Relaxed Commissions

As friends see my sketches they sometimes ask for a painting. Most of my paintings collect dust in a draw so I normally don’t mind working on a relaxed commission as they provide me with a challenge and will, hopefully, be liked, even displayed by the recipient. A relaxed commission brief is normally quite woolly  but often I have an idea at the time of the final painting.

A while ago an Archery friend was quite brazen with her request and it made me laugh. She chose a painting from my sketchbook and asked for it as a Christmas present.

The original sketch is one of my favorites and  one I really wanted to develop as a painting. As it came from my sketchbook I had an idea of the composition, style and tone. I painted it in less than a day and felt satisfied with the result. Halfway through I took a photo of it as I was pleased with the progress and wanted a record in case it all went pear shaped. (Janet notice I have exaggerated the perspective)

Morocco

Essaouria half way

I liked the way the city appears out of the mist and this reminded me of the first day when the sea mist had rolled in, making everything very mysterious. Of course I couldn’t leave it alone and had to add more detail . Here is the finished piece.

Morocco

Essaouria Medina, Morocco

The camera has distorted the horizon line a bit but I’m pleased with the painting. The birds provide movement and interest and the boats are needed in the foreground for perspective, tone and balance. I hope Carol likes it.

The other relaxed commission came from one of my Tango teachers. Sandra had looked though some of my sketches of Sorrento and quite off-hand said she would like a painting of the pair of them dancing. I don’t think she had expected me to paint one, so it was a surprise when I presented her with one.

Now this is quite a different  subject to a previously planned & sketched picture. One, this was of people, two, of people I know, three, dancers who would instantly know bad technique if I drew it, four, movement is a must  and a further hundred other issues. Tricky!

I started by looking on the internet for styles that would suit the subject. I used Pintrest a lot and found wonderful illustrations of dancers, all quite beyond my capabilities. But it did inspire me and I looked for a picture of the couple when they danced recently in Naples. In the end I used a scene from a video they made but it was terribly out of focus. The colors were interesting and the light amazing. Finding good technique was tricky as often one of them would look out of balance or in a strange position. I chose a simple move, called a sandwich with the follower on pivot. Pretty safe but a little static. No matter ,it was a start.

The drawing took time but the painting was relatively quick.

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Sandra and Santiago in Naples

There are elements I changed after taking this photo but I forgot to rephotograph. I’m pleased with the light and color but I think the pose is too static. I did give it another go at a later date but it went terribly wrong and I had to bin it. I plan to do others but I need inspiration and more practice.

Up Pompeii

Continued from Neapolitan Sunday

The next morning we took the local train to Pompeii. From one of the most expensive forms of transport (Capri ferry 40 Euro) to one of the cheapest – Sorrento-Pompeii return about £4 – we rattled our way to the wonder that is Pompeii. Hiring the guide was a good choice but I did find him arrogant and plain rude, perhaps that’s my English nature.

Pompeii was astounding in scale, detail and preservation. You can quickly forget that this was a Roman town almost 2 thousand years old and think you’re in a Umbrian hill town where you expect a vespa to buzz round a corner at any moment. The guide provided a wealth of interesting information but I prefered just wandering around discovering amphitheaters, forums and cemeteries. Luckily the weather was not too hot (I can imagine it becomes a furnace in the summer) and we could ramble about for around for a few hours quite pleasantly. The good weather also gave us a glimpse of how close Vesuvius was and we were able to see the crater rim, giving us an idea of how much of the original volcano was projected into the air. I had taken my sketchbook but the scale of Pompeii meant I had no no time to use it. But I did draw this scene later.

Pompeii italy

Arch in Pompeii by the necropolis

Tired, but refreshed by a gelato and cold orange juice while waiting for the train we returned to the hotel. An hour or so later we were in another Tango class, with Sandra and Santiago, who introduced Colcadas to us. Thanks to Machiko who was a model partner, she got me spinning her like a top!

In the evening we all went to the local theater and enjoyed a very local song and dance show of all the southern Italian favorites (i.e. O sole mio). Well sung, danced and performed the evening was a delight but I was caught napping a couple of times – well Pompeii and Colcadas are a tiring mix.

 

Sorrento Theatre

Sorrento Theatre

The next day (our last full day) I spend the most of it getting to know Sorrento and drawing in the port, finishing off the drawing from Sunday. I hadn’t realised how important marquetry and inlay work was to Sorrento. I mention this because I used to do this as hobby about ten years ago. It was fascinating to see the quality of the work achieved by the professionals (and also the prices) but I think my boxes were not too far off. Here are a couple of examples I created.

