MORE ITALIAN ACRYLIC INK WORK

Haven't painted much new work lately but you may remember my Italian practice work last year when Anita and I had planned to visit Italy sketching together. Had to put it off, but will make an effort to organise next year. So I thought I'd show you a couple of small pieces created from a trip to Italy a couple of years ago.

GONDOLA CORNER

This little painting is from my visit to Venice two summers ago when I went to Italy with Clive for our 50th anniversary. Its framed in my art study as a lovely reminder of a lovely time. Thought you'd like to see it. BTW, acrylic ink on Lana Vanguard support. Quite small at 8" x 5" in a 14" x 12" frame.

GRAND CANAL REFLECTIONS

Here's another little acrylic ink on Lana Vanguard done at home from photos taken during the same holiday whilst going down the Grand Canal on one of the ferries. Just 8" x 11" currently only in a two inch double mount awaiting framing.

Both going into Christmas shows at local Norfolk galleries.

PAINTING DAY AT SANDRA'S STUDIO

I have just had a great day painting with my friend Sandra when I drove down to Norwich City to her studio about 10 miles from home. We set ourselves a challenge of creating a piece of acrylic artwork 20" x 16" in one day.

I took a sketch of the Trevi Fountain plus a photograph to work from. The sketch was the important thing as I had used washes of gouache blocks of colour and I wanted to repeat this idea. The photograph was to give me more detail where I needed it for the statues and windows.

Here I am working on the canvas. My arm had begun to ache so Sandra quickly whipped up a home made marl stick from a piece of dowling and a taped wrapped round piece of cotton to give my arm support.

Here is an image of the painting by 4.30 when I packed up to get home before the city traffic built up. We'd had breaks for tea and cake mid morning, soup and rolls and fruit for lunch and another cuppa in the afternoon when Sandra's husband Malcolm joined us. So all in all delighted how far I had got. Needless to say, lots to do to finish it off.

Here we are working in the studio together, back to back because being left handed I needed to face the other way to have my paints etc to hand!!

It was a real fun day and so good to create a full piece of work with another artist with lots of interaction and 'what do you think of this?' every so often or other such enquiries. Sandra created a wrought iron gate from her sketch book on a trickled, blended background of lovely soft aquas, lavenders and greys all over crumpled tissue to give texture. We had lots of chats, laughs and music - a fun day. Plan to make it a monthly event (except Jan and Feb when Sandra is going to New Zealand - that's right 'sketching'. !

Hope the images above enlarge with a click.

GOUACHE ITALIAN SKETCHES

I went to a demo recently organised by the Norwich Art Circle when David Mynett demonstrated pastel landscapes. He brought along numerous sketchbooks from his travels and everyone (including me, Denise and Marianne I went with) was bowled over by his sketching technique. He was happy to share with us the fact that he covered all the white pages with gouche (created from watercolour and white mix) and then when he was out working he would choose a page colour suitable for the scene he was painting. They were very striking and most inspirational.

So much so I came home and had a try, covering some half dozen double spreads in my Derwent 5"x 7" leaving a small border of white around for notes. Here is part of my very first attempt - I cropped the image as the figures on left were completely out of scale and looked hideous but this central section gives you an idea of how the light and dark background gouache affected the result. !

This one of the Spanish Steps in my Italian practice sketchbook was a little better although I felt I needed to add pen at the end to sharpen it up and I know it is wonky!!

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... but the third attempt was much more pleasing of the Trevi fountain and I could see how the different ground colours could really enhance the painting if chosen carefully. I needed to put a number of layers on in various parts.



It was necessary of course to add white to my watercolours in areas otherwise the paint just acted as a glaze and the base gouache came through too dominant.

I sourced all three Gerald Brimacombe photos I took the sketches from in an internet gallery on Italy. As they are only rough sketches in my own little book I could not see a problem with copyright and of course the colours were determined by the gouache background with his photos providing a realistic reference to the subject.

It was fun and I certainly plan to try some more and maybe use this technique as a contrast to my stabilo sketches when I eventually get to Italy (in May).

GRAND TOUR SKETCHES

Its been such bad weather that I put on a DVD of a programme called GRAND TOUR when the art critic Brian Sewell toured the cities of Italy. I stilled some of the scenes and sketched in the comfort of my lounge with my Schmincke watercolours.

Number one is of a group of people in a square with blue fountain and some columns - Brian Sewell is in the left bottom corner where you can just see his umbrella cum sun parasol.

This one was of a pretty corner in Vicenza - the people must have gone inside the pay the bill!!

Here's Brian - looking with my hand rather much younger - outside the steps of one of the many buildings he took us into.

Well, a bit of fun one afternoon getting practice trying to sketch people in street scenes.

FEET AND HANDS

I thought I might practice sketching hands and feet and with the Italian trip in mind I started with my Sistene Chapel book and inevitably went to the famous God creating Adam Michelangelo painting on the ceiling.

Then I checked out lots of feet from various scenes in the chapel and came up with this selection

from angels, sibyls and prophets:

Then at the weekend on the front cover of the Telegraph Magazine was this photo of Elton John using his hands to speak! Simply had to have a try:

All done with my latest favourite Stabilo Brown (45) fine liner with water and a little Schmincke watercolour.

