VEJER FOUNTAIN / Daily Painting #1273

Vejer Fountain / Painted on my iPad / ArtRage3

A quick sketch of the fountain where I had my breakfast this morning, after spending the night in Vejer de la Frontera.

When I first saw Vejer twelve years ago, it was from the highway as we passed by below the village. The driver, from Hacienda Dos Olivos, told me it was one of the Pueblos Blancos, a term I was not familiar with, but that intrigued me instantly. Vejer was so striking, perched atop a hill covered in green trees and fields, sparkling in the afternoon sunthat I swore to return someday.

A few days later, I rented a car and started my first tour of the Pueblos Blancos, and spent the first night and the next day in Vejer.

Breakfast, by the way, was a delicious tapa of Smoked Eel cooked with black butter and capers on a bed of roast sweet potato on rye toast!!! Mmmmmm!

And on that note, I believe I will go to sleep, now, and dream of smoked eel.

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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SEVILLANAS / Daily Painting #1272

Sevillianas / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage 3

Together at last.

Up early this morning. Early for me, anyway, and off I went to the Yeguada de la Cartuza. Twelve years ago, as part of a workshop I was teaching, we went there, not knowing what to expect. In addition to the guided tour of this stud farm for the breeding of the Royal Carthusian Horse. I got tons of good research, and was so taken with the whole show that I rented a car and stayed over a week, so that I could attend a second time the following Saturday. I've been dreaming of a third visit ever since.

Afterwards, I drove on down to Medina-Sidonia, one of the Pueblos Blancos, or White Villages that are the other reason for this trip. Lunch, there, was a half order of venison, then I drove to Vejer de la Frontera to spend the night, stopping along the way to shoot a few photographs, and to revisit an old Roman bridge.

And now I'm off to bed, before I fall asleep and drop my iPad

'Hasta mañana!

 

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SEVILLANO y SEVILLANA / Daily Painting #1271

Sevillano y Sevillana / Painted Sketched on my iPad Air / ArtRage3

Long busy day today, much more to be done tonight, busy, early morning ahead, then, maybe, a chance to slow down just a little.

Among many other things, I rented a car today. A Smart car! So far, I love it. Pretty comfy, really. Fairly zippy. Great for parking. Kind of like the old VW Beetle. Bigger on the inside than on the outside.

I'm back in Jerez for one night, then?

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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SEVILLANO / Daily Painting #1270

SEVILLANO / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage3

Well, Gang, what do you think? Should we give this Flamenco Dancer from Sevilla a dance partner? The way we did the dancing Calaka a while back? I promise it won't take as long this time.

Today was another busy one. Continued working on all that tech stuff from last night. Mainly trying to get my images organized and make room for more. Getting ready for tomorrow, another travel day. More about that tomorrow.

I was finally able to get my return flight rescheduled so I will have at least two days of the Feria de Caballo or Horse Fair, back in Jerez de la Frontera. Without a phone and no office this side of Madrid, that has been a real hassle. But my old pal perseverance won the day.

I got an even better deal on a car rental. I caught a tricky little detail in the fine print in that rental I had lined up a couple of days ago, just as I was about to commit to it. That whole thing has left me here in Sevilla for four days. That four days was not planned, but I am really happy it happened. I do love this city. While, to me, Madrid seems past its prime, dry, dull and rushed, Sevilla, in spite of its age, seems vibrant and alive, yet laid back and unhurried. It is an old city, over two thousand years old. It was ruled by the Romans and later by the Moors, both whom left their mark. This is a great city for walking and for people watching, two things I've been doing a lot of. I've had a great time here, and am sad to leave, but will be back in a few days for the big Feria de Abril and more Flamenco!

By the way, I saw a fabulous Flamenco performance this evening. You'll be hearing more about it in the days ahead.

As I said, tomorrow is a travel day, so I had better get some sleep right now.

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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OLD MAN, JEREZ / Daily Painting #1269

Old Man, Jerez / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage3

Just a quick character study tonight. Time to catch up on matters technical. Downloading, uploading, charging, etc.

had a great day, walked a lot, watched a lot of people, saw a lot of the city, got thoroughly lost at least once, finally got a large, delicious cup of coffee, and at long last, found my way to some excellent Flamenco after sitting in on about an hour and a half of a very interesting Flamenco class.

