AVENGING ANGEL

 

During a trip to Italy and while in Rome, we visited the Castel Sant'Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel) where I did some sketching. The angel statue on the top was a center of focus for me and I did a few different views of it while walking around. The statue was done in 1753 by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt and apparently depicts the Arch angel Michael. I did a few other studies of the castle and also the various bridges and river nearby - all in all, well worth the visit! Size of this one is 11 x 8 inches, watercolor on paper.

ADULT RED-TAILED HAWK STUDY

 

Going back to painting one of my favorite subjects - raptors! This is something that I never tire of and I am fortunate to have seen many of different species all over the world. Although I prefer to see them in the wild, almost all of my paintings are head studies done in watercolor such as this one. Size is about 9 x 8 inches, watercolor on Strathmore paper.

ARCH IN ITALY, PART 5

I had to work on the plant for a lot longer than I thought as the stems are quite delicate and the leaves quite complex. There were a number of greenish washes used to slowly build up the color being careful to preserve the white of the flowers. I also had to keep darkening the shadows below the plant and painting in a little more definition to some of the bricks - a few of which were darkened slightly. In the end, I was happy with the painting as it stands but will take a look later on to see if there is anything else I want to do to it. Size is 30 x 22 inches (76 x 56 cm), watercolor on Arches paper.

ARCH IN ITALY, PART 4

 

Slowly getting there now, mostly this stage has been about selectively working on different areas trying to bring it all together which will hopefully match the idea I have in my head. The insides of the arches have received a few more darker washes carefully painting around the stems and flowers of the plant on the upper one. Most of the ladder has also been brought to where I want it although I will still need to work on the sunlit areas a bit. I hope to do that and finish the plant with its intriguing shadows in the last part.

ARCH IN ITALY, PART 3

 

Having worked a little more on the wall, I added darker washes to the lower arch before filling in most of the upper one. I left a lighter area above one of the rungs of the ladder as I was thinking to put in a dove sitting there but not sure if I will go ahead with that idea. I also added a bit more definition to some of the cracks as I wasn't quite happy with them - I think I'll still have to do more to get a better  distressed look along with some added texture, that should be next.

ARCH IN ITALY, PART 2

 

Easing gently into the painting process, I started by adding large washes of color directly over the bricks but leaving some areas a pure white of the paper. The lower arch had some darker washes over the shadowed part which I slowly intensified adding more paint after each layer had dried. I also made a start on the upper arch carefully painting around the old ladder and the plant that had taken root just inside. Some of the gaps between the bricks were lightly indicated with a warm grey while the lower shadowed cracks went in a lot darker. So far so good, next I'll bring the overall tone of the bricks closer to what I had intended then continue refining the upper arch.