Roman Aqueduct
Three years ago, about this time of year, we spent a three-week vacation in Provence, France. The region is surnamed “The Roman Province” for a reason. It is rich in monuments and ruins built in antiquity by the Romans. This week, I wanted to paint on half-sheet paper for the first time and experiment with […]
Distilled clock
During the plein air session at the Toronto Distillery last week, I found inspiration for a composition centred on the clock tower. The beautiful blend of warm and cold colours reflected by various architectural elements of that site makes it specially appealing for a study. For a value study, I chose to simplify the objects […]
Mastering composition with value and saturation
To practice the lessons learned from reading books last Wednesday, I walked around the corner to sketch a new value study plein-air for a new composition. The pathway from the schoolyard to the adjacent street is adorned with canopies of many large trees, which are rich at this time of year. I liked the sense […]
Sunny afternoon in Toledo Spain
It was almost 5 PM in Spain when we arrived in Toledo with the local day tour guide. As we walked the streets of the old city, we came into this exquisite Plazza called ‘de Ayuntamiento‘ The building faces the large Cathedral in Toledo. One visiting the old town cannot miss it. It was designed […]
The practice of thumbnails
Thumbnails are about compositional intelligence, not about anatomy, rendering or refinement. This is the first step in creating a successful painting. The goals of the exercise The first goal is to train the eye to see structure, not objects such as trees, boats, faces, details, or buildings. Rather, it is about seeing value masses, directional […]