Italy

We have been lucky to enjoy two holidays in Italy. Our first visit was to Lake Garda in norther Italy and our second visit was further south on the Amalfi coast.

Lake Garda

We visited Lake Garda in September 2011 when it was exceptionally hot!

I must confess I wasn’t too sure about a lakeside holiday as I do love to be beside the sea, but I feel in love with Garda straightaway. Garda itself had a lovely promenade with a lot of shady seated areas, just perfect for sitting down and doing a quick sketch.

Painting is all about constantly learning and I did struggle a little with my sketches, mainly due to the abundance of trees. However here are some of the better pieces of work, which although a challenge I still found it an enjoyable experience.

Amalfi Coast

We visited the beautiful Amalfi coastline of southern Italy in October 2012, the weather was still very hot and sunny, but we did get the old spot of rain!

We stayed at The Hotel Panorama in Maiori, and it had a fantastic roof terrace, which I found a beautiful spot to sit and paint, especially after a long lunch, it was lovely to relax away from the heat of the sun. My only problem was that there was just too much to paint and not enough time to do it!

I did struggle with getting the depth of field correct, although I think my trees have improved from our visit to Lake Garda the previous year, but what a location to practice different on location techniques. Here are some of my favourite sketches from different places on the beautiful Amalfi Coast.