 

inlay

Jewelry Box

marketry

Horse-chestnut Marquetry

The final lesson was a review with the inclusion of a female sacada, which I will be using when brave enough. We created our own Milonga on the final night, by the bar and joined by our friendly Austrian/Germans. Thanks to Sandra and Santiago for organizing the wonderful holiday, it all went very smoothly. And I made some lovely new friends and had many beautiful dances- thanks ladies.

 

Neapolitan Sunday

Continued from Volcanoes and Volcadas

The next day, Sunday, we had a morning tango lesson but I got up early and walked into the center of Sorrento to search for a quick drawing in my small sketch book. I noticed the morning sunlight on the lemon yellow church and felt this represented the town and wanted to produced a quick drawing where I could add the washes later. Reproducing the hues and tones of the lemon yellow was going to be tricky. I found a corner of the square, out of the way, perched on my stool in a good place to see all.  Until… as soon as I saw it in the distance I knew it was destined for me. A horse drawn carriage was gently clopping towards me. For a second I thought it was going to stop short and I would be saved, but no, the driver reversed the carriage right in front of me obliterating every part of the view. To his defense he did come over to me, take look at my sketch, approved it and then asked me if I would like him to move the carriage. I said no, the damage was already done.

Line and wash

Church in Sorrento town centre

The morning lesson, involved various calesitas (caraselles). I find these moves very emotive and need to be used at really special parts of the music. So this was a valuable lesson. We were travelling to a Milonga in Naples in the evening so I had an afternoon to spend drawing. Lunch was first at a local restaurant with a lovely group of people. We sat outside in a typical Sorrento alleyway (a future painting) making the most of the tourist menu. I didn’t drink wine as I wanted a clear head for drawing later but the lemonadesoda was perfect.

With some difficulty I left the group to walk to the port.I settled down on some wide steps using my new travelling stool and started drawing.
The scene was ambitious, taking the whole cliff line from Sorrento going east, including the Marina. Naturally things didn’t go to plan. When the ferry arrived hoards disembarked and they used the steps as a meeting point, obliterating my view several times. I’m sort of getting used to this by now and with such a huge subject in front of me there was always something else to draw. This part of the port is given over to feral cats, causing the ferry passengers to ooh and arrh over the kittens. To me it quickly became apparent that I had selected to sit next to a cats toilet. I soldiered on for my art. Vans, boats and ferries parked in front of my view in regular fashion but eventually the smell and distractions made me move. I stood, perched, sat on bollards and prowled the area looking for a comfortable place to continue for the rest of the afternoon.
In the end I returned to the site on the last day of the holiday and finished the drawing. The smell was even worse when I returned. I can still smell it now. Suffering for my art… here is the drawing

Italy

Sorrento cliffs and marina

I plan to colour in the drawing but need some time to make sure I don’t mess it up with poor washes and too intense colours.

The evening Milonga in Naples was magnificent. The Naples traffic delayed us but we received a big welcome from the host and settled into a steamy (humid) night of tango. Santiago & Sandra were brilliant when they danced for the gathering and received a wonderful applause. For me it was a very special night and I thank all the Neapolitan ladies for their beautiful dances.

Volcanoes and Volcadas

I’ve just returned from a wonderful dancing holiday to Sorrento, Italy. Organised by tango teachers, Santiago and Sandra of Lets Tango, it was the perfect autumn break. Naturally I took my sketchbooks along with my dancing shoes and was inspired by the beautiful scenery to attempt some drawing.

The trip covered 5 full days and we packed in a full itinerary, visiting Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii and Naples. I managed a handful of sketches and improved my tango – the perfect combination! The dancing group was around twenty dancers, making for a good variety of dance partners. We all got on really well and I’ve made some lovely new friends.

I’ve split this post into several parts, covering the first of my sketches and our trip to Capri. The whole region has been shaped by the huge eruption of Vesuvius in AD79, which has formed the dramatic coastline and fertile but hilly countryside.

