'Last June I was lucky enough to lead a painting holiday in delightful Umbria, Italy,' says Colin Joyce.

'I had never been to that part of Italy before so was particularly excited by the opportunity to paint there. I had a wonderful group of keen students all staying together in a hillside farmhouse with wonderful views to paint and enjoy.

'This article is based around watercolour sketches I made of the landscape and a demonstration to paint from one of the photographs I took in the vicinity, which follows in part two'.

Tenuta di Poggiolame, watercolour, (38x28cm)

What colours do I need for painting Mediterranean scenes?

I worked in watercolour during the week, partly because it’s easy to transport when flying and easy to carry around and set up at your destination.

Something very important to consider before I left was the palette of colours I would use compared to that which I normally adopt back home in Scotland.

View from the Castle, watercolour, (28x38cm)

For Umbria I wanted a range of pigments to reflect the colours in the buildings and generally brighter light.

I also felt that using a limited palette would help harmonise the resulting paintings.

My main pigments were:
Other pigments I had in the palette but generally didn’t use were:

The surface

I used quarter imperial sheets of Saunders Waterford 300gsm Rough surface for these paintings, fixed onto the watercolour painting station (below) I designed to allow me to travel light yet be able to everything in a fairly small backpack.

Colin’s watercolour painting station

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Painting on location

There’s a lot to consider when painting on location. How much equipment are you willing to carry around all day? Believe me, one soon learns to trim that down to the essentials.

I’ve seen artists come up with some ingenious ideas to reduce the load and we all learn from each other. It’s one of the benefits of meeting up with fellow painters outdoors. If I don’t think I’ll get the opportunity to set up my easel and paint a watercolour, I take a smaller watercolour pad or sketchbook and just sit on a wall or bench and work on my lap.

FOR TOP TIPS ON PLANNING FOR A PAINTING HOLIDAY CLICK HERE

A Corner of the Garden, watercolour, (38x28cm)

Painting from a photograph

Orvieto is a myriad of narrow side streets, each one more tempting than the last as a wonderful subject for a painting.

I took lots of photographs while I was there, including the magnificent cathedral, which makes for a wonderful view, but very difficult as a subject to paint.

Sometimes the more mundane view makes for better subject matter. Light and shade, high contrast and simplicity offer more for the artist.

The photograph and tonal sketch (above) will be used for the step-by-step demonstration in part two.

I encourage you to interpret the photograph yourself first however by making your own tonal sketch in the way I have and decide what to include and what to leave out.

If you then paint from your sketch and put the photograph to one side you’re likely to achieve a more interesting result.

Notice how I simplified the scene in my sketch, leaving out the vegetation and the streetlamp that was silhouetted against the sky.

I felt these drew my attention away from the main point of interest, the figure below.

I also extended the sunlit wall behind the figure to add further contrast here.

These are the sort of elements you must consider when creating your art rather than slavishly copy a photograph. Go on, give it a try before going on to the full demonstration.

Click here to read part two of Colin's feature.

About Colin Joyce

Based in Fife, Scotland, Colin works in both oils and watercolour.

He regularly conducts demonstrations and workshops for art groups throughout the UK. To find out more visit www.colinjoyceart.com where you can also register for his newsletter.

This article is taken from the January 2019 issue of Leisure Painter. Enjoy endless inspiration with access to past and present issues of both The Artist and Leisure Painter magazines, plus exclusive video demos, tutorials and more, with our Studio Membership! Discover how you can join today. 

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