Under the Tuscan Sun

What a hot summer it has been! I love sunflowers for their color, shape and texture and especially the fields and fields of yellow when you are driving down a road through Tuscany or riding on a train. They seem to never end. I painted this watercolor starting in August in the height of the heat season and this one took me a bit longer due to the humid days and nights throughout the month. There was a lot of work in this 11x15 inch painting, but it was enjoyable and challenging with a lot of work on each flower. Now on to my next painting. Until next time, enjoy!

St. Paul's Island - Malta

This is a watercolor I painted in late 2009 of St. Paul's Island and of course the sail boat, which is the main attraction. The picture I took inspiration from had vivid colors of blue and the composition was perfect. I have tried to find an accurate description of St. Paul's Island, and the best one is in the Good Book itself. Acts 27 & 28 gives the best description of how Paul of Tarsus was in transition to Rome when the ship he was on was struck by a violent storm. Paul did teach the Good News to inhabitants of the Island of Melita (Malta), but this did not transform the island to Christianity. This did not take place until 300 years later during the era of Constantine. Anyway, this gives you a brief background of this island full of history.

I liked this painting once I finished it, but then once I had the painting Matted/Mounted it was something I loved. The dimensions are roughly 9 x 12 inches and 16 x20 with the Matting. The sky was painted wet and drops of water were dropped in to give the effect of clouds. The rocks were painted and then I used a razor to give them texture. In the coming year I will be taking part in an exhibition and I this will be one of the paintings which will be part of my exhibit. I hope that you enjoy this painting as much as I do.

Autumn in Tuscany

The glow of autumn colors has always been something magical for me. It is even more spectacular when visiting the Tuscan region. Recently my wife and I took my parents to visit various destinations in Tuscany such as Pisa, Lucca, Siena & San Gimignano, among other places. I have been to the Tuscany area 2 other times before, but this trip was different. This time we rented a car and drove through the country side and got a chance to see things off the beaten path that you can't see by train. Those are the special moments when you can pull the car over and snap a breath taking picture for future projects such as the one I am writing this post about. No, it wasn't I who took the wonderful photo that gave me inspiration, but the wonderful landscapes and the vibrant colors did.
This landscape is of a vineyard in the Autumn just before the vines are about to turn a deep red. Boy are they beautiful. The yellows, oranges, reds and greens flow together to create this lovely scene. I have yet to name this painting, but I am thinking of several titles such as A Vibrant Tuscan Autumn, or Tuscan Vineyard Glow, or just Autumn in Tuscany.

After taking 6 months off from painting(no I didn't paint, but I did a lot of drawing in graphite), this was a great way to get back into painting again. I really enjoyed this watercolor and this is a painting that I am going to keep and hang in my home. The size is approximately 20x 30 inches on 260 lb (356 gsm) weight paper and I used a number of various watercolor brand paints. Off to decide on my next project!

Absent but not gone!

Yes, I have been away, but I am not gone. Just absent for a while. Sort of like skipping school. You have to every now and then. Why you ask? Well, I have been working in my yard since the beginning of June and hopefully will be finished by the end of August. Let's hope. My father-in-law and I(mostly him since he is retired) have been cladding the walls with stone, cutting and carving limestone, building a custom BBQ Pit(it is nice if I might say) and other things. It is very hard and tiring work, especially after a full day at the office. Anyway, it will be worth it. Enough about that.

I just wanted to post a few photographs that I took in March when I took my son Jason out to the Malta National Park at Ta 'Qali. While he was having fun riding his tricycle, I snapped a few photos. I love black and white photos and they have always been a favorite of mine. The first one is of a tree viewed through one of many massive archways in this rotunda. The second is a favorite of mine. It has more artistic qualities to it and I could see this one easily becoming a painting. It is a shot under a palm tree of other palm trees, but the shadowing and texture in this picture is what makes it exciting. I also like the fact that you can tell there was a sort of wind that was blowing the palms in the background back and forth a bit. Anyway, I hope to start painting again once I find the time. Once I do, I will post my work. Until then, I will continue posting more pictures.

View from Saint Mark's Square

This is a small watercolor on Bockingford 300 gsm/140 lb CP(NOT) Oatmeal colored paper measuring 6 x 6.5(15 x 17 cm). I used Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber and for the shading I used Ultramarine Blue mixed with Burnt Sienna/Burnt Umber where needed. I wanted to capture the old world feel with the earth tones.

Yes, this is unmistakingly Venezia, a view from St. Mark's Square, where the Gondolieri are waiting to show you throught he beautiful canals. This was from a picture I took in 2005.

Cabo San Lucas - Crashing Waves!!!

It has been a couple weeks since I last posted. I have been trying to improve my technique and unfortunately, the local teachers(artists) weren't of much help, at least from what I have found so far. I hope I will be able to find a local teacher that are willing to share their techniques & knowledge with me. So....I have been studying a number of different books, styles, DVD's and trying to copy a bit as well, which I find as a useful tool for learning.

I have really been influenced and taken to Arnold Lowrey's painting's, DVD, and book, Sea and Sky in Watercolour. It is straight forward, although he makes it look so simple, it is not! I have really enjoyed painting a number of exercises in his book and some of the paintings as well.

So onto my painting. This is a photo of a beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. A great place for sun, fishing and relaxing. Beautiful scenery as well. This is on Conda 8.5 x 11.5 inch Cold Press, 300 gsm/140 lb Watercolor paper. All paints were W&N including, raw umber, burnt sienna, burnt umber, cerulean blue, ultramarine, veridian and finishing touches for the sea spray using Chinese White.

The second picture is a detail picture of the wave. I thoroughly enjoyed painting this one.

Inspired by Arnold Lowery

Certain things draw you to a picture, painting or the style of an artist. After viewing a number of paintings on WetCanvas by Arnold Lowery, I was drawn to his style, flow and creative ideas in his paintings. I especially like his "action" paintings of the sea. For those of you who aren't familiar with Arnold, he is an artist from Wales and as you can imagine, is inspired by the sea. A few weeks ago I purchased his instructional book Sea and Sky in Watercolour and I also got the DVD to go along with it. It is a really helpful book full of ideas using his techniques. What I have learned is something that I will be able to use in my paintings, but with tweeking to my own style. The DVD is a very helpful tool to actually see him painting.

The painting above is a rendition of one of Arnold's paintings titled "Cliffs" in his book. This is my version of it and I think it is similar. I made a few changes to it though. This is a smaller painting on an 8x10 Conrad Watercolor paper, 300 gsm or 140 lb, Cold Press. I hope that one day I will be able to make it to Wales to attend one of Arnold's classes. Your comments are always welcome and I appreciate any feedback regarding any of my paintings, pictures or the site in general.