Plaza Conde de Barajas, Madrid de los Austrias, Spain

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Today was especially fun. I was able to get a photo with N in front of the same street where it was painted. Thank you for supporting the Arts N.

Plaza Conde de Barajas Madrid, Spain 2021

Here is a closer picture of the line and wash watercolor.

I painted this in the spring after the unusually big snowfall we had and during the pandemic.

There was hardly anyone outside, another rarity for the happening city of Madrid. There’s nothing like painting Madrid.

Thank you for reading my little story, Victoria

First Painting of 2021 – La Puerta del Sol

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On January 1st 2021, I painted the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, Spain because I knew everyone would be sleeping at the time I went there. On any other day it would be impossible to paint there. The Puerta del Sol is a very busy Plaza.

Puerta del Sol New Years Day 2021

This is a very small watercolor as you can see. I wanted to make sure I could finish it in one day. It’s not easy painting at the Puerta del Sol.

Puerta del Sol New Years Day 2021
Open Air Painting at La Puerta del Sol Madrid, Spain January 1st 2021

I do as much open air painting as I can. It’s important to me to see the colors as they are so that when I make a large watercolor or oil painting, I remember the colors from real life.

Victoria January 1st 2021

Happy New Year Everybody! Let’s make 2021 as good as it can possibly get.

Watercolor of Mormon Temple. A white temple with a cloudy carmen and blue sky with puffy clouds. Cypress trees in front of a red brick wall and leaves falling in the foreground on the left.

Temple LDS in Madrid, Spain – Small Plein Air Watercolor.

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I went out to see the LDS Temple in person to do a few quick watercolors to see which one I wanted to paint on a full size sheet.  The facade is beautiful and angel Moroni is on top blowing a trumpet. I painted this before going into the courtyard.

Watercolor of Mormon Temple. A white temple with a cloudy carmen and blue sky with puffy clouds. Cypress trees in front of a red brick wall and leaves falling in the foreground on the left.

Templo LDS 2016 

 Inside the courtyard the Garden, El Jardín de las Novias, is symmetrical. There is a beautiful flower garden with white, pink and red flowers flanking a double dish water fountain with a round pond.  That side of the Temple contrasts with this serious solemn side with inviting cypress trees.

 

A line and watercolor wash over pen and ink of the Crystal Palace.

Line and Wash Watercolor of El Palacio de Cristal in the Retiro Park.

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 The Crystal Palace was invented by Ricardo Velazquez Bosco, built in 1887.  It has a high dome in the center which is almost 23 meters high.  Since 1990 it has been an annex of the Reina Sofia Museum of Contemporary Art.  It is located in the Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain.

A line drawing of the Crystal Palace in the Retiro Park. You can see the palace with water in front and lots of trees.

Palacio de Cristal 2018

A line and watercolor wash over pen and ink of the Crystal Palace.

Palacio de Cristal 2018

While I was painting, lots of different tourist groups came to see this beautiful metallic building from my same view-point.  I once overheard an old man talking about this being the best spot to see the Crystal Palace so I came here to paint this line and wash watercolor.There’s nothing like painting in Madrid.

 

A small watercolor of the Almudena Cathedral. Blue sky with a bit of crimson. The Almudena has a huge evergreen growing in front of the gate. There are a few street lamps with the black latern from days of old. The view is from accross the street.

A small Watercolor of The Almudena Cathedral Madrid, Spain.

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I like to start a watercolor with a light grid to keep my parallel lines parallel.  I start with a pencil sketch and then go on to pen and ink.

A photo of a pen and ink drawing of the Almudena Cathedral taped down to the drawing board.

Pen & Ink La Almudena Cathedral 

I tape down all of my watercolors to get the white edge of the paper.  Don’t think you need anything expensive.  I use carpenter’s tape, but it’s only there for a couple of hours.  I wouldn’t leave it there for more than a day.

A small watercolor of the Almudena taped down to a drawing board. There is a big evergreen in front of the gate. The Almudena is seen from accross the street.

A small watercolor taped down to the drawing board.

This is the white edge I’m talking about.  When the tape is taken off, you have a white border.

A small watercolor of the Almudena in my hand to see the size. You can see a thumb holding a corner of the watercolor. The watercolor is a line and wash of the Almudena Cathedral with a big evergreen in front of the main gate. You can also see some old time street gas lamps.

