I was amazed at how many people were actually visiting the Acropolis in October. So many in fact that it was hard to find a good place to paint. This situation was intimidating and kept me from drawing on my first day in Greece. This sketch is of the Sanctuary of Asclepius which is one of many ruins along the path up the Acropolis and a place fewer people tended to congregate.
On my second day in Athens I finally got over jet lag enough to start painting. My first painting was the ruins of Olympian Zeus. The site was closed at the time but I found a comfortable spot to set up shop just just outside the fence. Using a Molskine watercolor sketchbook, I first created a line drawing in ink and then finished it with watercolors.
While traveling in Greece, I discovered it can rain a fair amount in October. My dad and I drove around the mainland and visited several islands for a total of three weeks last year and experienced 4-5 days with showers. Although there were a couple of times I had to hide my sketchbook from the wet weather, It generally wasn’t a problem. The best part was the crystal clear views the rain provided, especially on Santorini were I could see for miles looking out over the Aegean from on top of the caldera.
While resting at the Hotel Adams and between adventures roaming the streets of Athens, I drew this simple line drawing of my dad blogging on his laptop computer. I like the still, almost meditative quality to the piece as my dad sits, lost in thought.
While on the plane to Greece, I sketched the interior of the plane, including the flight attendant serving drinks.
A friend of Mine, Kristina got married last year to her fiance Jeff. He plays in a bluegrass band in Petaluma on Thursdays nights. The day before their wedding, they had a party at the bar and I went to visit with her and to see him play. My old friend Narda from high school was there too. I brought my sketchbook of course, and drew the band playing. The bar was pretty dark and the band was moving around on stage quite a bit, but I still tried to I capture them on paper. When I got home, I finished off the piece with some watercolors while the evening was still fresh in my mind. In this drawing, Jeff is the one playing the double base.
I finally finished the etching of the Mykonos Windmill. It was created as a single plate line etching and aquatint (for the tones).
My book “The Artist on the Road: Impressions of Greece” is finally available on Amazon!