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Roberto Zangarelli in Cascais-day 1
In February 2024, we participated in an exciting workshop with Roberto Zangarelli in Cascais, Portugal. Roberto Zangarelli is a distinguished Italian watercolor artist and graphic illustrator from Rome, born in 1970. He has a distinct vision for watercolor painting based on three fundamental principles: atmosphere (representing the painting’s story), magic (stimulating curiosity), and risk (forcing the gesture). Zangarelli’s work has been exhibited in both Italian and international galleries, and he has collaborated with a range of art magazines. He has also illustrated covers for books on painting, worked with companies that produce watercolor paper, and launched his own set of brushes. Through his teaching in watercolor at the Association Aquarelle…
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ALVARO CASTAGNET In JÖNKÖPING
This summer we were invited to participate in a workshop in Jönköping with Alvaro Castagnet, fantastic, isn’t it, in Jönköping!! At first we thought it was a joke, but, no, he was going to hold a workshop there for two days. Julie Karlsson had arranged this in Folkuniversitet’s premises. My wife Margaretha and I thought it was exciting, and signed up. We gathered in Folkuniveristet’s premises, there were twenty of us, all enthusiastic about painting with Alvaro for two days. First a little talk and then he played a Jönköping motif. A picture he took the day before depicting a street corner with Konditori Bernard. First, Alvaro sketched, then a…
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Online Workshop with Alvaro Castagnet
At the beginning of November 2022 I found a notice about an online workshop with Alvaro Castagnet. It cost only $99 and you would get to paint online with Alvaro for four hours. He would start at 5 in the afternoon in Australia which meant starting at nine for me, and going until one in the morning, okay, a bit late for me, but it would work. A few days before the workshop, we received two photographs, this so that we could sketch the two motifs first. It’s good, but can sometimes be a bit tricky because it’s important where you place the different objects in the image. You have…
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COLORS AND BRUSHES
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COLORS AND BRUSHES
Hello watercolor friends,One question I often get before a workshop is what colors and brushes I use. Of course, it is personal which ones you prefer, but it can be good to know if you are going to participate in a workshop and want to try to do exercises fully. My tip is to buy good paint of good quality, they are more expensive and are more light-resistant, it will be cheaper in the long run. I use Schmincke Horadam, very good colors, at a good price (and I am not sponsored by them in any way). I do not have many different colors and could manage with fewer. An…
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Online Workshop with Alvaro Castagnet
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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 trees in one corner. So he started with something that was really dark. Tough, I think. Then he completed the picture bit by bit, he finished painting one house wall, completely finished, before continuing on another part of the painting. Had problems with the car which he removed a few times and rebuilt. The colors didn’t turn out so well, he…
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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 water which did not turn out well. Added a shadow to the foreground to make the water shine. Worked a lot with the focal point, the boats in the foreground. I was very fascinated by how easily and smoothly he got to the city in the background. Very good. We then had to paint ourselves. It was difficult to find…
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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 showed figures. He made a quick sweep of the brush, a messy stroke. Then he put heads there and painted bones there and suddenly there was a group of people. Figures should be painted, not outlined. Exercise, do 200 per day. He also showed that each image should contain five degrees of strength, from white to darkest dark. You must never…
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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 surprised many, but he explained that it was backlit.The buildings were painted quickly and in one sweep, you can barely see the border between them. He also put in a cloud by the church which at first looked very dark but then faded and became absolutely perfect. He tinted the ground and placed two cyclists who happened to pass by, one…
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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 to paint, colors, what to think about and much more. Afterwards, I handed him my book, Obsessed with Watercolor. I had promised him it because I got to use some of his pictures in the book. Then we took the bus to Valletta and we walked into the city center. Alvaro wanted an open place that was also shaded out of consideration…
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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 many cities throughout his distinguished artistic career, he manages to extract that city’s vibrations and deftly translates these vibes into pigment and water for all to enjoy. This passion for the seemingly ordinary is one of the reasons that Álvaro flies around the world giving lectures, workshops, and seminars in the field he masters: watercolor. This technique, which is not…
