Duomo di Siena, Italy

Duomo di Siena from the terrace alongside the Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico. I think I'll stop the painting there.

Siena, Tuscany

Lines, lines, lines.... love them!

Cappella Vitaleta, San Quirico, Tuscany, Italy

Cappella Vitaleta, San Quirico, Tuscany, Near Siena, Italy. Couldn't resist painting this one - it's probably been painted a zillion times before! I've started drawing my Siena project - it's 18 months since we were there, time flies.

Tuscany ready

Finished version of my post on 24 May. On the road from Florence and Siena. Art in the Gardens submission!

Tuscany

Another work in progress for Art in the Gardens submission day. This was one from our first visit to Tuscany last autumn and is between Florence and Siena. Lovely lush landscapes!

Siena Cathedral doodle

My memory of our first view of Cattedrale Di Siena as we walked around the massive Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico to reveal this view across the valley.

'omage to Van Gogh & San Gimignano 02 - finished

'omage to Van Gogh & San Gimignano 02 - finished and ready for submission day. This is the central section - hopefully it'll all become visible at the Great Sheffield Art Show in July.

'omage to Van Gogh & San Gimignano 02 - stage 1

'omage to Van Gogh & San Gimignano 02 - stage 1 - the pencil sketch. It's A3 size and follows our visit to Tuscany last September and my lifelong liking for Vincent VG's paintings. This one is for the Great Sheffield Art Show Selection Day in April. I'll post the finished acrylic painting tomorrow.

'omage to Van Gough & San Gim

Heeley Art Club's theme for yesterday evening was "Working in the style of an artist you admire". My effort is 'omage to Vincent van Gough, combined with a view of the beautiful San Gimignano from our recent visit to Tuscany. I arrived at the Art Club minus my acrylics, so I drove straight back home and, to save time, I spent the evening in my own little garret producing the artwork below:

Siena - the Duomo - first view

Our first view of the Siena Duomo as we round the corner from the Basilica de San Domenico with a large Tuscan cypress tree on the left..... work in progress.

My full painting kit revealed

I'm not really suffering for my Art or praying - this is an action shot of me enjoying myself - finishing off my sketch of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence - in the shade of the arches supporting the Ufizzi Gallery overlooking the Arno. I see the skin on my head has almost finished growing through my hair..... and I still think I'm only sixteen!

Volterra, Tuscany, Italy, last sketch

Friday afternoon, 4rd October, Volterra, Tuscany. My last sketch in Tuscany. The Palazzo dei Priori from the Via dei Marchesi. Incredibly built in 1239. The top tower was strange to draw - it was a pentagon. The shaded piazza in front of the Palazzo was my favourite spot to have a lazy coffee and watch the world go by. No photos of me drawing this time - my beautiful assistant, wife and camera operator finally cracked - she went shopping! Saturday - flight home - goodbye Italy - will I ever return?

Volterra, Tuscany, Italy

Friday, 4rd October, Volterra, Tuscany - centre for alabaster products - we saw many tiny workshops with crafts-persons busy sculpting and scraping away. We had a free day (no more guided tours). Our last lunch - this time at Osteria la Paca near Porta a Selci looking up the Via Don Mizoni. As usual in Mediterranean countries it wasn't long before someone parked a car in a "no parking" zone completely blocking my view.... no problem, I stood up and finished the drawing from the middle of the road. We stayed 4 nights in Volterra which was my second favourite place in Tuscany - so bellisimo! Wouldn't mind being locked in at this town and being at 1700 feet above sea level I might be able to cope with Italian temperatures. It's even higher than our little home village high above Sheffield.

Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Thursday, 3rd October, Siena, Tuscany. After a hard morning's guided tour we found the Ristorante San Desiderio for lunch at a shaded table in the open air - and a quick sketch of the Belltower to the Duomo.

Piazza Cisterna, San Gimignano, Tuscany

San Gimignano - I think this was my favourite place of many extremely bellisimo places in beautiful Tuscany. Wednesday 2 October, I was sitting on top of the cistern which I think was built originally to store water to resist those sieges the pesky Florentinians were pretty good at.

Italy, Firenze, Ponte Vecchio

Tuesday afternoon 1 October - Florence. Life was too short to join the queues for the Uffizi Gallery so, instead, I sketched the Ponte Vecchio from the upstream side. That's me in the top photo drawing the bridge in pen. It was so hot and sunny I painted the scene in the shade of the arches supporting the Uffizi. I didn't have my stool so I had to kneel on the pavement (see bottom photo). My wife was on camera again - she hates long queues as well!

Palazzo Veccio, Florence, Italy

Tuesday morning 1 October. Florence - Palazzo Veccio (the Town Hall). Me and my cappuccino outside the Birreria restaurant. There were quite a lot of tourists in this beautiful Piazza (della Signoria). That's David to the left of the main door opening

.

Italy, Tuscany, Pisa

Tuscany again - Sunday afternoon 29 September - Pisa. Had to paint this one sitting on a stone post surrounded by people being photographed "holding up" the leaning tower. We had flown into Pisa airport the previous day (see the plane to the right of the tower) and had spent the night in Florence before being driven back to Pisa via Lucca. 

Tuscany - Lucca

Here it is - my dream come true - I'm in Tuscany! Sunday 29 September - Piazza San Michele, Lucca. Torrential rain all morning so I painted this one from under cover outside a nice little café. I'm going to have to re-visit this picturesque town..... one day! It did get better.

More Pastels

Heeley Art Club meeting 24 September again. I was doodling and dreaming of my first visit to Tuscany on 28 September. First image is my idea of a Tuscan landscape. Second image is my idea of Siena Cathedral - as it turned out my first sight of it (as we passed the Basilica di san Domenico) was remarkably similar - I should have added a dome!