Plein air in Spain

I've certainly been travelling a lot the first half of the year! My most recent trip to Europe during May - June was mainly for two family weddings. Although we were frequently on the move I managed to fit in some plein air painting around Spain at the end of our trip, so will share those pages and learnings here.

Park Güell

After the second wedding we had a few days to be tourists and explore Barcelona. One day we headed to Park Güell and I took my sketching gear with me. I was inspired by Gaudí's architecture and the beautiful park surrounds. It felt quite magical and was a wonderful experience to wander around, never being quite sure of what lay around the next corner. I don't know much about architecture or Gaudí and was happy to follow my curiosity and learn from the interactive signs along the way. I'm certain there is a lot more to gain from following a guide but we were content to discover the park in this self-led manner.

The organic forms, whimsical structures and fantasy-like storybook attributes ignited my imagination and curiosity. There was delight and wonder everywhere, so when I stopped to paint I might have reached a point of saturation - I needed time to let it all soak in! Just before the famous Salamander area I sat down on the steps at Plaça de la Natura to quickly sketch the balustrade/roof of the Hypostyle Hall. The charming lion spouts and the trencadís details were what caught my eye.

One reason why I might struggle with built architecture is because my brain gets bored and wants to take shortcuts, but if you do take shortcuts then it starts to look wrong. Organic shapes (like trees) can have branches removed and still resemble a tree. Remove too many lines or get the perspective off and a building subsequently looks quite wobbly and wrong. So I need to practice patience more than usual to make sure the lines and perspective were right. Starting with an outline (even a blind contour) helps to map out features and from there I can make adjustments and add the rest of the details.

You might have noticed this is a different sketchbook to my usual Etchr A5 one - I bound this square watercolour journal myself using spare paper from another journal I made as a gift to my brother. The paper has given me trouble in the past and so I'd coated it with white watercolor ground from Daniel Smith. My first test in the book didn't thrill me, but to my surprise I didn't see the same issues with these plein air paintings. The cover is an old t-shirt that was was a memento from Canada and got holes in it but could serve a second life as my next plein air sketchbook.

Parc de la Ciutadella

On a later day we were all doing our own tourist explorations and I decided to go to the nearby Parc de la Ciutadella. I certainly wasn't expecting the golden grand monument atop a waterfall fountain! I walked up and had a look around then settled on the balustrade to focus on one of the nearby gryphon fountains. The water was an intense green that made me suspect it was dyed, but it was cool to sit next to and quite peaceful amongst the chatter and occasional bursts of music.

I decided to try pen and wash this time, testing out my new TWSBI fountain pen with 'Urban Grey' that worked nicely. Some line details probably didn't need to be done in pen and a darker, more vibrant background would also help make the lines less stark. Overall its a bit washed out and could used with darker shadows in areas. Perhaps some of those fan palms would have been interesting too!

Once I finished it felt like I'd completed a warm-up and was ready for more, so I walked back down to the gravel plaza, found a spot under a tree for shade and undertook the challenge of the fountain itself.

I should have checked the final drawing before starting to paint, as the roof is offset from the fountain, but otherwise I was very pleased with how it all came together. I had patience and got in the flow, keeping the pencil lines with the right amount of details for the painting stage without making it distracting. These pencil scaffold lines need to go down correctly, as the painting won't be better than the lines. Then the fun and relaxing part of 'colouring in' can happen.

Once again, I practiced squinting to identify the different values and use a relatively large brush to force myself to only add hints of details. For instance the statue of the woman (Venus?) in front of the shell at the top of the fountain should be eye-catching and a focal point because of the contrasting colours (light stone with shadowed roof behind). So I paid careful attention to paint around that shape of her upper body. However the other lines indicating form in the statues are less contrasting and only have a few marks.

Creating gold from a standard palette of colours was a bit of a challenge. Adding a touch of red to yellow made a good substitute and using a darker shade for shadows helped give the golden chariot up top enough form.

The greens break up the painting and help draw the eye towards the centre as well as highlight the front gryphon statue in the water. I added a duck to the side, but it doesn't have any colour.

There were a few people who came up to me (I'm not sure if they thought I was a local), but I don't mind people filming or photographing me. I appreciated the couple that asked my permission first though (to add to their holiday video). If people seem particularly interested I sometimes explain what I'm doing, or will do next, or ask if they have any questions.

I took many photos so that if I wanted to try again later I have different viewpoints to consider. Even though I focused on the fountain I was also aware of what was happening around me, such as the birds and people, and could easily add notes about them too. One great aspect of plein air painting (or urban sketching) like this is that you are still outside and have changes in light and environmental conditions, but the subject at least doesn't move. So it's good for practicing technique and workflow, getting used to materials and changes in lighting, while not worrying about the subject disappearing or changing angle.

Montserrat

The next day we went for a day trip to Montserrat, a mountain range beyond Barcelona that also has the Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey built into the mountainside. The spectacular rock formations all around are what give the mountain its name as the peaks have a serrated look. The panoramic views are beautiful and breath-taking, I can see why it became a monastic retreat!

We went for a walk to a nearby vista (Creu de Sant Miquel) that let us look back at the monastery. I decided to return afterwards and stopped along the way to paint the view while my family continued walking the trails.

Selecting a spot to paint from was not the easiest - the vegetation, lack of shade and twisting turns meant I couldn't quite find the angle I was hoping for. Eventually I settled on a ledge by some grassy areas with statue-filled alcoves. I wanted to capture the tall rocks with the buildings nestled between and the height of it all compared to the surrounding land.

I worked on keeping the background land light (dilute) to push it into the distance, though I feel it could be more blue to help with atmospheric perspective. Some of the darks could be stronger and perhaps shadows shaped to give more form to the cliffs.

One technique I'm still working on is to add interest by varying brush strokes, however I do find it difficult with waterbrushes, even holding it differently. This is why the Filbert, flat or cat's tongue brushes are used as they can more easily provide a variety of strokes compared to a round brush. One alternative option is to carry a couple of brushes for each of those strokes - like a fan brush or rigger. It's also possible to be creative with other tools, such as old plastic cards for lines, leaves and twigs, a sponge or the other end of the brush. This is where 'playing' or being creative with your tools helps to know what interesting marks can be made.

I'm glad to be home now for the rest of the year, I'd like to return to a more regular routine. Hopefully that will also mean more regular nature journaling updates again - like the fungi now its winter! I'm also pleased with my new plein air sketchbook and look forward to using it during the Plein Air Down Under festival in September. Early bird registrations close 31st July if you're interested in joining.