Ponte Vecchio sketches

Going to spend a few weeks working on a picture of Ponte Vecchio in Florence. Went there in 2003 and the atmosphere in Florence is surreal. The light creates a soft pastel-like effect and any photograph you take especially early in the morning just looks like a painting.

But that’s cheating.

Now I’m not very good at architectural drawing or painting. I prefer more organic subject matter and to be honest, perspective and structural recreation fill me with dread. I plan is to really understand the subject and then just represent it with the minimum of detail. As I said, the light will be the key to capturing the essence of Florence and then an eye for the simple detail should get me through.

So I have started with a quick pencil sketch to understand the light and shade areas followed by a watercolour sketch to get a feel for the coloration, tonal relationships and reflections in the water. Interestingly, the water and the reflections will probably be the focus as the water makes for the darker areas of the painting.

Vespa in Siena

Really enjoyed this study. The only tricky part is not drawing it but just putting down light washes and creating negative space for the vespa. Tuscan brickwork is child’s play to be honest. I just held pale neutral tones but tried to maintain some of that lovely Italian light.

A gentle build up of tones around the vespa with particular emphasis on the shadow areas to lift the bike out. A suggestion of detail on the handlebar and wheels worked for me and I think I managed to keep a simple impressionist feel to the whole painting.

Tollesbury Lightship

Okay, so I guess this turned out alright in the end. But the battle I had with it was a struggle. I messed the sky up with a schoolboy error of adding paint to a wet area that was too watery and the water spread removing some of the blue wash I had just put down (see top right).

I always have problems with my foregrounds. At one stage this was an even bigger mess than it ended up as. I had, in desperation, to use cling film, Maldon Sea Salt (ironic really) and a sponge to wrestle it back from oblivion. Pathetic too was the need to use white paint but it did help.

The ship was well behaved and worked really well and overall, I think it just about made it into the paintings I quite like.

A couple of quick landscapes

One of my biggest mistakes is overworking my paintings. By doing a few quick (10 minute max) watercolour sketches helps me realise that sometimes, simplicity is the key to success. A simple subject also helps and by producing some quick stokes to create a suggestion of a receded tide, frankly, couldn’t be easier.

Orchid Study

Don’t think my lovely wife missed one of the flowers of one of her many Orchid plants being taken by me to use as a study for this watercolour. And no, she doesn’t read my bloggings – at least, I hope not.