ravine running from the valley floor all the way up to a high plain and the mountain tops. The most obvious features are dry stone walling, terracing and the cobbled stone path which threads its way up through the terraces of olive groves to the top.  Not easy to sketch, but I gave it a go.

 
This is a wild landscape that has been tamed by humans, fashioned into terraces of olive groves by the building of walling and irrigation systems.

As you struggle up the steep slope, you can see how there is a constant battle going on between humans and nature, with some of the walling crumbling under the forces of erosion, and the riverbeds and canals all dried up lower down.

I had a go at trying to sketch the terracing and the olive trees, but couldn't do it justice.

I was more successful with my sketches of individual olive trees.  This one was done in pencil at the end of a long walk.  I loved the chunkiness of the trunk contrasting with the delicacy of the foliage and the twigs.

And towards the top of the Barranc, there is more natural vegetation, like this brave pine tree growing on the edge of the cliff.

I did this sketch to remind me of the layers of vegetation - the olive groves sitting within the natural landscape of  the pines and mountains.  I love the darkness of the olive trunks under the pale unruly olive leaves.

The Barranc is a major feature, but the coastline of North-West Mallorca is spectacular.  One day we walked to Cala Tuente - a place where no coach buses may go (the road is too steep and twisty).  This is a fine, strenuous walk in the heat, again mostly on cobbled pathway.  The landscape is a mix of cultivated terraces and native plants until you get over the coastal ridge where nature takes over in more rugged terrain, and you get spectacular views like this.

The town of Soller was no less interesting, but I only managed a few sketches. Like this charcoal one, near where we were staying.

And this part of an old mill (next door to Bar Melino, which was a nice spot!)

And even in Soller, the close relationship people have with nature was clear, with so many pot plants lining the narrow residential streets, framing the well-polished cobblestones.

Lisbon was a much more urban scene - quite a different kettle of fish (sardines, of course, haha).  It is such a big city and we were sketching in only one small part of it - the area in and around the waterfront. Even this limited area is quite diverse in character, with several quite different neighbourhoods.   There were six of us staying in a lovely apartment.  Our first stop was a visit to the World Heritage Site at Belem (the Belem Tower and the Monastery of the Hieronymites (Jeronimos).  However, I took the wrong train to Belem and had to walk back along the waterfront to the Tower where I found some welcome shade for sketching, and a view of the Tower that I liked.

By this time the queue for the Monastery was too long (I wasn't going to wait in the sun for an hour and a half), so I decided to head for the tropical botanic garden nearby.  I thought it looked a bit neglected, but it was quiet and I was determined to do a couple of sketches.  I managed to find a bench in the shade eventually.  I wanted to bring a peacock into the pic as I'd been listening to several of them mewling as I wandered through the garden.

After lunch I managed to get into the Monastery and did a couple of sketches, but they're not very exciting. The architectural style is Portuguese late Gothic, termed 'Manueline', and I find it a little fussy for my taste.  And it was very busy etc.

Another day I spent in the Alfama area, where our apartment was, and I walked up to the Portas do Sol beside the castle and did this pencil and charcoal sketch.  It was very busy here too but no-one noticed me standing in the shady corner.

It's surprising that the Alfama is not part of any World Heritage Site as it's the oldest part of Lisbon (the earthquake destroyed the main centre) and you feel a certain timelessness there. 

The Alfama is a maze of narrow streets, a vibrant community, full of life during the day and in the evening.  While I was sketching this scene (left) shops were opening up and people were putting out shelves of fruit and veg for sale.  Tour guides were walking through with their parties, and old ladies and old men were setting themselves up to sell their home-made cherry wine.

Other spaces were quieter, more residential in character.  Like this quiet breathing space. 

And here was another quiet, cool flight of steps where you could just make out the sea in the distance.

I was noticing the shadows and the colours of reflected light on the walls of the buildings, but neither of these spots was comfortable to sit for long and so I added colour to these two sketches later, back in the apartment where I sheltered from the midday sun.

In the busier streets there was less shelter from the sun.  I loved the dark tree trunks against the bright house walls, like this one.

And when I was able to find a spot to look down on the townscape, there were some wider views, like this.

Other days were spent walking around and sketching - here's a selection - and I have lots of photos of details such as tiling and street patterning.

