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...

Taking back what I said about Berlin's dreadful autumn

Berlin put on a stunning show of colours this weekend. As I was on my errand runs on Saturday I noticed the colours are spectacular on its own even on a depressing overcast + slight drizzling today. So I looked up on a few sites and decided to go to Schloss Charlottenburg to get some autumn colours in. 

I had to make a stop in front of Brandenburger Tor because the scene was too perfect. Plus the bike racks on the side offer an unobstructed view (usually they are behind parked cars) 

The Schloss itself was nice but the portion close to the building was under construction. So the view with both the building and the trees didn't work out...Then I happened to retrace my step from a year ago and found a spot next to the Spree river. There were plenty of empty benches too (I assume it was too cold to sit down) As I started, a red boat also happened to pass by so I quickly sketched it in! Around this time the sky is getting darker and the colours don't pop that much anymore...so I quickly packed up and raced home, just as it was starting to drizzle...again ;A;

Encounter with graffiti artists (?)

It was the perfect combination between autumn sunlight and coloured leaves. I remember passing by this area numerous times but was always either too exhausted or had no painting tools with me. Also, it was a lone site out in the middle of nowhere. I was almost going to cycle past this area, but decided to turn back at the last minute and retraced my step back. The park itself was pristine, but the columns for some reason were covered in graffiti. Kind of charming, in a Berlin way. As I was working on this, a group of 3 kids were running around with the distinct clicking sound of a spray paint can...now I can see how this columned courtyard gets its decorations. One of them even stopped to check out my work, as I was putting in the finishing touches on the shadowed foreground (not sure if he could see anything from his height though) I guess we are all artists in a way?? 

A nice tree lined residential neighbourhood in Friedenau caught my eye, so I also backtracked to the traffic island to work on this. Conveniently, there was a plaque for a "Kaisereiche" next to the side walk, so I didn't even need to balance my water jar on the back of my bike!

 

Getting up early enough for the morning sun!

The flight to Lisbon turned out to be longer than I thought...it looked like it was only 2 hours. But I forgot about the time difference. For some reason everyone on the flight behaved that it was a super long haul, with people standing in the aisle and stretching half way through the flight (??) 

I didn't get to sleep in any day of the weekend. First because I was waiting for a friend's flight to arrive from the US, second because I could see how good the plaza looks from my hotel window. I didn't even make it half a block out of the hotel before I had to stop and do this twisty stair and winding road.

The actual plaza had some fascinating wave patterned tile work and I had to put in this detail. All the buildings and trees were casting really interesting shadows and I found a good spot in the shade next to a trash can (unlike other cities' unhelpful trash cans, these ones actually have a flat-ish lid/cover on top of which I could put my water jar, very handy) I accidentally made the shadow of the background buildings too strong in the beginning and had to go back with my opaque white (which thankfully I just refilled so I had plenty) This is my favourite one this trip

Just a few steps around the square there was another layered view. With the Convento do Carmo in the background, the Arco do Bandeira in the shadowed foreground, and the Arco da Rua Augusta in the very far left. This one I did from a bench because there was no strategically placed trash can this time...

I arrived at Rossio station (to catch train to Sintra) early enough to see the dramatic morning light on the building. Unfortunately I only had 14 mins to finish this, so I had to gloss over a lot of details on the building (which it had a lot!) I didn't enough had time to make sure that the shadows had the same colour lol. The Monumento dos Restauradores is in the background

Another weekend of sunshine!

I cherish any non-summer sunny days in Berlin. As October approaches, I know these days are numbered. Saturday was also a nice day out, but I had so many errands/chores to do on a Saturday that I ran out of energy before the sun set. 

I found myself a secluded spot in the shade right in front of the Berliner Schloss (for some reason I never noticed this building before seeing it in somebody else's painting, probably because I was always distracted by the sceneries on the other side of the street) It was a simple fascade that casted a long shadow and had a nice wall to lean my bike on. Just as I was starting, a man walked by and asked if I was "zeichnen oder malen die Gebäude nach". It took me a few seconds to comprehend the meaning of "nachzeichnen"- nobody has used this verb when talking to me before...And he wished me "viel Spaß" and walked away lol. Only when I was almost done did I notice the red thing behind the Berliner Schloss was the antenna of Fernsehturm. 

