Scouting the neighborhood

Sometimes it is a good idea to leave the paint at home and explore by foot or car a new area. My wife Monica and I took an afternoon to drive around the neighborhood.  With a simple digital camera one can record the sites that might be worth painting.  So the following are some pictures from that afternoon.

A new friend in the neighborhood

The wife

Is Tuscany great or what?  There are subjects everywhere.  I ended up going back the next day to a spot with a few trees and a beautiful dry field.  I heard some guys working nearby, so I had to approach the country boys with my limited Italian to ask permission.  They thought I was crazy to even ask, and were happy to let me set up nearby.  They were splitting fire wood, and the smell of the saw dust and split wood was pleasant on that hot afternoon.  Things were fine until they cranked up the chain saw.  Oh well, I was well into the sketch by then.

Getting started - kind of late, but there is always tomorrow

I really liked the simplicity of this site, with the long shadows, the spacing of the trees, the broad flat foreground.  I had seen the side view of this spot many times driving down the hill, but never got out of the car to check out the possibilities. 

 I had to try to get the shadows down quickly, because things were changing fast, there are always a few shadows I forget to record and then much later  I try to remember their angle and it's too late.  Just a thin blue or brown without any white will do to position the shadows on the canvas.  

Day two - why was I so late getting out yesterday?

You can see the red-orange underpainting of the tree foliage

Fine Estate, Toscana  o/c  30x40cm

Morning Light

There is a big gap between when I paint and when I post -  this painting was done in July and it is already November.  I blame it on the fact that I like to photograph the painting after I get a couple of coats of retouch varnish on it, and for that the painting has to be quite dry.  Well that is my excuse anyway.  So, lets try to remember.... July - hot, buggy, the sun always too high in the sky.

Morning light

I had to use the umbrella to keep the sun off me and the canvas, and then a large rock in the easel to keep the whole thing from blowing over.  Usually I am facing the sun, but not today.

The reverse angle of my set-up

Getting started

This was a great place to paint as there were varied flat and vertical planes, and many levels of distant hills, each getting lighter and more cool.  It appeared to me that the dry grass fields became more and more pink with the distance.

Getting there, the watch is to remind me not to be late for lunch

Rotoballe al Mattino  o/c  40x50cm  -    Available at the Stage Door Gallery