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| Corner building, Viñales main road. A3 pen & ink © Sue Pownall 2011 |
to continue...
The day after I hopped on and off the bus (the afternoon had been spent stuck in a bar listening to music because of the torrential rain- honestly), Elio drove me into the countryside to a small cascade and was left there for an hour and half to paint it. Having wandered around a bit, the sun hitting the plants in front of the water was the obvious subject for my painting and seemed an okay composition. It was already very hot at 9am, so I sat under the road bridge, where nothing passed over, and painted the scene. I normally photograph a scene like this, and did, so the painting was a challenge. I think I did okay, but think my pen & watercolours are always more successful than pure watercolour for scenery. Also, this looks better in the original: blaming scanner!
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| Una Cascada. 35x25cm 425gm cold pressed, watercolour © Sue Pownall 2011 |
After Elio picked me up, I was taken to his mother-in-law's house, a real
campesino (country person/peasant)'s abode. After being shown around, especially the new building they were constructing to rear pigs, I sat with the mother-in-law, who stared but wouldn't speak to me, and a niece, who chattered away in dialect. By then it was very humid as well as boiling and I started a drawing of some outbuildings. The photo shows the beautiful setting and the drawing when I abandoned it - I couldn't work out how to continue with sweaty hands despite leaning on tissues.
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| Farm buildings. © Sue Pownall 2011 |
On the way back into town I took advantage of Elio knowing everyone and got him to ask permission for me to sit on someone's porch the next morning to draw. Back at Elio's B&B I worked up the farm drawing by increasing tonal values and strengthening lines.
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| Edificios de la granja. © Sue Pownall 2011 |
Mid-morning the next day, my last day in Viñales, found me sitting on the porch of an old lady because 2 days ealier I had seen a fabulous building I HAD to draw, but had found no shade on the street to do so. The photo, shows the building across the way, a great vintage car (perfect timing) and my finished drawing. You can also see the afternoon's storm clouds rolling in. The finished drawing, completely drawn on the porch, is at the top of this post.
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| © Sue Pownall 2011 |
I left the area early the next morning heading for Trinidad, which is about 6 hours east of Havana and where I spent the majority of my time. The drawings from there will make up another post.
The day after I hopped on and off the bus (the afternoon had been spent stuck in a bar listening to music because of the torrential rain- honestly), Elio drove me into the countryside to a small cascade and was left there for an hour and half to paint it. Having wandered around a bit, the sun hitting the plants in front of the water was the obvious subject for my painting and seemed an okay composition. It was already very hot at 9am, so I sat under the road bridge, where nothing passed over, and painted the scene. I normally photograph a scene like this, and did, so the painting was a challenge. I think I did okay, but think my pen & watercolours are always more successful than pure watercolour for scenery. Also, this looks better in the original: blaming scanner!