Now to the tech stuff.

¡Hasta Mañana!

 

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THE LOVED ONE / Daily Painting #1268

The Loved One / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage3

Here's a new one for my ongoing series of everyday people, a series even older than my paintings of horses or Kachinas. People watching has always been a favorite pastime for me. I find the most ordinary people doing the most ordinary, human things to be a most extraordinary subject. Just people being people.

Whether alone or in a crowd, they are to me the most fascinating subject.

Today, in fact, I spent most of the day wandering the streets of this beautiful, romantic and bustling old city, Sevilla, people watching.

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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ESCARAMUZA CHARRA / Daily Painting #1267

Escaramuzza Charra / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage3

Today I decided it was time t try the watercolor brush in ArtRage. I also thought it would be fun to see what I could in terms of emulating my “confections” painting style. So, on the train from Jerez de la Frontera to Sevilla, I started today's painting. There was a bit of a problem with the fine print in the car rental I was planning on, so I hoofed on into town and landed myself a small, bu very nice, clean room for less than I've been paying in Jerez. Did i little grocery shopping, then took a walk down to the neighborhood I stayed in twelve years ago, and had dinner in my favorite Sevilla Chinese restaurant, where I continued working on the painting. Then I walked back to the hotel where I put on the finishing touches, and am now writing this post.

I just checked Google Maps, and it looks like I've walked a little over five miles today, dragging my baggage, among other things. No wonder I'm tired. I think I'll hit the hay and let you search this blog for descriptions of both Escaramuza and Confections if you're interested.

By the way my little “watercolor” didn't turn out too bad, in my humble opinion. Not too bad for a first try, anyway. What do you think?

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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FLAMENCO MEXICANA / Daily Painting #1266

Flamenca Mexicana / Painted on my iPad Air / Art Rage3

Still exploring the possibilities in the ArtRage app. I like this more traditional work, too, but I miss the lines of the other pieces. Because I again worked alla prima on this one, the few lines I used were either eliminated or absorbed into the painting as it progressed. In other words there simply was no separate line drawing layer. The drawing was almost entirely done with the paint.

Tomorrow is train day, back up to Sevilla, so I'd better get some sleep.

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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PALHIK MANA KACHINA MAIDEN / Daily Painting #1265

Palhik Mana Kachina Maiden / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage 3

I just had to do another kachina on my iPad. And who better than the beautifl Pahik Mana for my model. Unlike the Qõqõlo that I did recently, I wanted this one to have the sketch lines showing. I like this effect. I would love to hear your opinions.

On another note… Yipee! I have finally managed to get my Lumix Link wifi app working so I can move images from my camers to my iPad Air. I won't bore all of you with the details, but if any of you have questions abou this, just shoot me an email and I will be happy to help you any way I can.

Happy Easter, everyone. Monday marks the beginning of my revisit to the famous Pueblos Blancos. I think you're going to enjoy this. As much as I've appreciated this past week of rest and work and routine, it will be good to be moving again.

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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FLAMENCO JEREZ / Daily Painting #1264

Flamenco Jerez / Painted on my iPad Air / ArtRage3

Nah, Still no Flamenco here, due to all the Semana Santa activities. This is done from a photograph I took on my first visit to Jerez de la Frontera, back in 2001. I'm just getting a little anxious, I suppose.

I tried going for a colored inks effect. I'm not too happy with the result. I like Flamenco SMA from a couple of days ago much more than this one. So much still to learn with even this one app.

I'm really excited about the ability to maintain the original sketch with all its searching and wild, uncontrolled exploration of the subject along with the more careful, refined paint application. My early thinking and preliminary work has always been obliterated by the finished work. Except in watercolor, that is, in which, until recently, i did no preliminary drawing just went directly into the painting with no guide lines at all. Then there were the confections. Loose, spirited line drawings with touches of watercolor. Here the original line work remained, however these were more sketches than developed works.

I can hardly wait to see what develops tomorrow.

¡Hasta mañana!

 

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