A Sampling of Andalusia

The second Christmas I spent in Europe. Using my improved understanding of European climate distribution in Winter, I convinced my parents to choose Southern Spain (having scouted out Malaga myself in March) as our Christmas destination. Fuengiralo turned out to be a good choice to stay, not big enough to sprawl, but also big enough to have every shop we needed in walking distance. The only downside is that its main attraction is the beach, with mainly modern condos and not much historical heritage left. (as befitting of an area Rick Steves once suggested to skip over) And so we broke up the 2 week holiday with rest days intersected by day trips to neighbouring cities.

Granada (1hr40mins drive)

The Alhambra was the planned highlight of the trip, the hook. Although to be honest I only remembered to book tickets for it 1 week in advance. I also panicked when I saw that no tickets were left during our stay, but thankfully when I (wisely) checked again the next day some more tickets popped up! Thank you Winter, I can't imagine fighting for this ticket in summer. There were some convenient director's chair (or Savonarola chair) facing the fountain so I took a seat while sketching (also kept me away from pedestrian foot traffic) 

 

There were lots of people taking photos around the water, so I hid myself behind a hedge.

Fuengirola (home base)

Nothing of the sort I usually sketch, but the beach was indeed fantastic. Although I did almost leave my sketchbook behind when trying to get sand out of my shoes. Thankfully there weren't much foot traffic at that specific bench, so my sketchbook was still at the same place when we went back 20 mins later.

Mijas (15 mins drive)

A nice village up hill from Fuengirola, with a brand new multi-level parking lot that only charges 1 Euro max per day (and a lot of donkey pimps)

Ronda (1hr30mins drive)

Absolutely the best sketching experience. There was a lookout platform that was popular with tourists posing for photos, but, under the platform there was enough space to sit with open view to the canyon, yet unseen by the tourists on top. As I was doing the finishing touches, 3 little children decided to sit down to my right on the steps that lead down to the canyon and watch me work. Which was interesting because I myself usually choose places that don't block traffic flow, but they were definitely blocking normal traffic. But again, I'm not their parents so...whatever. They were watching so intently and silently I felt kind of awkward packing up and leave. But there came a point I really can't pretend to put more stuff onto the page, so I had to pack and leave. The kids, again, said nothing when I left. Nor did their guardians show up (strange)

Gibraltar/La Linea (2hr drive)

New Year's Eve in La Linea, with the Rock of Gibraltar half visible from the hotel balcony

Tarifa

Only by divine intervention did we manage to find a parking spot here. It was pretty crazy to see the African continent so close.

Start of a New Painting Year! in Málaga

Finally got a chance to visit the quintessential winter vacation spot for Northern European dwellers. The flight time was more difficult to negotiate and I ended up taking 2 days off and spent 2.5 useful days in Malaga. Another colleague of mine also happened to spend his weekend here with his daughter and every step I took I dreaded bumping into him. Thankfully the city was big enough and we never crossed path.

I headed out just before 10AM and was setting myself up in front of some closed shop fronts. Just as I was starting however, one by one, the shop keepers came by and started opening shop (ooops). Thankfully the keeper of the jewelry shop (the entrance of which I was temporarily obscuring) was very nice: said good morning to me and then proceeded to leave the open shop for me to keep (?) for 10 whole minutes.

I barely made it one block away before I was distracted by a diagonal shadow (I'm always distracted by diagonal shadows). The church itself is not a popular tourist destination and traffic was light in front of me.

I then made my way to the somewhat crowded Plaza de la Constitución. There was some set up going on for an event later that day (I think?) and a transparent container was set up in the middle. Some menacing security guys were also present.

Before heading home for lunch break, I decided to sit down in a sunny spot along Paseo del Parque and sketch the city hall. I was in shadows almost all morning and was definitely shivering by this point. Alcazaba was directly behind this building (in red) but I never made it there...

In the afternoon I finally sketched one of the main attractions here: the Cathedral of Málaga. I'm usually terrible at warping perspective to fit tall buildings, but I think this time kind of...worked?? There was a work crew at the right side 

I kind of settled myself behind the main flow of tourists in front of the roman theatre. Some crew was setting up the blockade and posters for Malaga festival (film festival), so I also drew them in! When I was painting, a couple stopped in front of me and just asked "Picasso??" I was stunned a little, having some wild thoughts like "am I Picasso? do I even draw like Picasso??" Anyway, turns out they were just looking for directions to Picasso museum, which is actually just behind me. I noticed that they were German tourists, but spoke English to them anyways...since every time I speak German in non-German speaking countries I tend to cause sheer panic.

Day 2! I started with the morning light right outside my Airbnb. Technically it is supposed to be a bridge across a river...but "river" is just some dry grass land?? Anyway, the light was beautiful and I really liked the mountains framing the scene from behind

I decided to re-do the cathedral, but from the garden side. I basically settled my water jar on somebody's window sill...thankfully nobody got mad at me...(I debated drawing this scene the day before, but the afternoon sun was way too strong at this location)

A bit of a chaotic one done on the climb towards Castillo de Gibralfaro. In the end I didn't go further up from here because there were just too many people for it to be worth it...

After lunch break I went for the harbour and did some simpler pieces with clear shapes! It was starting to drizzle at this point, but not hard enough for me to call it a day. The big cruise ship was actually behind a tree, so I got its left end completely wrong. Instead of angular, it is actually kind of flat...oh well

Looking back from the end of the harbour front walkway. Didn't bother with the cruise ship this time because I already drew it on the previous page

I was exhausted and just wanted to get some groceries before heading home, but this perfect scene and a perfect spot to sit presented itself to me. So I had no choice but pull out my big sketchbook. The moving shadows of the cloud on the distant coastline was really a sight to behold...unfortunately I was not able to capture that...