Here are my paintings from my February trip in Seville. I'll do it in two posts. It was a wonderful, intense painting trip! We painted non stop and only stopped to sleep - just about! I was with a group of talented painters - David and Herme Bachmann, The Northern Boys (Ian Layton, Chris Slater, Rob Pointon), Tim King, Eric Davis, Karen Adams and Tim and some local painters - Brad, Richard Maud, Joe, Robbie........I think 14 of us altogether.
Most of the paintings were done in the wonderful Alcazar Gardens or in the streets nearby.
First one below was done as soon as I got off the plane. The short night I just had must have helped keeping the style loose and rushed! I just loved the light reflecting on the pool!
 |
| The first stage - messy! |
 |
| Still messy! |
 |
| Tired but happy! |
 |
| The final result |
Afterwards I did an other one in the gardens. A place where Sorolla painted before. Very inspiring!
If you compare the finished painting with the one on my easel you'll notice I ended up cropping the painting at home and tweaking the tree as I thought it achieved a better composition...
 |
| Quick drawing |
 |
| Then the shadows and darks |
 |
| Who's that lazy painter sitting down? |
 |
| End of session |
On that night I ignored my tired state and decided with Rob, Chris, Ian and Karen to try a nocturne of a lively café. Those lights were surreal and great fun to paint! The result is a bit mad, even to my standard, but it reflects how much fun it was to paint!
 |
| The setting |
Next morning, back to the Alcazar Gardens (we might as well have camped in a tent in the gardens since we spent all our time there!). I spotted that view framed in a window hole from the top of the archways and it looked too good to be missed. I had to be quick as visitors where starting to pour in and the view would soon be obstructed by the people walking in front of my easel.
 |
| What a view |
 |
| Towards the end |
 |
| I was behind that wall on the right |
I then saw a few of my painters friends painting this fish pond / fountain and decided to shamelessly steal their idea. Water ripples, fish, water from fountain.. that's a lot of moving things to capture with paints!
 |
| Fountain at Real Alcazar Gardens, Seville 10"x8" oil on board SOLD |
 |
| Towards the end |
After a short lunch break, I was off to do the third painting of the day and decided to tackle this busy street in the centre. I was then with lovely Karen Adams, the only feminine company in this otherwise very male painting trip!
Chris Slater captured Karen and I while we were painting - very funny and accurate! Again, who's the lazy painter sitting down here! And can we just all take a moment to admire Karen's typical Seville apron bought from a gift shop nearby...
 |
| Painting by Chris Slater |
 |
| The final result |
What about pushing it to a forth painting that day?? I just couldn't resist the beauty of Seville on this warm late afternoon and started this painting of the light hitting the Palacio de San Telmo. That magical moment of light didn't last long so I had to come back an other day at the same time to finish the painting properly.
 |
| The painting after the first session |
Next day, back in the Alcazar Gardens. (Told you we practically lived there!)
I went for this challenging zigzag composition. This was hard work and took me longer than usual but I think I got there at the end!
 |
Morning light, Real Alcazar Gardens, Seville 12"x10" oil on board
Will be on show at the The Russell Gallery Summer show |
Afterwards, I headed back to the centre to capture this busy streets filled with people and tapas restaurants. (mmmmh... tapas!)
 |
| Rough drawing. I challenge anybody to be able to guess what it is! |
 |
| Block in the main shapes |
 |
Focused, ignoring the curious people stopping by to have a peek
(apart form the guy I asked to take this picture of course) |
 |
| More details |
 |
| Towards the end |
As I just finished the painting, someone came to speak to me and said: 'I walked past your painting about an hour ago and was worried for you because it looked like a mess, but now I'm reassured to see it finished and it looks good!'
Those comments make me laugh! And he's right, my paintings look like a mess, often up to the last 10 minutes!
I'll soon post part 2 of the trip.
For all my available work, including all the paintings from the trip, have a look here:
https://www.valeriepirlot.com/availablepaintings
