Greek village painting

On these cold dark wintery nights it is nice to think back to warmer days. I do not like the cold, but at least you can wear lots of layers of clothes to deal with it. The thing I like the least about winter is the short hours of daylight. Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year, so after that, minute by minute, it will gradually start getting lighter. Hooray....!


As an artist the quality of light is perhaps more important to me than it is to other people. One thing I notice when I travel abroad is how much more intense the light is. The colours are stronger and the contrast sharper. Often Mediterranean towns have whitewashed houses, which glare in the sunshine, and cast deep dark shadows. In England, even in midsummer, The colours are much more gentle.


So I thought I would show you a painting I did a few of years ago, based on one of my holidays to Greece. This painting is all about heat and light. 

The framed painting, showing the Greek mountain village in the sunshine.

A larger image of the whole painting. this was painted in my usual impressionistic style. I worked up many layers of paint to build up texture and colours. I avoided black as much as possible for the shadows. I used mainly blues which give a cold feel, and contrast completely with the terracotta roofs.


Here are some close ups from the painting so you can see the "dotty, blobby " way I build up the painted surface. This was painted mixed media, using acrylic and Chromacolour.