URBAN SKETCHING

URBAN SKETCHING

Sketching in Firenze

This is a photo from two years ago, April 2017, when I really discovered  Urban Sketching

- and got hooked!

There was a Sketching Maratona in Florence and I met many persons that have become my friends.

Ferrara, May 2019

Ferrara, 2019

Monza, May 2019

Since then  I have been drawing and sketching in their company, and alone, 

all around Florence, Rome,

Tuscany, Sardinia and Italy, Spain, Greece and Finland.

I still use mostly watercolors, but I have discovered, or returned to, other mediums as well.

Above are some of my latest watercolor sketches.

Hope to see you soon and sketch or paint together!

Fabriano In Acquerello 2017

I'm very grateful and proud that my watercolor painting 'Cerchio Magico' was selected 

to the international watercolor exhibition

 'FabrianoinAcquerello' 

 in Fabriano, Italy this year.

The exhibition is opening on Thursday April 20th, 2017

and is part of a larger happening (link) gathering 100 Italian watercolor Artists representing our country,  

and totally more than 700 artworks by as many artists from the whole world!

Cerchio magico, 2016- watercolor 38x56 cm

During the following days there will be demonstrations, workshops and events - 

and many many watercolor artists sharing their passion - 

in the small town of Fabriano in Central Italy.
Here is the facebook page where you can read more.

I look forward to this experience - meeting some of my favourite artists, sharing with friends,

painting together and learning more every day!

Spring flowers in watercolors - how to paint

Narcisi dal giardino, 2016 -38x56 cm fabiano 300gsm

Lately I have been concentrating on urban sketching and painting, but I usually love painting florals.

It's easy - they grow in my garden or I keep them on my table.

Earlier I painted realistic, even if not really botanical flowers, 

while I now prefer to simplify and catch the essence.

On the painting above you can notice a clear influence by the paintings of Jean Haines ;), 

only an impression of the flowers!

Floreale, 2016. 38x56 cm

I paint quite big, real size, which means that I often just  can't fit everything into the paper. 

That's one reason why I choose to paint only a part of them; 

the main reason is that I find it more dynamic and expressive as a composition.

This is how I proceed: 

I use a big brush, a lot of water and bright colors. 

Once the first wash is dry I will add darker details, little by little - trying not to overwork - 

this is the hardest part!

Then I leave it to rest, and some hours later, or even the next day I will see if I need to add something.

I some areas are too bright, I will use a glaze, often with a complementary color.

Thank you for reading,

Hope you enjoyed my spring flowers?!

Some thoughts about Creativity!

This video that I made recently reassumes my thoughts about creativity.

Hope you enjoy it! 

Enjoy the process!

Statue of Nettuno, detail - watercolour on paper Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm

As I've finished teaching most workshops for this year, 

I finally have time to go through all the impressions and memories.

 I feel lucky to meet so many interesting and wonderful persons from different countries, 

sharing my passion in watercolour painting!

I really enjoy every single painting session, and I hope - I feel - most students do, as well.

The hard part is to decide how much theory I should teach 

- I'd really want to invite everybody to just enjoy the moment: 

the fluidity of the watercolours, the incredible colours that emerge from the the washes

 and some accidental happy surprises.

The nature of watercolour includes accepting also unplanned results!

Of course some basic knowledge is necessary - but then I think you should just...

Enjoy the process!

The painting above is an example of an unplanned painting, a happy coincidence?!

a sunset wash on paper 300 gsm

The background  wash started out as a demonstration of fluid painting 

during an inspiring sunset painting session in August. 

The result was similar to this one above.

 As usual, I didn't have time to finish it in any way, but as I liked the colours I kept it for another moment.

Some time ago it emerged amongst other washes and paintings,

 while I was watching photos of statues from Florence... and...

Suddenly this detail of the statue of Nettuno hit me -  a moment of inspiration 

- and the painting was done!

Yes, in this case I worked in a quite unusual way, 

since I adapted the painting to a previously painted background.

Fortunately there was light (white) in almost all the right spots, 

but not everthing worked pefectly well.

To get the three dimensional look, 

I had to adapt  the position of the figure to the background.

Compared to the real statue I also made some simplifications.

Did you notice which?!

 I added some structure, a hint of the wall behind, on the right part, and that's what I like less. 

Probably I should try to wash it away...

