Donkeys on the beach

Donkey rides
10" x 14"
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During the two hour 'quick draw' event in Great Yarmouth I found out there were donkeys a short walk away and just had to give them a go. It's such a nostalgic subject isn't it? But more so the shapes and the way they connect just fascinate me, away from the storytelling or human element.

The sun didn't come out at all during the two hours - it was there beforehand and then again as soon as we finished! I suppose it was for the best in my case, I had enough to be going on with as the main parts of the subject were constantly moving. At least I didn't have to worry about shadows as well!

It was a really interesting challenge and I loved it. I actually was really pleased with the resulting painting and I didn't expect it would work out so well. 

Probably the hardest thing was that the pier bounced as people went by me, so that was a little disconcerting! 

Painting from the pier

Sunday market, Morocco

Sunday market, Morocco
Oils 22" x 34"

And here's the finished painting. It's a very different subject for me and I'm pleased that I've fairly well managed to capture the dustiness and the bright light and heat. Hopefully I've also been able to handle the figures and animals loosely, especially the characters in the shade of the tent.

Detail in sepia

It may be difficult to tell from the small picture above the loose and expressive nature of the brushwork up close, so here's a small part shown closer...

detail of donkey

Sunday market part one

Mixing up the same colours

Yesterday I showed you a small plein air oil study that I painted in Morocco at the market at Hedra. I spent most of last week in my studio painting a larger scale version while the scene, the heat, the sounds were all still fresh in my mind. 

Using my painting and a variety of photos that I'd taken I worked out a fairly detailed sketch putting different elements together. I don't always need to do this but it was going to be quite a complicated scene.

I then stretched up a pretty big canvas, big for me anyway at 22" x 34" and set to work.

Compositional sketch

Early stages, blocking in lights and darks

Market at Hedra

Market at Hedra
Oils 10" x 12"
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In the middle of our stay in Morocco we took a taxi ride to a weekly market and wow, what an experience! I had really wanted to see donkeys as they are used all over the place in Morocco but not in the médina of Essaouira where we were staying. We walked all the way through the market which was huge and covered everything from fruit and veg to clothes and shoes and blankets and household wares, all the way to the end where the animals were being traded. The last field was full of donkeys and the one just before was cattle. Apparently there had been camels earlier on but we only saw a couple of those briefly.

It was a really hot day and we'd been warned by several people to expect pickpockets there so we all stayed together for safety and Aziz our driver stayed with us too. We didn't experience any problems but lots of confused looks!

I'm glad we settled down to paint quickly because in the space of two hours the field went from packed to almost empty and even the refreshments marquee was being dismantled (the tent structure in my painting). 

I was very very glad of the Moroccan mint tea when we made it back to a bar :-)

Linda Matthews, Mo Teeuw and I
Photo by Eric Davis