FIGURES FROM THE SISTENE CHAPEL CEILING

Still working on practice sketches for my Italian visit, I went to my wonderful full colour plate book MICHELANGELO - THE FRESCOES OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL which I purchased a few years back at a local library sale. I was hooked when I came to the chapter on SEERS - ie prophets and sibyls. So began a series of watercolour and pen sketches using my Daniel Smith paints and Lamy pen with noodlers Lexington grey ink. Here are three efforts:

Jeremiah - lost in thought

I think the hands are a bit big but pleased with all the colours I managed to put into the flesh.


The Libyan Sibyl

Afraid she has turned out rather masculine and squashed at the top of the sketchbook page.


Zechariah - the Hebrew Prophet

This, in fact, was my first one and as you can see the head is too small. Well! its only practice and I have not done figures for ages.

To be continued at some stage.

VENICE ON YUPO FROM SKETCHES

Today Anita booked our trip to Italy for May to benefit from an early booking reduction. Whilst discussing all the ideas over the past week on the phone, thought I'd like to do a painting from my sketchbook. So decided to use two sketches and put them together of when I went to Venice last year. I decided to use acrylic inks on YUPO (well that new Vanguard I have been telling you about available from Jacksons of London).

This is the finished piece, measuring 20" x 8". Gondolas look very dark here, hope you can enlarge and see the detail in this corner.

Here are a few cropped photos as the work progressed.

It was lots of fun as the sky changed colour radically and the darker corner (where the gondolas are) changed a lot in respect of shadow, moving water and the addition of the poles.

Clive reckons the light shows the scene as it would be just before dusk.

I think I might try some more another time from the sketches Anita and I have been doing from the BBC Art programme series POWER OF ART. Nothing like getting the feel for Italy 6 months before you go!!!

CHEATING AT ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE

During my weekend at Anita's we discussed our trip to Italy next May and decided we needed to get more comfortable about sketching plein air their wonderful ancient architecture, so had the brainwave of putting on THE POWER OF ART a BBC art series. With modern technology we chose a few scenes during Simon Schama's travels to still and sketch from in the comfort of Anita's lovely soft green sofas.

Here are three efforts that very late but fun time evening:

Dome in Florence

double spread in Sennelier watercolours

St Peter's Rome

in Sennelier watercolours

Went a bit wrong with the St Peter's full colour when I added three arches of a bridge at the bottom. Just did not like them so heavily drawn in ink. So guess what? - I stuck a piece of selected colour paper from Anita's card supplies and wrote on the top. !! There's always an answer!!

Corner of St Peter's Rome

borrowing Anita's sepia water soluble ink pen

If we keep doing this over the next 6 months. maybe we will feel comfortable sketching in the streets amongst all the tourists!!

VISIT TO THE DOLOMITES

Me in the snow after the cablecar ride to the top

After a coach trip via Riva (a town with much history possibly inhabited since prehistoric times, ruled by the Lombards, Franks, Saxons and in the 13th century a part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Venetians and onwards), we travelled on through the Soave wine valley and followed the river Alvisio through the Latemar Rango.

On the way we stopped at a village (if my notes are correct named Moena) reknowned for its wood carving. Here is one I came acrosss roaming the side streets.

Then on through the Pordoi Pass and up to the cable car to the top of the snowy Dolomites.

One of the many views coming down in the cablecar with Sasso Lungo in the background

On coming down the cablecar we noticed some gentian growing near the bottom and nipped round to photo before reboarding the coach.

Gentian growing in the Dolomites ........... Wild flowers on our journey everywhere

We then drove on through the Sella Pass to the three peaks of Sasso Lungo (3181) and a long stop to look at the views before a two and a half hour drive back to Limone.

I have many more photos of spectacular scenery but did not want to bore you all, but would like to add one of the Castle at Malcesine I told you we went to by boat to listen to a classical concert. Silhouetted because it was a late evening trip. The rocks in the background are across the lake behind Limone.

I hope all the photos can be enlarged by the usual click.

HOLIDAY IN ITALY

Well worth enlarging for detail.

Our first view of Limone - what a Lake Garda guide book called....' perhaps the most charming place in Lake Garda' ... where we stayed on the hillside overlooking the town. This shot above was taken from a little mini bus that took us from the airport at Veronna around the top of the lake down to Limone.

This is a view from the roof terrace above our room.

We could not have asked for more - delightful hotel (Royal Village) in extensive grounds with wonderful facilities and food. Live music in the bar in the evenings, drink on tap all day and amazing views overlooking the lake from our balcony. A well earned rest and not a sketchbook in sight!!

Had a day in Venice - lovely and sunny and not too crowded.

first view of Venice.....................and reflections

View down the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge. You can see the waterbus on the left (square flat top) we took all the way down to St Mark's Square.

The inevitable gondolers at £20 per half hour ride per person!!!!!!

Another day up in the Dolomites - again sunny day with some cloud and amazing views after taking the cable car to the top. Visited some lovely villages on our way . I'll post some images tomorrow.

Another lovely trip was across the lake by ferryboat to Malcesine one evening for a piano and clarinet concert in the castle and another longer visit on our anniversary roaming the quaint streets.

Laughing as we wait for our lunch in a little piazza in Malcesine on the day of our anniversary.

Back to the grind now with two commissions to complete by the end of the month before starting two works for the Towers in East Anglia Show to be held in Felixstowe in July.

Hope you missed me!!?? More to come tomorrow - if you can face it!!