Anyway, I'm quite satisfied with this experiment, and think that maybe I could paint something else adapting these finishes and colours?

Cyclamen 2nd part - Ciclamini 2a parte

Ciclamini 28x38 cm, carta Fabriano artistico 300gr

Cyclamen, A loose floral painting from this winter

(you can see the process here in my earlier post).

This time I'm happy with how I kept the white for the light

 - even if I think that a terracotta pot could do a nice contrast! 

Have to wait for the autumn to get fresh flowers again!

Ciclamini, l'ho dipinto quest'inverno

(per vedere il processo nel mail precedente clicca qui ).

Questa volta sono contenta di aver conservato tanto bianco per dare luce 

- anche se penso che riproverò con dei vasi in terracotta.

Aspetterò i fiori freschi l'autunno prossimo!

Cyclamen 1st part - Ciclamini parte 1

Close up - Dettaglio 

. I started very loose and wet-in-wet making sure to preserve some white areas for contrast.

Ho iniziato con il bagnato su bagnato, avendo cura di conservare del bianco.

More details... I'll upload the final painting soon - have to take a new photo! 

- Altri dettagli... A breve  invierò la foto del dipinto finito (è venuto sfocato!)

P.S. The finished painting is here.

Ps.  vedi il dipinto finito qui!

Abstract landscapes 2 - Paesaggi astratti 2

Simplifying even more - just the horizon and colour washes...

Semplificando ancora - solo colore e orizzonte...

Sunset and backlight...

Tramonto e controluce...

And what about this - can you see a landscape here?!

E questo cosa sarà - ci vedi un paesaggio?!

link to more abstract landscapes- paesaggi astratti here

Abstract landscapes - Paesaggi astratti

  Just some small abstract landscape studies from this winter. 

My purpose was to simplify the shapes and play with the colours.

Alcuni piccoli paesaggi astratti dipinti quest'inverno.

Lo scopo era di semplificare le forme, giocando con i colori.

As you might see, I was inspired by... olive grooves at sunset.

Forse si può vedere che sono stata ispirata dagli uliveti al tramonto...

I think it's also clear in which order I painted these?!

Credo si possa capire anche la successione dei dipinti?!

Cyclists in Chianti - Ciclisti nel Chianti

 watercolor 28x38cm on 300 grs 100% cotton paper

Another study of cyclists - starting to be an obsession? 

Well, when I get an idea I want to develop it further, and still have to improve ... 

Any suggestions?
if you want to see other cyclists click here and here 

-

Ancora ciclisti - devo ancora sviluppare questa idea e migliorare...

Qualche suggerimento?
per vedere altri ciclisti vai qui e qui

L'Eroica

L'Eroica 

watercolour 28x38 cm

My very first Bicycles painting- inspired by L'Eroica, 

the cycling event hold in Chianti in October every year.
If you want to see another cyclists pinting click here.

-

Ispirata da L'Eroica ho dipinto il primo paesaggio con ciclisti...

Cliccare qui per vedere un altro dipinto con ciclisti.

Cyclists - Ciclisti

Racing in Chianti -Corse nel Chianti- 

28x38cm watercolour on Fabriano 300gr paper

I wanted to capture the atmosphere and the movement of bicycle races.

In Spring the roads of Chianti are full of bicycle riders...

-

In primavera le nostre strade sono piene di ciclisti. 

Qui ho voluto catturare l'atmosfera e il movimento di una corsa di ciclismo...

Watercolour studies - more pears!

If you have seen my earlier posts (here and here) you can see how my paintings developed, getting simplier!

I also changed the accent colours, choosing from the real ones I would see.

 I painted many more, but already sent them as postcards! 

At the end I ran out of the ready cut  paper - and used some Canson 200 gsm paper for the last pears( as the one above). It dried much faster, and doesn't have the structure of the Fabraiano Artistico coldpressed watercolour paper, but it's also interesting.

Now - it was time to stop!

But I will definitely repeat this painting session as an excercise soon. I also recommend it as a watercolour lesson to everybody: choose a  simple subject, paint small size and repeat several times!

It's very meditative and zen - and you learn a lot!

Watercolour studies - pears!

Some days ago I painted a series of pears from my garden (link here).

 I started with more naturalistic paintings, but slowly started to simplify. 

Below  you can get an idea of the process!

 More tomorrow!

