Spanish Notes
Last month, I had the pleasure of tutoring a painting holiday for Alpha Painting Holidays, in the Cordoba region of Spain and thought I would like to share a few notes and observations. During my week-long adventure with a friendly, enthusiastic and highly-talented group, we visited many wonderful locations, including the olive-grove-covered hills around Zagrilla (Cordoba is recognised as being a premiere olive-growing district), the castle-on-the-hill at Luque (seen above), the marvellous baroque-inspired town of Priego de Cordoba, and the spectacular mountain villages of Cabra and Zuheros.
Weather-wise, the week began quite chilly and unsettled, with the second day, in Zagrilla, being quite windy. As the week went on, however, the wind died down and temperatures started to rise quite considerably. By Friday, sweltering amongst the myriad of huddled white buildings that make up the hilltop village of Zuheros, we were quite thankful of nearby cafes providing ample refreshment, and shade.
I mention all this because painting in watercolour on location in a hot climate – as you can imagine – can be quite a challenge. In the UK, it is common to be waiting around for washes to dry (while some never dry); in Spain, the exact opposite is true, with washes drying almost as soon as they hit the paper.
Speed and timing then is, naturally, a major consideration. It doesn’t do to procrastinate for too long. Not only does the sun prematurely dry off washes, but it can also – in certain circumstances – heat up the paper and damage its sizing, rendering it unusable. It’s necessary, therefore, to work in the shade whenever you can, and have a good sheet of new, robust watercolour paper (my preference is Saunders Waterford or Arches, both of which are hard-sized and will take pretty much anything you throw at them).
Incorporating ink, in a Line and Wash style can make the job of sketching a little easier, and I thought I would share a couple of my sketches from the week with you. I made this one whilst on watch-the-gear lunchtime duty. I would normally share such duties with Matt, the organiser, but no-one in the little restaurant we were eating at appeared to fully understand, or speak, English, so Matt (who speaks and understands far more Spanish than I do) stayed there to direct meals and drinks accordingly.
Line and Wash also featured on our midweek visit to Priego de Cordoba, where we were treated to some stunning, expansive panoramic views from a high location, made just for the job. Car parking was something of an issue there, however, so we were having to run a rolling taxi system to get guests in and out of the town.
I was sat there with Matt when an elderly lady stopped by and started speaking to us, for several long minutes, accompanied by much energetic gesticulation and tapping of the shoulders, and barely taking a breath. When she’d gone, we both looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders… neither of us had even the slightest idea of what she’d been going on about – but we’re guessing it was probably her life story.
Sometimes pencil is simply the best tool for the job. I made this sketch while waiting for the minibus to return on its final ferrying operation…
Alpha Painting Holidays are not all about sketching, though. Mostly, it’s about setting up an easel and spending a relaxed few hours in a location and simply painting what we see. As the tutor, responsible for guiding and advising guests in their individual painting journey, I rarely get to completely finish a painting. I’ll start with a demonstration, to help point folks in the right direction and give them some idea of where to begin, but then, as the day wears on, I often find myself dipping into my own piece, to get it to some sort of satisfactory resolution.
I have to say; I enjoy leading painting holiday groups because it helps to keep me in touch with real-world watercolour challenges. What I mean by that is that no matter how many multitude of potential issues I might pre-empt students are likely to encounter when setting up an easel outdoors to paint a promising scene, a group can be guaranteed to present me with far more fresh, new and unique issues than I could ever have imagined. It helps to keep me on my toes and to keep looking extra hard at how I paint myself.
One thing I can say with confidence is that not only do Alpha research their locations thoroughly, to get the best subjects combined with good, easy access and available amenities, but they also put as much care into choosing the hotels they collaborate with. In short, they really look after their guests, which is why it is no surprise to me that they keep on coming back time and time again.
