San Sebastian, Spain

Here is one of my favorites from the European collection that spanned a 2 month vacation in 1998, this one done in the wonderful beach-side town called San Sebastian, Spain. The beaches (as you can see in the distance) were quite nice, although the water was cold as this beach lies on the north shore of Spain on the Atlantic ocean. The painting captures the other unique aspect of this town, that is the old churches and architecture, and narrow cobblestone streets. It took awhile to find this scene, it captures the Pyrenees mountains in the background along with the beach and the church steeple.

A lot of my paintings depict shrubbery. The importance of a good shrubbery can not be underestimated. If there are any doubts about this fact, one should view Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail movie and see how shrubberies can become a matter of life and death. But seriously, check out the middle right and you see a shrubbery tucked away behind a stone wall. I use a simple trick to create the golden-halo effect on the shrubs... start by laying down a warm yellow, let it dry just a bit, and then drop in an orangy/green, let that dry a bit and finally put in a cold dark green tinted with a bit of red. For further depth you can put on a few touches of dark purple into the shadow part.

5x7" cold press, 1998