Italian Farm

 Hey there Everyone!



Italian farm in oils on canvas board

Here I am back to painting in oils which I adore.  This painting was quite the challenge for me as I’m hopeless at buildings and usually avoid them at all costs as I can’t draw a straight line to save my life.  But then who is to say buildings have to have perfectly straight lines?  I think they have much more character if they are wonky ;) what do you think?

I began as usual with toning the ground and this time used pale blue rather than my usual yellow ochre.  I wanted to see if it made a difference.  It might be a good experiment to do the same painting using one warm and then one cool ground and compare the two.  But that’s an experiment for another day.

Drawing the buildings took longer than I usually take as it was important to get the shapes right because those buildings are going to be my centre of interest.

I then got straight into the block in, which soon showed up my lack of skill with straight lines, but not to worry.  We can fix that when we refine.

Block in 

Tackling the next stage, refining, proved something of a headache.  First I had to fix the dark tone of the distant mountain as I needed to push it back more.  Then getting those roofs to sit correctly was my own personal nightmare.  It’s strange how pushing and pulling to get a painting right results in an overwhelming feeling of contentment when the result is suddenly spot on.  After pushing yourself beyond your skill level, you just know when you’ve got there and it’s a great feeling.



I might yet ago in again after I have lived with it for a day or two, but for now, I’m happy with it.

See you next week.

Best wishes

Shari

😊


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