Under the motorway (October)

27 October 2015

Last month, the sun was much lower in the sky, so today I came an hour earlier. (Or with the clocks changing, is it the same time -- or two hours earlier?) Even so, the sun is now only just above the trees that are around the top of the hollow.

And those trees have turned orange and brown; down here in the hollow, there's still a lot of green, with just a few hints of yellow. The orange and brown leaves on the ground are those that have fallen from the trees above. The nettles have died back almost completely.



Ink and watercolour, 31 x 23cm. Click to enlarge.

(Fifth in a series: Click here to see the rest)

Florence: Piazza degli Antinori

17 October 2015


Cars in front of the baroque facade of Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano.

Modern cars are so difficult to draw: no straight lines, all subtle curves. And you can't really see the cars: you can only see the reflections in the glass and metal.

Ink and watercolour, 21 x 13cm

Florence: Piazza di San Lorenzo

In front of the church of San Lorenzo. The man on the motorcycle stays in the same position long enough for me to draw him. Some campaigners are imploring people to sign their petition: "Sign against drugs. Is important. Where are you from? New Mexico? Is beautiful, no? Will you sign against drugs?"
Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Florence: Piazza Demidoff

16 October 2015

In Oltrarno, the much quieter side of the river; much easier to find somewhere to sit and draw. You can see the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm.

Florence: Piazza dei Cavalleggeri

15 October 2015

From outside the National Library, across the river Arno to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Didn't finish this because it started to rain.

Ink, 43 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Florence: Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini

14 October 2015

Round the back of the church of San Lorenzo. I've just realised that you can see some of the church windows (cut off at top right) reflected in the windows of the red car (bottom left).


Ink and watercolour, 43 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Overheard conversation 1:

"It's fifteen years since I was last in Florence."
"Fifteen?"
"No, fifty."

Overheard conversation 2:

"French people don't like curry."

Florence: Santa Maria Novella

13 October 2015



Widescreen view, in the cloisters of Santa Maria Novella.

Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Florence rooftops

12 October 2015

The view from the our apartment at Il Gatto congli Stivali (highly recommended!). Early morning: a cat wanders across the rooftops; sadly, he is not wearing boots.
Ink and watercolour, 43 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Florence: Piazza della Signoria

11 October 2015


Crowds! This would usually be an uncomfortable situation in which to paint and draw, but everyone is so busy looking at the architecture (and their phones) that they don't notice what I'm doing. Also, they pause just long enough to sketch them, and keep the same pose for a minute or two.

Ink, 43 x 13 cm. Click to enlarge.

Spring Cottage

05 October 2015

House at Piddinghoe, Sussex.
Ink and watercolour, 14 x 9 cm

Rose Cottage

03 October 2015