Sketchbook Sicily, Entry 11, farewell Castellammare

 

Here is my on-site-sketch:

 

The day before we left Castellammare, we visited the beach of Guidaloca (here is another sketch of the torre of Guidaloca - click) , which looks like if you are in the Carribean with turquoise, shallow waters and some waves. I enclose this following photo to show you the beauty of the surrounding:

 

Thank you to all our friends in Castellammare for the fun and the good times.

***

Btw. I got so used to that ugly plastic waterbrush, that I also did the above sketch  with it. I've never used it that much as on this trip and this is all due to being too lazy to pack more stuff. To my own surprise I used it more and more. 

I am sure that at home it will go back to sleep in one of my cupboards and wait there for another trip. 

I am really longing for using my beautiful real brush (12 or 16) again and also to work with larger paper. 

Here is my last small coloured pencil sketch of the trip.

 

We landed well in Nürnberg and were welcomed with a very tasty 3 course meal by our very good friends who live closeby...life is good. 

 

Another adventure is just around the corner which will be Sketchmarathon in Prague...;)

Sketchbook Sicily, Entry 10, Swimming Glasses, Hibiscus & Basil

 

 

This is the most relaxing part of my travels...home base Castellammare and from there to visit all the different beaches, like here on my sketch you can see a part of Cala Rossa (named after the red stones).

 

While I painted, a nice Austrian couple came by with their Kayak and I still could insert the kayak into my sketch, as at that time I was still about to do the pencil drawing.

Here is my on site photo (the kayak has already left at that time...)

Cala Bianca, which is close by is also a very scenic and an even more wild place. You have to climb a lot to get there. The day we visited Cala Bianca the water was too agitated and not as clear as it is in Cala Rossa.

 

I made a sketch of my small swimming glasses and in Castellammare I had to paint the hibiskus I saw in a garden.

Then from my balcony I sketched the neighbours rooftop terrace. A nice guy is living there, giving me a smile and telling me buongiorno every day...

I did not paint the pot with basil on his table. Everyone here has a fresh basil plant somewhere around the house or on the table or a chair in front of the house (to get enough sun). I already sketched the "holy basil" last year in this post (click to see).
 

 Here is my full double spread with three different subjects:

 As long as I am here I enjoy the excellent cuisine...let's go "...mangiare, capito!"

 

to be continued...

Sketchbook Sicily, Entry 9, Cala Mazzo de Sciacca

 

Ok lets face it, I love the sea and good food, therefore Castellammare is the place to be.

Our today's destination is Cala Mazzo de Sciacca, I would say that this is one of THE favourite beaches of mine with clear blue water and beautifully shaped stones. 

Here is my double spread of part of the bay:

And here is just part of the sea water I painted (with waterbrush), which I really like. I made it look like waves which I did by squeezing water out of the brush on top of the still moist blue colour. It turned out to my liking.

 

Now there is still missing the double spread of our second breakfast on our beloved balcony:

 

The good coffee and the different pastry, some with filling, with almonds or pistacchio are a treat. 

I am still trying to adapt to my new sketchbook paper. On the one hand I like that my paintings do not get too dark, on the other hand the colour sucks into the paper and gets a bit dull, which means I need endless washes to get a darker colour...and all my sketches in here somehow get this blueish pastel look.  

Sure that I will use up the book anyhow...but not yet sure if I will give another of these sketchbooks a chance.

...more shortly...

Sicily Sketchbook, Entry 8, Castellammare...Pizza Pizza

 

We arrived in Castellammare late, after a little Odyssey on the way. We were thirsty and hungry. An Apéro stop to celebrate of being here again was obligatory and thank god that in Sicily people eat late, we could eat a fantastic Pizza in the main square of the old town of Castellammare. It was still about 25° Celsius during the night, lots of people on the streets and who needs to sleep anyway...

Here is my full spread (...left hand side was breakfast still at Cefalù and right side is the evening Pizza in Castellammare)

 

You see that day was more of a travel than a sketching day.

The next day began very relaxed and we headed out to one of the more hidden city beaches of Castellammare. Here is the full double spread:

From day to day I am getting lazier, which means that I use just the tinyest set of watercolours and a waterbrush. The watercolours turn out lighter, because the waterbrush cannot be controlled like a usual brush and does not take as much pigments as with a good brush, but for the holidays I accept this... 

 

I gotta go...more from Sicily within shortly...

Sketchbook Sicily, Entry 7, Cefalù panoramic

 

The first day we came here I started with the pencil sketch of the panoramic I wanted to paint. That were a lot of tiny houses by the historic centre beach. I sketched from the mole in the bright sun and could not watercolour that day because of the heat. Instead I jumped into the water to refresh and continued one day later... here is the full spread.

And here is the on-site photo for comparison (click to enlarge).

I did not draw the dark background of the rock, because I wanted a light ensemble. 

Later that day I did the following small sketches:

And this last evening in Cefalu was especially nice. 

