Camogli in italy

Camogli in Italy 02 - by Miki

Travel sketch in ink and watercolour, painted on the site

The sea town Camogli by the Riviera was one of the places we visited in the first part of our Italy trip. It had been very difficult to reach  with our Boomobile, in fact the first time we were there was a Sunday and we had to escape again, much too many people were there and it was impossible to find a parking place, even very far away from the town. All Italy seemed to be there that day! A pity as  the town, seen from the road above, seemed spectacular. It hurt in the soul to go away without being able to make even one sketch. But we came back days later, as we had to trace back our steps, Kevin having to take a plane in Genova for a gig in the UK. And eventually the town turned out to be a great place for me to sketch, I loved it! It was also the first time we tried some Focaccio bread, my God: to die for!

Camogli in italy 11 - by Miki

When  I look at this painting, I can’t help to think that the church seems a little big too big.. but who cares… I don’t! Anyway, perhaps it was so, and certainly in my artist;s perception. In any case to look at the painting makes want to go back there, and this is the most important!

Camogli in Italy 03 - by Miki

A typical street in Camogli. A delight for my artist’s eyes and hand!

I have painted much more there. If you want to see all my sketches from Camogli, please go to my FAA gallery. All the paintings and sketches are available as Giclee prints, in different sizes on paper or canvas, and as greeting cards. Just click on the widget below.

The Italian Job 01 – Imperia

Imperia in italy 02 - Travel sketch by Miki

Before we arrived in Italy we spent a few days in France, where I sketched a bit. Right now I don’t know where these sketches are, they kind of disappeared into one of the many secret holes of “Boo” (new nickname for our Boomobile… ), but at some point they will probably reappear and land on the conveyor belt of my production line…

For now, let us go to Italy. It was the Second of April 2011. Some distance before the border between France and Italy, on the Cote d’Azur,  we had abandoned the National street for the highway. In Italy our first contact with an Italian person was the woman at the toll station, well equipped with a charming, welcoming body language. Nothing better than entering a new country and getting at once the feeling  to be wanted! We paid the highway fees and that lovely lady opened her mouth to say:

“Grazie!”

Well, as I commented to Kevin,”There was a whole Italian opera told in this one word!”. The way that woman spoke it was beyond what we normally call language, it took her ages to arrive at the final letter, and the accompanying music was of the most surrealistic kind. From that moment I knew I would never be able to speak Italian, never find the patience and motivation to spend so much time and drama to deliver one word. Later on, every time I heard Italians speaking, my first impression was confirmed. Quite a disappointment to me, as I wanted to learn Italian!

After having left the highway, we drove directly to the coast, in search of a place for the night. We eventually stopped in Imperia, a beautiful little town about 40 kilometres North of San Remo. We had a walk though the town, eager to capture the first impression of Italy. What impressed us here, and would never cease to impress us for the rest of the trip, was the size of the buildings: Great, towering, imposing edifices.

I did some ink and watercolour sketches, and thought of staying one day more there as I saw many attractive motifs. But well, we had just started the trip, and I would probably see millions of stuff to sketch. Better learn from the very beginning to let it go…

Imperia in Italy 02 – Travel sketch by Miki

You can see more sketches and paintings from Imperia in my Fine Art America gallery.

And if you want to purchase a print (on paper or canvas and many different sizes available) just click on the widgets below

Sketching in Saint-Jean-de-Luz

After the lovely days spent in Biarritz, we headed to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a little bit further down the coast, and quite close to Spain. A nice little town with a harbour full of character, quite a lot of motifs for me, but unfortunately I was a little bit tired of drawing these kind of motifs and I didn’t sketch as much there as the place deserved.

This was my very first sketch in the harbour. As Kevin -who had left me alone and gone exploring the town in search if some internet cafe- saw it, he asked:

“who is that guy?”

To tell the truth, that guy was a Japanese girl, who was sitting there with another Japanese girl, both having  their breakfast. And no, I didn’t try to sketch some Japanese girl, I just found the position nice, and a good element for the sketch. But I do wonder if that girl would somehow recognise herself if she one day finds this sketch on the net…

Complicated motifs in that town really… much stuff going on…. I did my best

At some point when I was drawing heard a young couple discussing not far from me. The guy said:

“When one sees St. Jean de Luz on a postcard, one thinks it is a beautiful Harbour. But in fact, it hasn’t got anything special!”

“Not, really no! But they always find a way to make look places attractive on postcards… a special point of view, a special light… but really, it is not nice here!” answered the wife.