 I thought the city quite beautiful, with a strong artistic tradition, and, of course, references to sardines everywhere.  Definitely worth visiting.

What shall I do with all these sketches?  Ahhh....that will require more thought!

Sketching In Venice

Just spent a week in Venice - a week of sketching with pals.  I really enjoyed it!  I was able to concentrate on sketching with no distractions - a real treat. And a completely new environment.

I was so looking forward to it, but once we arrived, I think we were all overwhelmed by the beauty and complexity of Venice; one of the biggest challenges for us was what to focus on in this magical city.  We were a loosely organised group, completely free to go off and do our own thing.

On Day 1 I started by trying to 'sketch myself in'.  I sat down next to a canal near where we were staying (in the Dorsoduro) and made a start.  I caught sight of a view along a small canal with a rather quirky and intriguing building in the distance - a bit of a focal point - with the context of the canal and a bridge in the composition.

As I was sitting there, someone came out of a door and sat down right in front of me and drank his cup of coffee.  I decided I had to put him in the picture.

I found it interesting to be away from the main tourist hot-spots.  It made me think about who lives in Venice and trying to find the 'real' Venice as a sketching subject.  But Venice looks like such a confection, I think this makes it unlike any other city I've been to.  While it's not a film-set, there are very few parts of the city which are not full of amazing beauty and therefore of interest to visitors.  Another thought going through my head was that so many artists have drawn and painted Venetian scenes, it was hard not to think that 'It's all been done before and by much better artists'.  So all these thoughts led to a feeling of uncertainty about what to sketch.

So here I was in a very urban place where I could hardly see a tree or even the sky, and there was not a hill in sight.....what was I to sketch?  There were only buildings....and water. Perhaps a bit of my planning background reasserted itself, a throwback from student days.  I tried a variety of subjects - single doors, like this.....

.... ironwork patterns, groups of windows, buildings.  Patterns like this.

 Initially I stayed away from the beautiful palaces - and not just because I thought they looked too complex to sketch!  Was there any modesty in Venice, some simpler forms?  I found this simple building just outside the convent where we were staying.  Quite cute and worth a sketch. 

I realised when I was drawing this that the steps at the end of the bridge were an important piece of context to be included.  I also realised that I was drawn to the beautiful brickwork and the random patterns made by old brickwork alongside decaying stucco. And the doors that opened directly onto the canals, like this one.

 On our second day we went off to Canareggio, via the station.  My initial impression was that it was a bit dark and oppressive, but I soon found a bit of colour.  Actually, I really loved the Canareggio area, and I can't believe that I forgot to visit Tintoretto's house which is located there.  I think this old rusting watergate was quite close to it.

And later on I stumbled upon some old industrial buildings - more lovely colour and interesting patterns formed by old brickwork revealed by decaying roughcast. 

I was trying different sketching materials - chalk pastels, pencil, oil pastels, conte - trying to get the right look.

On Day 3, we went to the island of Burano.  Suddenly there was a big sky, and trees. The buildings were not so tall and it felt much more open. I did a few sketches there

Burano is famous for its colourful buildings, like these ones....

And the adjacent island of Mazzourbo is a bit wilder and rather lovely.  Found a beautiful greenspace with sculptures and a view of a tower.  I was happy to get a bit of breathing space!

The next day, I thought I must have an attempt at drawing a couple of old palace buildings.  I used ink in order to get the details of the window shapes - so vitally important to the character of the building. I found a quiet viewpoint across the Grand Canal from a rather drab but lovely palace, so I focused on drawing and restrained the amount of colour.

The next day I had another attempt at a palace building, this time using pencil. This sketch took me an hour to finish, but I do quite like the composition, with the poles in the foreground.

I realised by the last day that I didn't have many tourist-style views - where were the gondolas? -  so I had a go at the view from the Sa Toma vaporetta stop. Again I felt a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of the view but using charcoal allowed me to simplify the composition.

In the course of the week I also did a few 'tall' sketches in a smaller sketchbook, using a sketching pen.  This forced me to take a bold approach, and concentrate harder.

These are only a few of my sketches - I have lots of material to draw upon. But where to now?  The sketching group is hoping to bring forward a small exhibition and I'd like to have something to contribute.  And I find it important to 'strike while the iron is hot' and take the work forward while the images are still fresh in my mind.

In my next blog I hope to have a few emerging paintings.