The first opportunity to sketch came on the day of arrival, where we had a short lunch break before the initial tango lesson. I walked to a point I had seen from the map & Google streetview, which has several seats and a panoramic view across the Bay of Naples to Vesuvius. There were plenty of spaces and I sat on the edge of one bench and started to sketch. It was working out well but as time was limited I wanted to keep drawing to a minimal and paint the washes in early. There was heavy cloud covering the summit of the volcano and an impressive Gin Palace was anchored in the harbour. Having started the washes I was interrupted by a member of the public peering over my shoulder. Normally this is okay as they usual mutter something and wander off. However, when she put foot on the bench beside me I felt this was a little different. There were already three of us on the bench and as I had my paints out there was little room for anyone else. But I was wrong. She placed her foot on the bench beside me, peered even closer and plonked herself down beside me while I laid the broad blue washes of the sea.  Then the elbows in my back started. It felt she was wrestling a crocodile behind me and tapping out a tango on my spine. Inspiration was gone, comfort evaporated and rage took hold. I slammed my book shut, splattering wet washes, Rorschach style across my pages. I glared at her and told her it was going to be a real pleasure to find another bench, as clearly her need for this one was greater than mine. My mood ruined I walked back to the hotel, with her antics etched into my sketch forever.

I worked on the sketch a couple of days later to rescue something but more still needs to be done. Note the Umbrella Pine beside the building, which is special to this coastline.

Sorrento

Bay of Naples

I was restored by the excellent tango class given by Santiago and Sandra in the afternoon and we had a lively night out at the Foreigners Club, dancing to a range of ballroom songs played by a duo with a wide repertoire. Trying to remember my Cha,Cha Cha and Rumba moves was testing. Apologies to Sheila & Sandra for any crushed toes.

I was really lucky with my room as I faced out to the sea and had wonderful morning views of Mount Vesuvius. Before going to breakfast I took time to soak in the colours and tones of the morning sky around the volcano. I knew the camera I used could not capture the subtleties of the light so I made an attempt with paint. I needed more time and better paper (and skill) to do this but the sketch will remind me of the glorious mornings.

Bay of Naples

Mount Vesuvius from Hotel Flora, Sorrento

That morning we had an even better lesson, spoiled only by the floor surface, which was solved by copious use of volcanic dust (talc).

We traveled to Capri in the afternoon, expertly organised by Sandra. The expensive crossing was justified by a dramatic and beautiful island, with an extremely wealthy undertone. We took the funicular to the Capri piazzetta and walked to the gardens of Augusto. Stunning views of the spectacular cliffs greeted us and I settled down to draw one of the vistas.

Capri Island

Capri from Augusto Gardens

Painting views like this is especially difficult. Finding the right spot, out of the sun, with a seat and out of the way of other visitors is really tricky. I couldn’t get out of the sun and I crouched for a while, balancing paints and brushed over a precipice. So this is not my best but it does provide me with a memory.

Later, in the evening we danced in the bar of the hotel to wonderful music provided by Santiago and a small but appreciative audience of hotel guests. We were also joined by a German/Austrian couple who we met at the Foreigners Club the night before.

The next post will take us to Naples, Sorrento  and Pompeii. Below are a couple of photos from the trip.

Sorrento

Sorrento

Capri Marina

Capri Marina

From Capri Piazzetta with Gabbi our guide

From Capri Piazzetta with Gabbi our guide

Capri Cliffs

Capri Cliffs

Lantern shop

Using the photos from my trip to Essauoria I’ve found a picture of a lantern shop in the medina. Busy, colourful and full of contrasts. Not a straight forward project. From a composition point of view it has an arch, shops and passageway, so the picture is central to the page rather than off centre.

The colours and contrasts will make or break the picture and so I was concerned the busyness would be tricky and just become a fuzzy mess. I’ve been looking at the most wonderful pictures by Carl Larson. He uses outlines to define the edges. Not all with a black line, but with coloured lines. He is a master of efficient line work.

So I’ve rather clunkily used this technique within my own painting style. I think I have a little more to do but need time to think what to do.

 

Essaouria

Lantern shop

 

Return to the Rose City

Our return to Marrakech by taxi was interrupted by a visit to a Berber horse fair.  Our driver felt it would be interesting to see charging horsemen with rifles and sabers flashing past in a haze of dust and heat. However, the horses were in their stables and the riders praying in their tents. So we became the locals’ entertainment, which was a little unsettling.  One of our numbers was in a poor shape and this detour was not best timed so we pleaded to the driver to take us to our new Riad.

The Riad was north west of the Medina in a much busier part of the city than our previous stay. We followed the baggage cart down ever narrowing and darker passageways, thinking ‘how are we going to remember to find this later’. The Riad was, again, in a traditional Marrakech building with rooms around a central courtyard and a pool below. Its terrace had potential but for some reason we rarely used it.