Painting pears in my garden - so delicious!

Pears, watercolour  10x15 cm

We have had such a hot July, but finally last weekend the temperatures went down a bit, allowing me to move outdoors and enjoy my garden again. I wanted to paint a series of postcards for the postcardartgroup.

The vegetation and flowers have suffered from the heat, but I did find something to paint!

        Pears, small watercolours in progress, 10x15 cm

I started to paint the small pears that are maturing right now.

The first paintings were more naturalistic, even if I was using a loose style. 

I repeated the same subject several times...

 It was very relaxing and meditative to repeat the same subject with small changes, to see which changes would actually improve the painting. or which solutions I'd like more. 

Usually I like to paint large, but doing all these studies was possible because I kept the size small, like a postcard - and I highly recommend this excercise to everybody who loves painting!

                          The postcards are of now, but  I'll show you more pictures soon!

Playing with watercolours... Summer colours!

Alcea Rosea, watercolour 24x30cm on Fabriano Artistico 300grs paper

I have either been very busy or very lazy lately, so it's definitely time for a new post!

I painted this hollyhock (Alcea Rosea ) from my fantasy, last week,

when the flowers in my garden were already suffering the heat of July...

And this is what I did first, an underwash just playing with some colours. 

To be honest I wasn't really sure what it was going to develop into!

And yes, I admit I was definitely inspired by Jean Haines, if you don't know her work, click on the link for lots of inspiration.

 work in progress

Lesson 5: Play with your watercolours!

 Take your material and start playing - it's easy and fun!

Start with any piece of watercolour paper and use clean water to wet it with your brush. Check the wetness of the paper by turning it and looking at it from the border : it should be damp all over, without pools!

Now choose 2 or 3 colours  and start dropping colours onto the paper! You can mix some colours, if you want, or just let them mix on the paper. 

Let the colours spread and see how beautiful the result is without  any effort!  This is the basics of wet-in-wet painting and You will enjoy playing like this even if you are a more experienced painter!

This is Wet in wet - It's easy!

 Wet-in-wet is one of the basic watercolour techniques - so now practice!!

This post will be continued...

Paint what you love! Watercolour Lesson 4

A couple of close-ups of a sketch of my orchids!

When you've managed to get the materials that suit you personally, success is only a few steps away, here's the formula 

1. Do something you love
2. Learn life long
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2

I found it here, link to Watercolour Painter, where you can get more information and find step to step instructions as well!

A lot of fun just playing with colours, capturing the pattern and colours of my flowers!

Watercolours allow you to play freely and get fresh sketches more than any other medium!

 While this is a more traditional painting from some time ago! Link to my post here.

Painting Endless Summer Nights...

Late evening: Summerhouse in the Archipelago

I'm reposting this painting I made from a photo a while ago. 

I kind of  feel nostalgic about 

Midsummer in the Finnish Archipelago and the long days and sunny nights...

Lesson 2: Choosing you watercolours - START PAINTING!

This post was going to be about choosing you watercolours - 

but I really think it's more important to START PAINTING whatever colors you have!

                                                                work in progress...

Anyway this is also a reminder for who has had lessons with me! If you are going to buy your watercolours, I recommend to start just with a basic box, like the one in the image above. You can also use watercolour in tubes. I suggest starting with these basic colors:
Lemon yellow
Cadmium Yellow
Cadmium Red
Alizarin Crimson
Cobalt Blue
French Ultramarin
Prussian Blue
Yellow Ochra
Burnt Siena

If there's a white pan in the box, put it away - the white is not used in traditional watercolour painting! You only use the white of the paper! (But don't throw it , you can use it for abstract or botanical paintings!)

As you notice, there is no green, purple or orange - because you can mix all the colours you need out of the three basics: yellow, red, blue. If you are not familiar with the mixing of colours, check out this link for the color wheel. The Siena and ochra are additional and good for neutrals or landscape painting as well!
I plan to prepare a post on mixing colours as well, soon.

What else do you need to get started?
- A couple of round brushes - one as large as you dare, and a smaller one -size 12 for example - for the details. They should have a nice point and be capable of holding a full brush load of water (and paint). A synthetic brush will do well for starting.
- 1-2 jars for clean water.
- A plate or palette for mixing colors.
- paper towels

That's all! Now go on painting, mixing and having fun!!