Sicily Sketchbook, Entry 2, The flow of Palermo

 

After having had a fantastic late dinner and strolling through the lighted streets of the bustling city, we knew that we were adapting to the flow of Palermo. 

The next day we headed to the beautiful Politeama building. It was too hot to paint the statues on top, which I intended to do, but instead we searched for shade closeby, where I drew a tiny church from the comfortable seat of a cafe. 

Here is my on site sketch:

 And here is another one I did in the middle of Palermo:

A little stop at Anticca Foccaceria...a cannolo (sweet pastry with ricotta stuffing) is a must!...I did not have much time for that one, so it is a bit rudimentary. I still wanted to do the "window rose" of the church later in a more exact and a bit larger way as it is so beautiful. I did the below sketch with a waterbrush which is not my usual way of working. Usually I like real fat watercolour brushes. (All the watercolours I did with waterbrush are somehow less bright and not as dense as my usual paintings...but for being much faster and if I had less stuff with me, I used it in some sketches)

...here is my on site photo:

 

...and then back to the hotel as I had to pack more painting stuff for the USk Palermo meetup, organised by my friend Maria Francesca Starrabba (@mariafrancescastarrabba ). 

The meeting will take place at Cala Marina, the harbour of the old town. 

more of that shortly...