On a recent trip to France I had the chance to sit in the Bellecour Square, a famous square in Lyon noted for it's size and historical significance. Up on the mountain is Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière, with a gilded statue of the virgin Mary seen against a backdrop of an overcast (cold and snowy) sky. In fact, the snow was coming down as I painted, a rarity for this part of France (does the snow just follow me wherever I am??). The biggest challenge with this one was trying to paint with my gloves off, which eventually resulted in severe numbness, and then painting with my gloves on, which made it tough to manipulate the brush. At any rate, the results were quite satisfying, I especially enjoy the sparkling golden statue. A local came by and said they liked the painting, of course speaking French to me, I could only respond 'merci-buckets'.
I'll talk a little about painting people in a landscape. Since they are almost always there, and they never stay still, people present a challenge for the location painter. It is a good idea to try and include people, because it gives an important sense of the environment. In this example, the busy sidewalks indicate the vitality and prosperity of Lyon. Painting people also gives a great chance to build in some exciting colours, the people in this painting have bright red, yellow and red and greens, as well as darker tones, that really provide a nice contrast to the grey-blues-browns of the rest of the painting. To paint a person, just try to keep it simple, the person is not the subject of a landscape, just the decoration. One stroke quick brushstrokes for to signify pants and a shirt, and a little blob of brown or dark black for the hair, then a dot of pink for the skin. For other examples check out the Jazz Fest paintings 7/8/08.
Fourviere Basilic, seen from Bellecour Square, watercolour 7.5 x 11" cold press, 2009 (No. 1249)
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