Paintings of France, Italy and Beyond

On the easel- Provence outdoor cafe painting WIP

17 01 2008

After spending so much time painting small pieces, it is nice to be working on something large again. This is the beginning stage of a 36×24″ oil painting of an outdoor cafe in the Provencial village of Rousillon. I painted a small study of this scene some time ago and I have been wanting to create a larger version for a while.

Provence painting work in progress

Even as a full time, near daily painter, it’s always a little scary posting a work-in-progress because I don’t exactly know how it will turn out. I have a pretty good idea, but from time to time a painting may not come into fruition in the way that I expect. But, that’s all part of making art, I suppose– a little trial and error, and a lot of practice.

It might be a little hard to tell what’s going on at this stage, but what I’m painting is a village square with lunchtime diners seated at umbrella-covered cafe tables. I’ve started in my typical manner of putting down my design with a light wash of ultramarine blue and cad. red light or permanent alizarin, thinned way down with mineral spirits. I’m drawing with brushes, but also just with a rag, wiping in and rubbing out as I develop the composition.

While I’m still keeping it pretty light and loose, with architectural scenes I do a bit more drawing and shading than I might with pure landscape. This does not mean that my compositional decisions are done, however. Sometimes I will make changes, shift, add or subtract things as I am further along in the painting process. But I’ve gotten a good start and I’m ready to jump in!

*UPDATE: See the progression of this painting demonstration from start to finish here!