About a half mile walk past the hospital of Barga, the landscape opens out to pasture land with some terrific views of the distant mountains. I liked the reddish coloured rendered house with the telegraph poles leading the eye to the building.
Many people in this area keep vines, making wine mainly for personal use. You have to go to the central region of Tuscany where wine is produced on a grand scale. I liked this building on a terrace nestled within vines.
There are many alleyways that criss-cross Barga Vecchia. It can be almost like walking around a maze but as Barga is very small you will not get lost. Depending on the time of day, the light and shadows created can transform an alley like this one I sketched this afternoon.
This view of Barga Duomo from about a mile away as the crow flies is a lovely example of how warm and cool colours give depth to a scene even though they are tonally very similar. Mixed weather for the next few days.
Just over a 5 minute drive south of Barga is the hamlet of Ponte di Campia. Nothing really interesting about the place apart from our lovely friends the Gillies family live here with their many pets including a micro pig (Squidgy) who is now several times larger than a micro pig! Whilst doing my daily sketch from their garden, Squidgy was happily grunting around my feet so for this reason, it was what was happening around myself that made this sketch memorable!
I drive this road at least a few times a day so this time I stopped the car, and did this sketch late afternoon when the shadows are long and the light takes on a warm glow. Just past the house, the Duomo of Barga and the mountains beyond can be seen which I have sketched several times already.
The village of Albiano just across the valley from Barga has some lovely views particularly the view up to Sommocolonia. I liked the terracing in between the trees adding some contrast and horizontal linework.
