A recent sailing trip on the yacht Kiperissiy gave me a perfect opportunity to include some painting and to paint Plein Air in Greece.
Getting away to the warm, sunny palette of Mediterranean colours was a real contrast to the Celtic snows and mist of the frozen north of Scotland. Sketching from the boat in a relatively calm sea gave me the chance to study the coastline from a different perspective. The weather gave me the reassurance that if I did manage to fall overboard the worst I would get was a warm bath. A variety of these sketches are below.
I took lots of photographs. I normally do not use these for my paintings but between them and my sketch books they provide a great reference for when I return to my studio. I discovered new colour and light such as ultramarine blue trees and pink and vermillion shadows. Every colour jumped out at you in warm and bright hues.
Since I have returned I’ve worked on colourful still life studies with Lemons, Fish and watermelon which I have enjoyed and found very rewarding. Some finished examples of these can be seen below. The intention for the future is that this trip will culminate in a new series of Mediterranean paintings to compliment my Scottish paintings.
Sketching from the boat
Parga sketch
Parga Sketch 2
Albanian sketch
Albanian sketch 2
Fish Market sketch
Second fish market sketch
Boat sketch
Blue fish on a gold table
Platter of sardines & olives
Mackerel, watermelon & olives