Just behind our house is an old neglected barn that will probably last for many more years. Built from material that was to hand round about gives the building loads of character and so I sketched this with a soft conte pencil, smudging with my fingers and adding a bit of watercolour over the top to give the appearance of rain and years of neglect.
As you walk around the narrow streets and alleyways of Barga Vecchia, you notice how many shutters are closed. Italians seem to live in the dark all year round. In summer the shutters keep out the hot sun and in winter they keep the warmth in. As a Northern European (British), I crave light so our shutters are permanently open all year round and if I lived in this villa for example I would certainly keep the shutters open to see the magnificent scenery outside!
Well, summer lasted for a day. Today, back to rain and cooler temperatures so my sketch today has softer colours and is more atmospheric. You can just make out the mountains in the distance, yesterday they were pin sharp!
A hot sunny day today. House Martins flying around starting to build nests although mud is in short supply due to lack of water this winter. People sitting outside cafes soaking up the sun, drinking cold beers, ice creams in high demand and the late afternoon sun creating warm shadows. Yes, I think summer has finally arrived, hopefully!
So far most of my sketches have been long distance scenes but this time I wanted a more abstract feel to my sketch so this close-up view looking down on the garden and rooftops from the Duomo was perfect. Lots of diagonals and strong shadows gives this sketch dynamism.
Today, the warm sunshine finally arrived. We’ve not seen a blue sky for many days. People came out of their cold houses to get some warmth. Winter clothes were put away hopefully until October. Today, I wanted the blue sky to feature predominantly so I sketched this view looking down on The Fosso car park with the statue piercing the sky and together with the bright green trees they created a lovely negative shape in the sky.
At last, there was a change in the weather this morning. Despite dark clouds over the distant mountains, the sun finally came out and the temperature noticeably increased. I hope this is a change for the best as people are waiting for decent weather to prepare their veg plots. This view changes every day, even every hour and today was no exception. When I finished the sketch, most of the clouds had disappeared being replaced by blue sky.