I was shocked, asking myself what more these people wanted?  They must be really spoiled in life and live normally in a magical environment… well, their voices sounded very posh, this is already a sign. Anyway, I hated to hear them say that. I bet they wondered what I could find to sketch in that ugly harbour…

On the following sketch, in the lower right hand corner,  you can see the boat with which we had a trip to Spain. A nice two hours trip, as always I enjoyed very much to be at sea.. I love boats, any kind of boats, they make me feel extremely free…

Please don’t try to understand  the boat design, the sketch is totally wrong, half on purpose…

These artworks are available directly online as Giclee print in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Just click on the widget below to access my FAA Gallery

Travel Sketch from Scotland – 05 -

Scotland - Watercolour, pastel and Ink - By Miki, Summer 2007

Scotland has always been a dream for me as a painter. And as we finally went there, in the Summer of 2007,  I was incredibly excited and couldn’t wait to see with my own own eyes these incredible landscapes I had seen on photos and films.

Well, as we crossed the border between England and Scotland the sun was shining a little bit, and life was wonderful. But then it started raining, and it never stopped again until we left the UK! I must say that I ‘d never in my life seen so much water falling from the sky, rolling down the mountains, and flooding the fields and the roads. That was really impressive!

But well, the problem arose that I hardly could spend an hour sketching outside, and anyway most of the time everything was grey on grey and one couldn’t distinguish any lines or forms! I especially remember how frustrated I was as we arrived at the famous Loch Lomond and I couldn’t see anything!

But well, I still  managed to do some sketches of many of the places where we had been. What I couldn’t see, I simply invented… as I often do anyway!

Yesterday I started working on these sketches, adding colours… as you can see, the colours are invented too!

Perhaps you want to know where this one was… if I remember well, it was in North Uist.

Travel Sketch form The North (of France!)

The North, France - Watercolour and Ink - By Miki, Summer 2007

I’m posting this sketch of the North of France in honour of my two wonderful friends living in France: “Pomme” and “Joel”. The first one, Pomme,  is presently living there, somewhere, and the other, Joel, was actually born there.

I am sorry, but I can’t remember where exactly I did that sketch. I can’t even remember if it was on the big 10 week trip to Scotland, or of it was months before, as we flew to the Bretagne to pick up the the Boomobile (our motor home), which we had just bought through the internet…. but I found the sketch in a book among others from the big trips, so I guess it must be from that time. I even suspect that it was done on the north Coast of France, not too far from the War Museum “Batterie Todt”.

But perhaps my French friends are able to tell me where it really was? Unfortunately I always let myself be carried away by my imagination beyond what I see around me, when I sketch, so I doubt that they will be able to recognise anything! But who knows, they might at least recognise the people walking on the paths?  

Travel Sketch from the Peak District (U.K.)

The Peal District, UK - Watercolour and Ink - By Miki, Summer 2007

One more example of the work I am doing right now on the travel sketches from our trip to Scotland in Summer 2007. This was on the way up. I remember how fascinated I was by the red tree in the foreground… such “details” are what makes me want to sketch a scenery generally. I always need something which specially attracts my eyes. And then I take the rest with me,

“rearrange things, edit, fill in the gaps, recreate… there is no reality, only sifted and reformed images…”

as a painter from Italy wrote the other day in one of my comment threads…

yes, this is fun!

Travel sketch from The Dordogne (France)

The Dordogne, France - By Miki, Summer 2007

This is the place in the Perigord where we doing some canoe… on the river Dordogne.

And although it was the first time for us, the coordination worked quite well and we didn’t miss the gaps under the bridge!

And more generally you can see all the stuff I paint by going to my gallery “Miki’s Enchanted World”

Travel Sketch from the Perigord (France)

The Perigord, France - By Miki, Summer 2007

Another from the travel sketches series of the 2007 Summer trip, on which i am working right now…

Theis paintings is available directly online as Giclee prints in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Juts click on the widgets below to access my FAA store

And more generally you can see all this stuff I paint by going to my gallery “Miki’s Enchanted World”

 

Back in Time to The Perigord

The Perigord, France - By Miki, Summer 2007

From the same trip as my last post, on the way up to The U.K.

I have started to work on the sketches from France today… what a pleasure to remember this trip, and especially the days spent in the Perigord. We both enjoyed there so much our canoe trip on the river Dordogne!

This painting is available directly online as Giclee prints in many different dimensions, on paper or canvas, and also as greeting cards. Just click on the widget below to access my FAA store

 

And more generally you can see all the stuff I paint by going to my gallery “Miki’s Enchanted World”

Back in Time to the Peak District…

The Peal District, Uk - By Miki, Summer 2007

In my last post I wrote that I had brought some old sketch books back from my former gallery. Among them I found the sketches I did in Summer 2007, on the 10 week trip we did in The Boomobile (our motorhome) from the South of Spain through France to the Top of Scotland and back. Most of them are only ink sketches, and I am working now on adding some colours to them, in pastel or watercolour. I have started with some sketches from the Peak District, in the U.K. Not quite easy for me because of all these green tones, and I am normally not a fan of the green colour (except in Susan Cornelis‘ paintings!).

I am enjoying doing this work now, almost 2 years after the trip. Many wonderful memories are coming back to my mind, even if  the 6 weeks we spent in the U.K. were all the time under rain and I swore to myself: never again in the U.K. for holidays!

PS: I already chnaged my mind… next time we will go to Devon and Cornwall!