Staithes rooftops

Staithes rooftops

This was worth walking up a hill and missing breakfast for... although I did have second thoughts once I was set up and began to draw in the complicated arrangement of shapes. When I say 'draw' I do mean with the brush and paint. With an architectural type subject I start with a linear sketch-in with a smallish brush, but I am always keen to move onto large value shapes as soon as I can. With a subject like this it's too easy to get lost in detail at the expense of the mood or get so worried about accuracy that you run out of time and lose the light. Luckily I had a strict time deadline which got me reaching for the big brushes and I got what I was after here.

This painting is now available to purchase at Staithes art gallery.

There is a brush set with ten of the brushes that I most commonly use available from Rosemary & Co. Click here for details :-)

Venice love!

Early morning light, Santa Maria della Salute

There's no other light like it, is there? It really is great to be here and the weather has been lovely today. This is my first painting of four today.
Within thirty minutes of starting this the sun came up and the whole scene changed completely. For a while I tried to continue with the original impression fixed in mind but realised I had to stop at this point.
This afternoon I stood in the shade painting gondolas moored in the foreground and the buildings on the other side of the grand canal in brilliant sunlight.
Then another facing across the canal to a terracotta building which was half in sun, half in shadow with fabulous terracotta reflections in the water.
My last painting of the day was a nocturne, I don't think it was terribly successful. In fact, I'm sure that when I see it in the daylight tomorrow I'm going to be horrified!

Piazzetta, Venice

It's so lovely to be back in Venice! Magical! We arrived yesterday early evening and today was our first day painting.
This is an oil that I did this morning, 10" x 14". The sky was just breathtaking! I also love the pink glass in the lamps. Everything is conducive to being painted here.