Small Watercolor of Almudena Cathedral June 24th 2018

Click Here is a really short video of the painting site.

Madrid is great!

A small watercolor of the Royal Palace with evergreens on each side flanking a pool with three square fountains in the middle. A big blue sky and bright green grass.

Sabatini Gardens Madrid, Spain

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Plein Air Painting in the Sabatini Gardens

These are the Sabatini Gardens in Madrid, Spain. Click on picture to see a short clip of the Gardens.

A photo of the Royal Palace from the Sabatini Gardens. Can see the Royal Palace with a little dome on top and tall evergreens in the foreground, four trees are visible. The pond has three square fountains with water shooting up.

Sabatini Gardens Madrid, Spain June 2018

This is a little ink & Pen of the Palace from the Sabatini Gardens.

A photo of a white paper taped down with a pen and ink drawing.

Pen and Ink of Royal Palace from the Sabatini Gardens 2018

 

When I finish the pen and ink, I put a watercolor wash over it and paint a bit more.

A small watercolor of the Royal Palace with evergreens on each side flanking a pool with three square fountains in the middle. A big blue sky and bright green grass.

The Royal Palace seen from the Sabatini Gardens 2018

I want to go back to this spot and look at other views of the Sabatini Gardens.

Summer June Flowers 2017

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After our funny hail storm in June, these little yellow sun flowers bloomed on the terrace all at once.

Painting outdoors

I took out my easel and oil paints onto the terrace and started to paint the mini sun flowers early morning.

My Colors

I mix my own colors with natural pigment bound with linseed oil.  The colors are: cadmium lemon yellow, yellow chrome, transparent gold ochre, cadmium orange, magnesium blue, intense crimson, tierra sombra and cadmium red.

Sunny June Flowers in Process

I usually start with my favorite part and build around it.

I just try to paint what I see.

7Getting Hot Out Here.jpg

I put the exact color and shape on the canvas as quickly and accurately as possible.

The Following Morning

Here again the next morning in the hot sun.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

Here I started putting in the skyline.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

Since all the colors influence each other, I try to find all them as quickly as possible before the light changes.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

The background colors are established, so now I start with more detail in the foreground.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

I felt as if I had finished the painting at this point and then I couldn’t resist putting a scumble on it to push the back ground into the distance.

 

 

Egg Tempera Scumble over Oils

So little by little I started building up the foreground, leaving the back ground alone.

 

Sunny June Flowers 2017

Summer June Flowers 2017.

 

Cantalojas open air painting

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Open air Painting in Cantalojas was an awesome experience; just being there under the starlit sky at night.

Camino al Pradera August 2016

Camino al Pradera August 2016

One day I was sitting here on this stone wall painting the Prado when suddenly it started to rain hard and we had to run to shelter.  This painting is unfinished.

La Fuente del Pinarejo

La Fuente del Pinarejo August 2016

We went down to town to paint the fountain.  It was a rainy day so no one was around, but a small van parked in front of my view and luckily left after about half an hour so I could continue.

Barranco de la Canal

Baranco de la Canal 1,420

This place is up in the mountain in the forest.  I just didn’t know which tree to start with. There were flying insects everywhere but I didn’t see any spiders in this area this time.  Last time they were crawling all over the place.

Barranco de la Canal August 2016

Barranco de la Canal August 2016

So this is the watercolor I was able to make, so many trees.

Paco's Yard 2016

Paco’s Yard 2016

The next day we just hung around in Paco and Rosa’s yard

Rosa

Rosa

The picture below is a watercolor of the view from their yard.

Cerro del Campo August 2016

Cerro del Campo August 2016

I just got back to the City and I already want to return to Cantalojas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open Air Watercolor Cercedilla, Spain August 2016

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Cercedilla August 2016

Cercedilla, Spain August 2016

Trying to get away from the heat here in Madrid, we went to Cercedilla.

By the time we got to the top of the hill, we had to look for a shady place and wait for it to cool off.

This is the view I had for the next three hours. We were sitting in the shade behind a huge group of boulders.

Looking through the Terrace Window at El Cerro de los Angeles Vallecas, August 2016

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Looking through terrace window in vallecas august 2016

Looking through the Terrace Window at El Cerro de los Angeles Vallecas August 2016

As the sun started going down yesterday, the colors got really vibrant.  I also got these new blue curtains.  I wanted to see what they’d look like in a watercolor.