Today we painted Girona, a very beautiful city with old buildings and narrow streets. Joseph took us to a narrow passage with a long ancient staircase leading up to a large green church gate. A very difficult subject. He drew the gate quickly and easily, straight on, seemingly without much…
Joseph Zbukvic, day 2
Today we took a bus to Besalú, half an hour’s drive from Girona. We were actually going to the beach for a seascape, but there would be thunder and rain today according to the weather forecast. Besalú is a small town, with walls for protection and a stone bridge with…
Joseph Zbukvic, day 1
We had the privilege of attending a workshop with Joseph Zbukvic, one of the world’s best watercolor painters. I have been trying to get a place for many years, but his courses have always been fully booked. Last year around Christmas the places for a workshop in Girona were to…
Workshop Alvaro Castagnet, day 5
Today we were supposed to paint inside the hotel but Alvaro went to the square in Bugibba. There he quickly sketched up one street. Talked a lot. Alvaro added a first wash where the colors were allowed to flow together. When the image dried, he first painted some dark palm…
Workshop Alvaro Castagnet, day 4
Today we went to Marsaloxx, a fishing village in southern Malta. Alvaro looked around the dock a bit and decided to paint past and over some big boats. It was hard to find a place to paint, there were boats everywhere. He composed very freely. Used viridian green in the…
Workshop Alvaro Castagnet, day 3
Today we were to paint again in Valletta. Alvaro first went to Baracca Garden, a garden that overlooks the Three Cities. It was windy and Alvaro hesitated, he decided we would paint there later. We walked a bit into the town and Alvaro found a small square. He sat down and…
Workshop Alvaro Castagnet, day 2
Today we went to Mdina, Malta’s former capital. It is an old town with narrow streets, the only place in Malta where there are not so many cars. Alvaro painted a street with a church backlit.His first wash included hot and cold, that’s important. After it dried, he painted dark gray buildings, which…
Workshop Alvaro Castagnet, day 1
Malta on 24 September 2016. First we got to meet Alvaro in a conference room at the hotel. We were about 20 participants from different parts of the world who sat quietly and listened to one of the world’s best watercolor painters. Alvaro talked for almost an hour about watercolor, how…
Alvaro Castagnet: Accomplished Ambassador in a Thousand Cities
Reflections of water pooling in a rainy street in Madrid, smoke coming from a kitchen in Singapore, or the long shapes shadows of cars at sunset in New York are all moments that Álvaro Castagnet feels inspired by and depicts magnificently through his atmospheric water colour paintings. Having visited so…