Month: May 2023

Art: Lago di Como, 3 (step by step)

The final piece in the series of Lake Como poster art that I’m painting with acrylic paint markers.

This is a flowery balcony overlooking the lake and coastline under a grey sky.

Finished piece, dated and signed in thin black ink, next to the 15 markers I used.

The final result.

I used 15 acrylic paint markers, including the white to delineate snow on mountains on the horizon, and mark villages on the green hills.

The size of the painting is 8.5 x 12.5 cm.

It took me 4 hours to complete.

An entire hour was spent choosing the right colors among the 60 markers that I have.

Step by step

Loose pencil sketch on textured watercolour postcard. The outline marks a bush of flowers in the foreground and where the land it around the lake.
Preparatory sketch on a sheet of regular printing paper where I tried out many of my paint markers which are scattered around the pages on the wooden table.
Two shades of warm grey for the sky
Two shades of pale blue for the mountains and white for the snow
Pastel light green and medium blue for the middle-ground mountains
Two shades of blue for the lake
Three shades of green for the land
Two shades of pink and red for the flowery bush in the foreground, white marks on the land to suggest villages.
The back of the postcard where I painted small rectangles of the colours I used and their reference number.
The three pieces in the series, framed, and propped against the reflective surface of my piano
The framed three postcards in the series of Lake Como poster art interpretation

Art: Lago di Como, 2 (step by step)

Second piece for my series of Lake Como poster art interpretation. I’m having such a nice time with the acrylic paint markers!

View on an island in a lake seen from behind a couple enjoying the view. In the background are mountains. On the island are a few houses and a tower amidst a lot of greenery. The entire foreground (couple, plants, balustrade, cypress trees) are silhouettes.

Finished piece framed in black wood with a white mounting mat on a white table

The result framed in black wood.

I used 15 acrylic paint markers with a thin nib.

The size of the painting is 8.5 x 12.5 cm.

It took me about 3 hours from start to finish.

Step by step

Loose pencil sketch on a textured watercolour postcard. The outline marks an island with a few houses, mountains in the background and a couple of people, plants, balustrade, cypress in the foreground.
Soft yellow for the sky
Pale yellow for the lower part of the sky
Yellow-green for the top of the mountains
Grey-blue for the shadows of the rocky mountains
Another light green to paint the parts of the mountains that have vegetation
More of the grey-blue to give contrast and shadows to the mountain vegetation
Dark blue, bright blue, subdued bue and pale blue for the lake
Two shades of warm grey to paint the main building and tower at the top of the island, as well as the outer wall around it.
Yellow for the facades of the two houses and orange for the roofs. I used a think black ink pen for the windows and to give an outline to the boat and its passengers, the building and the tower.
Four shades of green to paint the vegetation on the island.
Dark burgundy for the parts of the foreground that are lit by daylight
Darker burgundy for the rest of the silhouettes in the foreground
Date and signature in white

Art: Lago di Como, 1 (step by step)

I hadn’t “arted” in months, when I suddenly got the itch again.

In the meantime I purchased a new set of acrylic paint markers in shades of “natural earth” and a thin nib.

I chose to paint a series of scenes from Lake Como in Italy. This is an island or peninsula by the lake with cypresses, yellow houses with red orange roofs. The sky is several shades of pale yellow and ochre. The foreground shows some flowers and more cypresses at the right. In between the island, the water of the lake is pale and dark blue.

Finished piece framed in black wood and white mounting card against a white table

This is the final result, framed in black wood.

I used 13 acrylic paint markers with a thin nib. The size of the paining is 8.5 x 12.5 cm.

It took me about 3 hours to complete from start to finish.

The whole process is rather pleasant and relaxing. I really like that the paint is opaque, because it’s error proof!

Step by step

Rough pencil sketch on a textured watercolour postcard. The outline marks where the visual elements will be: cypress trees and flowers in the foreground, land and houses, and clouds
Bright yellow for the clouds and sky
Pale yellow added to the sky
Light brown to add contrast to the cloudy sky
Light green to mark where the cypress trees are lit
Medium green for the cypress trees
Dark green for the parts of the trees that are in shadow
Six houses near the top of the hill. The roofs are orange and the sides of the houses that are in the shadow are painted dark red.
Vivid yellow for the facades of the houses
Thin black ink pen for the windows
Medium green to paint patches of the hill's vegetation
Pale green for the hill's vegetation that is catching the sun light
Dark green to finish the hill's vegetation
The shore of the hill is painted with two shades of burgundy
Pale blue and deeper blue to paint the lake, saving space at the bottom for the flower bed
Medium green for the flower bed background
Vivid yellow and red for flowers in the foreground
Dark green to give contrast to the flower bed and mark areas with shadows
Finished. I used a white pen to date and sign. The postcard is next to the 13 markers I used: pale and medium blue, yellow, orange, red, pale and dark burgundy, three greens, egg shell, pale yellow and pale brown.

Art: Piazza San Marco, Venezia (step by step)

The month of May is usually a month of vacation days for me because accrued days during the previous year expire at the end of that month. So I was off a fair amount. It gave me time to resume drawing, which I hadn’t done in almost 5 months!

I interpreted a scene of Piazza San Marco, Venezia, seen from the water. There’s in foreground a gondola and a boat with a big red sail. More gondolas are in the middle-ground and a wooden mooring post. The background is the square San Marco. There are white sea gulls in the blue sky.

I used acrylic paint markers. The reference is a poster art ad from a calendar I got in Venice when I visited in 2010.

Precise pencil sketch on a large paper pad of a Venice scene with gondolas and sailboats in front of the Piazza San Marco, next to the reference image in a 2010 calendar

It starts with a precise pencil sketch to mark the areas that will be covered in acrylic paint.

I used a sheet from a pad of thick paper for mixed media in size close to A4/US letter. The toned paper will be entirely covered in paint.

I don’t have all of the right colours among the 30 acrylic paint markers I have, so I chose ones that are as close as possible.

Blue sky painted
Tower painted white, pale yellow and green for the roof.
Finished piece between the reference image and the acrylic paint markers I used: white, egg shell, orange, light brown, gold brown, pale yellow, yellow, green, three blues from light to medium, dark orange, red, dark ref, grey, black.

I was in such a state of flow that I spent several consecutive hours painting and forgot to take photos as I progressed until I was done in the evening.

Here is the finished piece between the reference and the markers I used.

Finished piece framed in black wood with a white mounting mat

The result, framed in black wood, with a white mounting mat.

The size of the paining is 20×25 cm.

It took me 7 hours (but really felt like 2).