A patio at Azay-le-Rideau midday

Sketch and tonal study inspired by the patio of a Restaurant at Azay-le-Rideau

During the summer of 2023, we visited this lovely city, Azay-le-Rideau, which is most famous for its château, a part of the French patrimony of the Loire Valley.

After a long visit to the château in the morning, we found time and inspiration to walk the commune along the Indre. At noon, though, we stepped into this restaurant housed in a former manor, whose delicate design is so reminiscent of the style employed by the old French aristocracy to build their Summer residences as hunting lodges.

Fortunately, we found a table to serve lunch in the otherwise very crowded patio facing the property’s garden.

Browsing through my photo album, I found myself once again reliving the pleasure of reliving memories from that French vacation, which I still cherish very much. Thus, I found motivation this Sunday morning to invest time in a large sketch inspired by one of the photos and complete a tonal study, aiming to have a good start for my future painting project for this week.

Here is the result