ALLEY IN ANACAPRI

Our visit to Italy a few months ago was incredible - especially for a landscape painter like me. The land is so full of history and subjects for paintings were to be had at every turn! I could have spent a lifetime there painting. We toured all the major cities including Rome and Venice. Heading South was the most wonderful experience where we stayed near the bay of Naples and visited Capri for a few days. Weather was perfect in the South, a bit of rain and clouds in the North. I did some painting and sketching when I got the chance but most work will be completed home here in my studio (once I clear my backlog of unfinished work). This small study in oils is 7" x 5".

LANTAU PEAK FROM NGONG PING

I did this small study of Lantau Peak on a hazy day from Ngong Ping - the site of the great Buddha on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The idea was to capture the impressive height and majestic feel of the mountain which is a difficult and tiring climb, but with spectacular views from the top. I'm hoping to do a larger painting of this subject when I can but I still have so many other paintings to finish off first! This study done in oil on canvas, 5" x 7".

DOOR IN PORTO

One of the towns we stayed in while touring around Portugal was Porto. Really a nice town especially the area down by the river - so many painting opportunities. I managed a quick study of some old doors seen below the church close to the water. Would have liked to have done more but there was so much to see and we were only there for a few days. Hopefully a longer trip will happen in the future. This study in oils on canvas, 7" X 5".

COASTAL ROCKS - SAGRES, PART 3

Quite a bit of work was needed to finish this one. I darkened the shadowed area of the rocks along with the water - both in the foreground foamy bit and in the sea beyond. I also worked on the distant cliff a little and finished with washes to the landscape above. I largely fudged this area as I didn't want to include the houses. After that was dry, it was a case of slowly going over each section of the painting, touching up here and there and adding a few final details. This watercolor was painted on Arches paper, size is 22" x 15".

COASTAL ROCKS - SAGRES, PART 2

Starting on the background above the cliffs, I put down a number of washes keeping it light and slightly diffuse. I also added a few washes of cobalt blue plus cerulean for the sea. This was darkened and grayed a bit for the foreground shadow. I then laid on a number of different colors to the rocks trying to capture their unique tones. The shadowed area was mostly completed in sepia. There was a lot of back and forth trying to find a balance between the sunlit section and the shadowed part. Next I'll do more fine-tuning then let the painting sit for awhile to see if it needs any more work.

COASTAL ROCKS - SAGRES, PART 1

After doing the smaller oil study shown in the last post, I decided to do a larger painting of the same scene looking down from Sagres Fort. The composition here is slightly different from the earlier study as I wanted to move in slightly to feature more of the rocks. After lightly drawing in the composition using an HB pencil, I started in the background area with grayish washes to indicate the shadows on the distant rock faces. I also lightly washed in the sand at the base of the rocks. Moving closer in, the foreground rocks got a pale reddish-brown wash all over then when that was dry, I started adding in the shadows using sepia. It all looks a bit rough at the moment as I am still establishing some of the base tones, but most of this will be covered up with further layers of watercolor.

PORTUGAL, PART 3

This view down across the sea is from inside the fort at Sagres. I liked the way the shadow of the cliff face cut across the rocks and sea. The distant beach and landscape fading into the distance was also an important element in the composition. This small study was done in preparation for a larger watercolor painting that will follow shortly.
View From Sagres Fort, oil on canvas, 7" x 5".