Day 3- Castellini and Villa Casa Nova di Chianti- Painting En Plein Air

Our destination today was Castellini...a small town about 15 minutes by car from our home base.  We took 3 vans and went to town to find nice locations to paint.  I brought my good camera, a fold up stool, a backpack with a pad of Arches 140 and a small watercolor travel pad, my travel palette of watercolors, brushes, a water bottle, sun bonnet, jacket, a collapsible water holder, paper towels, sepia marker, a pencil, a black marker, and an eraser. It all fit in my rolling backpack and I definitely had everything I needed.


I took a few photos at first and tried to find a place that called to me to be painted.  This one was quiet, and I had a vantage point that was in the shade without anyone around.  I decided to try my hand at this.  At first I did a sketch in my mini sketch book with an elegant writer marker.  I then took a brush with water and made the lines bleed.  This is a really fun value foundation for painting.  I then added my watercolors for a little more color and the paper got a bit mushy. Once nice thing that happened is that a bunch of other students joined me in my little corner and we had fun painting together.  The lady who lives there also was kind enough to hang a shirt on the line for me.  I was going to have to  make up some laundry so that was very fortunate. Later on, the lines above were filled with laundry too.  I guess that's what happens on sunny days in Tuscany!

When my paper began to get mushy I decided to try it again on better paper.  When will I learn?!  NEVER paint on anything but good paper!!!  How many times have I said it to my students???  And here I am proving my point by making the same mistake yet again.  Getting out my 140 Arches, I sat on my little tripod stool and drew it again.  I began with pencil and then once I had my perspective lines in place, I quickly went to my sepia marker.  I'm finding that I like the quality of the marks it makes much better when I'm drawing on location.  The lines are better and the value is perfect.  It's a Staedler sepia marker and I just love it.  Karlyn Holman is a fan, and I am too.
My back side was getting tired and the light was changing so I got up to walk around a little bit.  I happened on a little boy and an elderly man...perhaps his grandpa.  The little boy was blowing bubbles and it was charming.  When I went back to my drawing, I thought it might be nice to put them into the scene.  The student next to me had injected a dog into the little scene, and I thought that a little life might be a good idea in my street scene.  So I drew the little Bubble boy and his elderly friend.  My sketch was complete and it was time for lunch.

After lunch we forced ourselves to enjoy a gelato and then caught a ride back to home base.  Once there, I needed a little coffee to offset the wine I had at lunch, because a few of us were going on a hike to a local villa on the next hill.

The place is owned by Dutch owners and we are able to visit without disturbing anyone.  The hike to get there was about 1/2 hr, and I got the chance to spend more time with Karlyn's co-teacher Bonnie.  She is great and really a good painter and teacher. I enjoyed getting to spend more time with her today.  Once we got there, I took photos, and decided to hang back to try and make a sketch of the great architecture and cool roof elements.  I was able to climb up on a small hill and perch there to get a better perspective on the roof elements.  I loved the weathervane and the chimnies...they were what interested me and from up on this little mound of rocks and grass I could see them better.














When you compare the next 2 photos I think you'll see why I like to use my zoom lens.  These two photos are the same sight.  I zoom in on the first and don't use a zoom on the second.  The composition gets flattened when you use a zoom, and I think it lends itself to a more pleasant perspective.  What do you think?

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I preferred the first composition so that is what I based my drawing on.  I began by placing my favorite element...the weathervane...in the upper left sweet spot of my drawing.  Then I went from there.  The weathervane ended up being a little larger than life...but I didn't mind that.  I got the drawing in by finding my perspective lines and big shapes in pencil, but quickly went to the Staedler pen again as soon as I felt I could.  Given my experience this morning, I figured it was the best way to go fast.










Here's the drawing without paint.  Karlyn is a big proponent of laying in shadows first.  The shadows were awesome at that point so I quickly mixed up some lavendars and blues and tried to capture them.  The light was changing but I tried to move as quickly as I could and went from light, to medium to dark shadows. I knew that I was taking longer than expected and didn't want to miss the critique for the end of the day's work, so I called it a day and started to pack.  






This is what my painting looked like with a few shadow forms in place.  










The final blessing of the day was a silent visit from my little friend below.  It was magical to share that moment with such a sweet creature. No words were exchanged....none were needed.   I think he is an Italian fawn.  He came at just the right moment and I was able to take a few photos.  A sweet ending to a fabulous day of painting en plein aire!

The day's final blessing!

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