The food in Marrakech was great and we went to some of the best in town. How did we know where to go? Earlier we had met an Englishman who had been living in the City for 10 years and represented or owned 4 Riads. To mark them on the map he had created an app called Marrakech Riad Travel Guide. It was superb, with a geo locater that told you exactly where you were without the need for wifi. It offered guides for food, shopping, drink plus other helpful tips. Recommended.

Once again the art was tricky as we needed places to settle down and draw but in the busy streets and passageways this was not easy to do. The small museums in Marrakech are really good and they are often located in Riads, offering refreshments and roof terraces. But still not much art was being produced. So we went to the Majorelle Gardens, located close to our hotel we braved walking there. This was certainly an adventure. with cars added to the normal mix of people, donkey karts, bicycles, skooters and motorbikes. We walked past busy markets, fast roads, large confusing junctions, building sites and every type of shop under the hot Moroccan sky. Thanks to the app we found it efficiently but we needed a hot mint tea before touring the gardens. The cafe there is delightful and we had difficulty moving on. The gardens are beautiful,  especially after the streets of Marrakech and we found places to paint from. I started well and sketched and painted until lunch. Lunch in the cafe was delicious and we returned to our painting. I must have lost the thread again because my painting went awry in this session. Painting just foliage is tricky so I’m OK with this painting but the palm foliage in the mid distance could have been thought through better and the foreground shadows deeper.

Morocco

Majorelle gardens, Marrakech

By now, with quite a lot of art under my belt, mostly in my small sketchbook I was happy to relax more and only draw when the opportuntiy arose. The guide told us of a good cafe on the edges of the Souk and by chance we were close. It was a little gem. There was a set menu and the staff just took over and made sure we were fed and watered with simple but tasty fare. Situated on a small but very busy junction, beside a mosque we had a great chance to sit and draw, talk to the locals and watch life go by. A Tuareg shop owner was interested in us and we got chatting, looked at our art and help chase the cats away. My sketch of the lunch time view is below. Later we bought leather belts and souvenirs from the shops around the cafe.

Mosque

Marrakech Souk

As in a previous sketch there are items in the picture that are typical of the Souk. Such as the lantern, the dark, busy alley, the scooter, shops and palm. This may turn into a painting later but I need to think about composition. It was Annies birthday and we had a great time, eating relaxing, shopping and sightseeing through the day.

Janet had taken a photo of a typical Moroccan doorway earlier in the trip and I had been working on it through the time we were there. I finished it at home.

Essauoria

Moroccan doorway

The trip was great,  there was a lot to see and do and we were never bored. Thanks to Janet for organizing and to Janet and Peter for the artistic direction.

Finally I’ve begun working on some of the photos taken during my stay from my desk at home. I’m still not getting composition right but I’ve taken some details from the painting and made mini snapshots.

Marrakech

Arch and Lantern

Marrakech

Mosque

Essaouria

Part 2 of 3 Trip to Morocco

We travelled from Marrakech to Essaouria by taxi, with views of arid farmland and desert. We broke up the journey with a short stop at a roadside cafe which had invested in decent toilets – judging by the coach loads arriving and departing this was a good decision.

Outside Essaouria, high overlooking the city we were surprised to see how big it was. The other surprise was that we could not see the sea. The reason became clear as we drove along the modern beach resort, a thick sea mist was rolling in from the Atlantic, hiding the view of the sea, port and Medina. A bit of a mysterious start to our stay.

The Riad here was really old, set off from the main thoroughfare, down a dark alley. Due to the Atlantic weather they have a glass roof  over the traditional courtyard and this made the place a little dank. However, the roof terrace was excellent and we made it our afternoon studio. The people who ran the Riad were lovely and we made the most of their welcome.

Following a lovely meal in the evening and a quick reconnoiter we made a good start in the morning, where we found a wonderful view of the city walls and a good place to paint from. Below is my line a wash sketch from that morning, with the colour washes laid the following day.

line and wash

Essaouria medina

I was relieved to get a better picture in my book and pleased with the way it looked. Using the birds really made the picture come alive.

In previous posts I’d  been following the work that Sir Edmund Seago had produced in Morocco and I had it in my mind to produce one in Essaouria. We had eaten in a lovely friendly restaurant in the Medina and the passageway it was located in had potential from a painting point of view. So I took pictures and painted the scene in my book from our roof terrace ‘studio’. No matter where we sat in the city there was a group of musicians looking for dirams, so I took a photo and added them in the picture.

watercolour

Essaouria Street Scene

This is not a pure Seago but I will give this another attempt using more contrast.

