Sometimes atmosphere can be more important in a sketch. For example, there was a full moon, a light from an open window and roofs silhouetted against the clear night sky. Cars parked in the foreground give a sense of scale. This scene is the day would be mundane but tonight it became the subject of the Daily Sketch.
Tonight is the Euro 2012 final Italy versus Spain. Watching from the sofa with a cold drink as it is still hot at 9pm. Sadly within the first few minutes you knew who were going to win. No celebrations in Barga tonight!
Manchester is an ever changing City. For example I did a painting of this same view about three years ago. This huge complex, opposite Victoria Station was hardly started, several cranes on the skyline. Now it is a thriving metropolis houseing thousands of people.
There are some magnificent Victorian buildings in Manchester including this one, the Manchester Corn Exchange. I like the contrast between these old buildings and the new contemporary ones, making Manchester a lively cosmopolitan city.
Last night we sat watching the very exciting football semi-finals with Italy and Germany on a big outdoor screen on the Corn Exchange building in Manchester. Italy won the match so will see the final when we get back to Italy on Sunday night. If Italy win, the whole of Barga will go mad!
Yesterday I was in the County of Shropshire, middle England. It is an area I know little about except my brother lives there now. Red brick quaint cottages, millponds, hedgerows and narrow country lanes. Americans and Japanese tourists would love it but it is not as nice as the county of Yorkshire, but I am biased - I’m a Yorkshireman!
Between Manchester and Sheffield is the stunning Peak District National Park. This is where I spent most of my teenage years walking and it is the landscape that inspired me to become a landscape painter. Even though I live in Tuscany, I still paint this varied landscape because it holds so many lovely memories of my childhood.
