A Stop In Montepulciano To Paint

Last weekend, we had a sunny bit of weather, so we decided to take a drive into the Val D'Orcia. 

This is an area of Tuscany that is famous for several hill towns and gorgeous views. We try to drive over at least once every trip. It's about 45 minutes, and the drive drive through the countryside is beautiful.

We always take time to walk through Montepulciano...it was one of the first places we stayed in Italy almost 20 years ago, and it holds a special place in our hearts. 

Johnny wanted to paint in the main square, and it was a perfect day to do it, as there were hardly any people around. The upside to being here off season!

Johnny looks so tiny standing next to this old building.
I like to get a shot just as he's setting up to paint.

The subject today.

As always, I took a nice walk while he worked, and came back to see what I had missed...

Almost finished....

 

One of the many paintings that will be exhibited here next year.

I'm working on a post on my other site, Live Pronto, about the day in Val D'Orcia...it was a good adventure on a lovely November day!

Painting The Village

The weather is really changing with the season...we've had lots of strong winds, on and off rainstorms and the days just got an hour shorter... But we're still happy to be here, for sure.

Last week, before the time change, Johnny set up to paint the village from the field below the place we stay. It was a nice enough day to paint plein-air, so he took advantage, knowing we would be getting some nasty weather soon. It gets really muddy here when it rains, and there's no way he could set up in that situation.

Just below the house...you can see Lago Trasimeno
in the distance.

The first bits coming together...

I always enjoy watching the work come together from the start when it's just sketched in.

Adding color to the sky.

Very loose and fast.

The color combination of the blue sky and orange/brown village is lovely. Then you get the various greens of the surrounding woods and olive groves.

Almost finished.

He may do some studio touching up...we'll see!

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