With a couple of pictures in the book I returned to the port to search of a scene with fishing boats. I like painting boats and thought I could get a good picture using sky, boat, water and some workers. This is what I found….

Fishing Fleet

Fishing Fleet

This was too much for me and so I turned around and looked for a view at the fort. For 10 dirams we could walk the port’s ramparts and tower. The open area of the fort, above the port, provided me with a wonderful panorama of the fish market, city and walls.

line and wash

Fort at Essaouria

There are several small items in this painting that will remind me of Morocco and especially Essouria, the cat waiting for a fish in the port (and elsewhere in city), the gulls wheeling above looking for the remains of the day’s catch,  the red and green flag of Morocco and the two baggage karts that seem to be everywhere in the cities.

Everywhere we ate in Morocco we had good food. My tummy was not quite aligned with the local cuisine but it didn’t stop me doing or eating anything. I had soups, salads, sausages, tagine and tagina but my favorite were the pastilles. Puff pastry parcels of chicken or fish in a cream sauce, powdered with icing sugar and cinnamon. Delicious.

The cafes were also very enjoyable and we spent long lunches eating, drinking fruit juice cocktails and sketching whatever view was available. Here are couple from my small sketchbook.

view from cafe

Essaouria Souk

sketch

The blue shutters of Essaouria

On my last day I went in search of a quick sketch of the town square. I found some shade and stood for about 20 minutes. I didn’t get hassled once and this view reminds me of a lovely and creative time in Essaouria. My next post will be on our return to Marrakech.

IMG_0532

Morocco bound

I’ve returned from my 11 day painting holiday to Morocco. Organised by Janet at Brambles Art Retreat, we travelled to Marrakech and Essaouria with the aim of painting, sightseeing, eating out and relaxing. The party was made of of 8 people, including two teachers, which was a good number for travelling and turning up at restaurants unannounced.

From a painting aspect the trip had mixed success. Marrakech was a real culture shock and I found it difficult to settle into long projects there. So I mainly used my small sketchbook, drawing at the cafes and restaurants during the morning and evening and then colouring them during the hot afternoons. In Essaouria there was more opportunities to sit and paint and we spent more time there. The city Medina is fascinating, relatively safe and you don’t get so hounded by the traders. The city is old, with a great history (I’ve still to find out more) but it’s currently a very active fishing port.  We mainly painted around this port and there was rich sources of inspiration all around.

My work …….

I’ll be creating 3 posts on my trip to Morocco. This one will concentrate on the early part of the holiday, getting used to the country and Marrakech. I did get frustrated in Marrakech from a painting point of view. It was always so busy and hot. We did find some cafes to sit in but I wasn’t comfortable using the larger sketchbook. When I did bring it out I was very unhappy with the result. We were sitting in a lively cafe opposite some stall holders, mainly selling hats of all different types and colours. There were three fully veiled ladies, some wearing straw hats with Marrakech on them, under colourful but rather tired umbrellas. Rising above was the minaret of a local mosque.

Marrakesh

Marrakech stall holders

We visited a beautiful Photographic Museum with stunning pictures of old Moroccan cities, people and streets. On the roof was a wonderful terrace with the best view of Marrakech. I instantly started to sketch in my small book but should have used my larger one but I didn’t know how long we were going to stay there. Sketching high up, overlooking the city and with a glass of coke by my side was great.

Morocco

Marrakech skyline

Our search for a place to paint and spend time on a subject took us to the Menara gardens but these were hugely disappointing and once again I used my small sketchbook as I was not that inspired and didn’t really want to invest a lot of time there. The result was disappointing.

Marrakech

Menara Gardens

We were staying at the rather magnificent Riad des Princesses. As I waited for our party to get organised, waited for a taxi or sat in a restaurant I sketched in my small book and wrote about the day.

Marrakech

Riad des Prinesses

Pencil

Orange Juice Sellers

Under the stars

Marrakech restaurant

My next post will be on our arrival in Essaouria and how I felt more relaxed to start spending more time on longer painting projects.

Fish tonight

By now you might realise I’m off on my painting trip to Morocco on Saturday. I can’t wait. Also after all this hype it would be pretty poor show to produce naff work while I’m there. So I’m still practising.

I caught a light cold last week so spent a couple of hours on You Tube looking at artists work and a tutorial on composition. I’ve rather let this side of my work down. I won’t bore you with all the details but story telling was one of them. I found this picture this afternoon but didn’t see the cat for ages. I liked the arches, the lights and darks but when I did see the cat it made me laugh, so I had a story. Fish tonight….

morocco

Fish tonight