In the next photo you can see the beginning of me sketching the snacks...

At Deja-Vu Bistrot we were spoiled with delicacies and different pasta as well as a semifreddo in the end. 

I just painted the apéritif snacks with green olives from Trapani region.

 

You see that I used a waterbrush here, as there was not much place on the table where I could have met my waterpot for a real brush. Later the table was too full of good things to eat that it was impossible to sketch any further... it was time to concentrate on eating the delicious meal.

Here is my full spread of that evening:

 

The following seascape and croissant with pistacchio stuffing are from the next mornings breakfast sketching, before we had to leave our lovely terrace in Cefalù. We had to pack, as our train to Palermo Centrale was leaving...

more of Sicily shortly...

Sketchbook Sicily, Entry 6, Cefalù "WOW places"

 

The most beautiful place in Cefalù was among others the place in front of the cathedral in arabo-normannic style. A real WOW place. We came here several times for breakfast or for having one of these brioche with icecream creations as a snack in between.

 Above you can see my pencil sketch and below the watercoloured sketch.

 

 

 

It was a real good place to have a croissant stuffed with a load of pistacchio cream and above all a wonderful place to sketch.

 Here is my full watercolour spread (click to enlarge):

 I continue with more of Cefalù shortly.

 

 

...stay tuned for more "dolce vita" sketches...

Sicily Sketchbook, Entry 5, Cefalù sights

 

 

Sicily Sketchbook, Entry 5,  Cefalù sights

We came to Cefalú by train, and it was quite a relaxing 1 hour trip. Cefalú is a real fantastic holiday destination with a beautiful beach, a wonderful cathedral and lots of old town houses, a very scenic ensemble with a mountain behind the city and a lighthouse as well as a coastal walkway on the cliffs. The first thing when we came there, was of course  swimming in the clear blue sea. By the mole I did my first sketch (just in pencil, but I will show that in the next post, when finished). 

After having had a bite I drew the terrace of our B&B as the sun was going down behind the buildings, and a fresh wind came up. I did not finish colouring.

 

The rooftop terrace is on top of a building, which used to be part of an old fort. All houses are somehow built together...

 

 

So this first day, we explored the city of Cefalù and the next morning, when adapted to the new surroundings, I had to see the awakening of the day on our rooftop terrace overlooking the sea. To the other side there was an old campanile, which I tried to draw in direct watercolour while sipping my first coffee. Our B&B used to be an old fortified palace and if you look down the terrace you can see the cliffs and the sea. 

 

The new sketchbook still feels a bit strange. It sucks in the colours much more than in my usual sketchbooks, but I expressly wanted to explore it further and will adapt my watercolour style to it.

 

I finish my todays post with this little Ape drawing.

 

...stay tuned for more to follow...

Sketchbook Sicily, Palermo in...out and about

 

Sicily Sketchbook  Entry 3, Palermo, in.....out and about

The following days flew by and I sketched like there is no tomorrow. Often just small thumbnails or sketches which I combined in double spreads. 

I also drew the view from my room in Palermo 

with the Ikea curtain and the plants in front of the balcony. You could hear the hustle and bustle of the never sleeping city...

 

If we went out at night I did some nightsketching like this one, I  made when we went out for the aperitif after a long day of sightseeing. 

There often come yummi plates of snacks with the drinks (which I inserted into the right side of the sketch).

Still the night temperatures were over 25 ° C, so it was really comfortable to sit outside.

At a table besides us (not in the photo) a guy fell from his collapsing seat. The small chairs are not really made for heavy North Europeans. It was quite surreal.

That one was sketched in a place nearby

 

Here I used a different paper, which was a bit strange after my usual sketchbook paper. 

Then the next day:

My next sketch shows our view from a breakfast place at Ballaró market. For us it was already second breakfast. Btw our hotel offered a wonderful breakfast.

We were sitting directly opposite this vegetable stall.

At Ballaró there were not that many people as years ago, which made it more easy to walk without bumping into too many people.

Then we went further as we wanted to see a church (Chiesa dell'Immacolata Concezione) at Mercato do Capo (another market closeby), but sadly the doors were closed (it was a tip of Palermitain sketcher Maria Francesca Starrabba to go to the mercato and the church). There we had another coffee, with a good vista onto the gates of famous Mercato do Capo. 

This view was sketched with a very thick pencil and I like the rough look. 

 

My sketchbook was full then and I had to change to a different one. 

 

Lots of bits and pieces from now on into a very different sketchbook, like the rondel window of the church I spoke about before at Antica Focacceria...

 

... and Piazza San Domenico, where you can find a nice café with fresh pastry and good coffee. 

The sketch I began at Palermo cathedral was never finished because of the masses of people there (...I began to feel uncomfortable...)

This is probably one of my longest posts ever. I tried to combine everything in one ... oh, and I nearly forgot the part of that beautiful house I drew...

Hope you liked my insights into Palermo sketching. 

 

more from Sicily very soon...