Wednesday 21 April 2010

All Columned Out ...!


This year our first overseas Painting Holiday was to Greece. We stayed on the coast on the mainland due east from Athens on Vravrona Bay. Our hotel was in a very quiet position overlooking the water and a pretty headland which we painted a few times perched on the bar balcony ( with the odd Methos or two for good measure !)
Our first trip out took us south to the temple of Posidon on Cape Sunio which gave us our first taste of a real Greek temple. The main attraction was a day out to Athens and the Parthenon which I have always wanted to see. After climbing the many steep and slippery marble steps we passed through the entry arch of the Propylaea and got our first glimpse of the Parthenon. What a structure, quite exhilarating. After picking a spot right next to the guard rail I sketched this pic looking up at the temple. For the purists among you I have only included 7 columns in the front
portico instead of 8 as I was running out of steam but I'm sure my secret is safe with you!
Managed to get another 2 pics done before it was time for lunch and by that time we were all ' Columned out' as Ann said . After lunch there was a mass migration to the Ice Cream parlour for some great flavours and some even went on to the bakery for a Baclava ( I mention no names !)
Next day we visited the small temple of Artemis which we could almost see from the hotel. When we got there it was closed to the public which was a real nuisance but did manage to get this other sketch done from the boundary fence so all was not lost .
The weather on the whole was very warm and sunny but there was the odd cold wind which brought out the jumpers and fleeces !

1 comment:

  1. Yesterday I started your book "Mood and Atmosphere" as the part of "Watercolor Tips and Techniques" manual. And it looks like you helped me to find the way I want my watercolors to be. Freedom is the key word. Thank you so much!
    I am very sorry that you posts are so rare, you make miracles with color.

    ReplyDelete