I already did the Deutsches Historisches Museum a few weeks ago, but I felt like challenging it the second time. This time it was the curvy reflective metal strips that caught my attention (it reflected the pink fascade of the Museum!) I feel like I underestimate the complexity of this building all the time, but the fascade's gradiant from yellow to pink is always unresistable. It was an enjoyable session, minus the constant shouting of the cup-and-ball scammers from the other side of the street...ughhhh

 

Capturing the sun, for as long as it lasts - Historischer Hafen Berlin

Another excellent location suggestion I got from scrolling through past meetup posts of Berlin Urban Sketchers. The temperature was too hot to cycle, so I prayed that this location has enough shade for me to hide under...and it did! There were plenty of trees along the Spree Kanal, and the streets were empty enough for me to park myself (and my bike) there next to the canal. A few local and tourists alike passed by. One older German lady even cracked a "mom" joke at me, claiming that my work looks nicer than the real thing. Thankfully I was able to respond in German and carry out a normal exchange with her (phew) I was debating whether to include that out-of-place modern apartment building in the background...but I guess it kinda worked?? sort of filled out the empty space on the left nicely

The second one was done a bit further down. I "borrowed" the empty tables of a cafe that hasn't yet opened. I was scared that I might get kicked out soon after, but thankfully the cafe does not open until 2pm and it just rolled around noon at that point. The Fernsehturm and old city hall were clearly visible, while the Rotes Rathaus was hiding between the trees to the left (for some reason I could never paint the Fernsehturm to any level of satisfaction) -the modern apartment block makes another appearance!

I changed up the pace a little bit by doodling in some linework for the boat (if not, I would have left the Hafen without actually properly drawing a boat!) Sometimes I do miss the details I could put in with lines. It was a lot of fun. There was one dude sitting on the boat...at which I was staring for a good half an hour. 

Cause for Panic - London

Nothing predicted the chaos that would follow on this bright sunny Monday morning in London. What a nice morning to stroll and sketch around before my afternoon flight! so I thought. Nope! Just as I was settling in to work on All Hallows-by-the-Tower (its spire was tentalizingly visible through my hotel window for 3 days) by borrowing a not-yet-open BBQ restaurant's storefront, my phone buzzed. My 2pm flight, it reads, has been delayed to 1:00. Has there been a mistake? How could there be a delay of -1 hour? Then it dawned on me that the flight is actually delayed from 2PM to 1AM. At this point, I decided to put my paint brush down on the palette and switched to 2-hand operation. 15 mins later, the intel of UK-wide ATC failure was obtained and a refundable back up flight for 7PM was swiftly booked. Cool, now I can refocus on this beautiful church!

Since my original flight was delayed and the backup flight is not until 7PM, I strolled aimlessly along the Thames until I spotted this perfect spot. Just off a promenade deck, away from the flow of people, and plenty of space. The Tower Bridge was in maintenance during the bank holiday long weekend, so you could see that the bridge was still lifted in the previous sketch (has been for a whole weekend). By this time, they finally lowered it. The rounded green bulbous is the city hall. I uhm...did not do it justice. Just as I started walking away from the spot and contemplating which view I should do St Pauls, my phone buzzed again. The delayed departure of 1AM has been re-adjusted to just 30 mins after the original time. Great! I thought! They must have fixed the problem, and so I picked up my pace and headed towards London Bridge.

You find me 1 day later still stuck in London. In the end, both flights were cancelled (thankfully early enough in the day that I could still find a decent hotel and have dinner at a reasonable time) Since I had zero work equipment with me and my new flight was not until 3pm, I decided to continue my stroll & sketch. I saw an excellent panorama somebody did of Trafalgar Square and decided to do it too. Uhm...turns out Nelson's column is a little taller than I expected...plus the National Gallery was half in construction. But still, it was not raining and I count that as a win!

This time I finally found the right door to access Temple Church (and it was indeed open!) This is the 3rd London church interior I did (not sure if I'm getting better or worse at it ooops) My phone was buzzing intermittently throughout the sketch, telling me my new flight is now 10mins delayed, then 20 mins delayed, 40, 50...I appeared calm, but I was definitely panicking at this point.

I ended up spending a little too long doing the interior (and panicking), so instead of having lunch at DTF Selfridge, I decided to stay and paint the exterior of Temple Church and then head to the airport directly. It was a quiet courtyard with some people enjoying their lunch break

Thankfully my flight departed only 90 mins later than scheduled