Daily Sketch No.7 Olive Trees in the Garden

Just down the road from us (35kms) is Lucca, a stunning walled city. The surrounding hills around Lucca are famous for the quality of its olive oil. We have a few young olive trees on our terraces which are famous for NOT producing any oil from the olives!, but the silvery green leaves provide some contrast on the terraces.

Daily Sketch No.6 Barga Duomo through the Trees

This area of Northern Tuscany is covered by thousands of trees, many of them Chestnut trees, the chestnuts made into the flour used for making pasta in times past. During Winter and early Spring, with no foliage on the trees, buildings can be seen but come Summer they vanish. This view of the Duomo in a month or so will be no more, just green foliage and tree trunks!

Daily Sketch No.5 Villa Biondi near Barga, Tuscany

This is the beautiful old Villa Biondi just outside Barga which is a Bed & Breakfast. I loved the box hedging leading up to the front entrance and the cast shadows of the trees on the faded facade. Sketched around 5pm.

Daily Sketch No.4 Barga Duomo with ‘Sleeping Man’ Mountain, Barga Tuscany

This is the most famous view of the Barga Duomo with the ‘Sleeping Man’ Mountain in the background so called as you can easily see the outline of a man lying down with his knees up. I drive past this view nearly everyday on my way down to Barga and everytime the colours are diferent depending on the time of day and the seasons. This was sketched around 4pm.

Daily Sketch No.3 Late Afternoon Sun, Barga, Tuscany

At the moment there is a wonderful quality of light around 4pm in the afternoon. I liked the contrast of the dark shady trees against the sun-kissed buildings. This spot in Barga, just below the Duomo is so peaceful, just a few cats lounging around in the sunshine and the bells of the Duomo chiming every 15 minutes.

Daily Sketch No.2 Farmhouse on the Terraces, near Barga, Tuscany

Sometimes inspiration for a sketch/drawing does not come visually but from what I hear around myself. A perfect Spring day, sitting outside with a coffee in the sun, the birds singing, a few buzzards circling around  and I was inspired! This sketch is the view from our terrace garden, looking across the valley where there is a lovely farmhouse with a tree-lined hillside in the background.

Daily Sketch No.1 Aristos Bar, Barga, Tuscany

This is the first sketch of a year-long project to produce a sketch/drawing everyday, documenting the medieval hilltop town of Barga and surrounding landscape in Northern Tuscany where I live most of the time. Some sketches will form the basis for future paintings but many will just simply be a record of the landscape throughout the seasons. These sketches will also cover trips to other areas of Italy, France, Northern England and anywhere else I may be! To be updated on my progress, please subscribe to my mailing list and become a member. If you also a sketcher, let me know and I can put your link on my site. Thanks and wish me luck!