San Gimignano Rooftops (after John Hammond)

Stephen - I think you've done well with this, because it's a difficult subject (maybe more so than you realized when you set out so blithely to paint it!). I think maybe you needed some colder greens in the foreground, and would have suggested pthalo or prussian blue mixed with a sharp yellow, like Lemon, plus a touch of Burnt Sienna: applied at the left and going diagonally down to the right, this might have helped to throw the town back a bit, even if you'd used hotter colours in the buildings. Italy's a hot place, generally (so they tell me!) and I'd expect the tonal contrasts to be stronger. This should be easier in acrylics, although I have to say that it's a chancy old business trying to replicate paintings from books - unless you've been to these places yourself, you can't appreciate the differences in light.

I think it is a lovely painting, love the warmth of the stone in the buildings contrasting against the sky. The different tones in the greens work for me.

Many thanks Robert and Glennis for yout thoughtful commente. The photo has bleached some of the strength out of the original painting. However, Robert''s thoughts are fair comment. Mr. Hammond's original is much stronger and gives the feeling of a hot Mediterranean day. As Robert says, trying to copy a good artists work from a book illustration is tricky!