" Flavours of Florence " - a collection of paintings from Italy.

‎"Flavours of Florence"- all new work from the Florence, Italy trip, with Paul Kenton is now up on my Fine Art website, if you fancy a browse I would be more than grateful! Have a good day! www.stevepp.co.uk

"Early morning glow"- Florence, Italy in watercolours

It's a  special feeling when you awake from a good, deep night's sleep, eat a full breakfast and set out with an open day's exploring ahead of you. Especially when you are greeted with some warm , Italian sunshine and no wind, a perfect start to a painting day. It didn't take long before Florence's medieval streets started offering up strong prompts for painting. The old, tall buildings threw the narrow streets into a medieval darkness that changed as you turned a corner , setting the other side of the street ablaze with October sunshine. With that kind of splendour, it wasn't long before we were sketching passionately and breaking out the watercolours.

"Early morning glow" watercolour on paper 10 x 7 inches. To see more of the available paintings from my Italian painting trip with Paul Kenton visit my Fine Art website here. 

"Rush Hour" - Florence , Italy in watercolours

12 x 9 inches Watercolour on rough paper- Framed and available from my Fine Art website here.

"At certain times of the day, you had to be completely on your guard as you wandered the medieval streets, for within seconds you could find yourself at the mercy of a group of speeding cyclists all on their respective journeys. Sometimes with a friendly shout, other times a tinkle of the traditional handlebar bell or if unlucky, the scowl of a stressed two wheeler who has had far too many near misses that morning. Still it's lovely to see that the centre of such a busy city has been pedestrianised and free for bicycles and pedestrians to dance their daily sidestep together without the four wheeled enemy to worry about.
Have a great day!"
  

"Florence Sunset" - watercolours of Italy

"Florence Sunset"  12 x 9 inches  watercolour on rough paper. Purchase details on my Fine Art website here. The sunsets over the river Arno in Florence just dance with sparkle and colour. Looking West towards the famous old bridge PonteVecchio just leaves you in awe at the sublime beauty before you. It also made me wonder how many people had watched these over the years in this historic city.  The moment is so fleeting, everybody seems to stop and soak up as much of it as possible as if it is the last time that they will see it. Exchanging knowing looks of appreciation, each one part of that special sunset watchers club.

Have a great Friday!

" Oasis in the City" -watercolour painting in Florence , Italy.

‎"Oasis in the City" - watercolour on paper- 12 x 8 inches. Up on the hill overlooking Florence is a beautiful rose garden, so tranquil and peaceful amidst the bustle of the city. Paul Kenton and I spent quite a few hours painting from this picturesque spot. www.stevepp.co.uk

" The dark end of the street " - oil painting in Italy 2

"Shadows embraced the stylish young woman as she strode with purpose away from the midday heat of Florence. Was she bound for an illicit meeting or just an innocent rendezvous with an old friend for coffee?"

Everywhere that you walked in the medieval, historic centre of Florence, you turned corners to be met with dark shadows then shafts of brilliant sunlight at the other end of the street, highlighting rows of bicycles, scooters and the ever present little Fiat 500s.

"The dark end of the street." Oil on canvas 60 x 40 cms unframed. ©Steven A.Pleydell-Pearce Fine Art

Have a great day!

"Sundried Tomato" - Oil painting in Italy

A lazy sunday in Florence, the car's been washed , the laundry is drying in the sun, the newspaper kiosk is closed for the day and it's time for a coffee sitting outside the cafe on the street, watching the world go by.

Oil on canvas 90 x 30 cms. 

Have a great day!

Steven A.Pleydell-Pearce Fine Art

Watercolour painting in Florence, Italy

" Florence through the trees. 3" ©StevePP watercolour on paper 12 x 9 inches

After a short train ride from Pisa, Paul Kenton and I pulled into the bustling station of Florence. Finding our way through the crowds to our hotel, which was conveniently only one block away from the station, we grabbed our cameras and headed out to explore the famed city.

Instantly we were amongst a sea of scooters, taxis and beautifully dressed people on bicycles. Swept along we found ourselves in the heart of an outdoor market , alive with activity, haggling and hawking, the colours and smells were intoxicating, especially all the leather goods.

After a few hours of wandering around soaking up the atmosphere we found ourselves south of the River Arno in a glorious little Piazza at a busy ristorante. The food was sublime, simple yet exploding with fresh flavours and tastes that you come to expect from good Italian cooking. The square was steadily filling with local people taking their "passeggiata" , the evening stroll, small children chased each other around and round and mums and dads chatted and gesticulated animatedly, whilst beautiful young couples strutted and preened in their finest fashions.

After a three courses of fine food , and a few glasses of wine we made it back to our hotel, excited to paint the next day.

"Florence through the trees.2"  "Florence through the trees.3" ©StevePP watercolour on paper 12 x 9"

The view from the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte greeted us with panoramic views of the city, it was so peaceful up there that Paul and I decided to spend the day painting from the courtyard there. We managed a series of studies from the same spot, each highlighting the difficulties in painting a city scene in watercolours.
Trying to capture the essence, yet simplifying the scene enough to keep it from becoming overworked was a challenge. The light and sky changed almost every fifteen minutes. From stormy, to flat light, to bright strong sunlight.
"Florence through the trees 3" was my favourite, after exploring the scene in the first two, I opted to simplify and lighten the overall look to capture the heat, light and values and at the same time leave something for the viewer's imagination to fill in.

Whew!, after all that, we needed a glass of vino and a good meal.
More to come!

Look out for a series of original oil paintings to come from this trip soon on my fine art website.

"Sunset over Florence" - watercolour painting in Tuscany

Watercolour 10 x 7 inches ©Steve PP.
 Well my bag is packed, it's an early morning start and then an early evening arrival in Florence. Hopefully, there will be a few of these to paint over the next few days, stay tuned!

Have a great day!

"Florentines Pontes" - watercolours in Italy

© Steve PP

With just two days to go until our Tuscan watercolour trip begins, I've been practicing squinting at busy architectural, urban scenes, completely different to the seascapes that I'm used to. There's nothing like a new subject matter to get all the buttons pushed.

Have a great day!

" Streets of Firenze" - watercolour painting in Italy

© Steve PP

10 x 7 inches watercolour on paper 

Warming up for a whirlwind four day painting trip with fellow artist Paul Kenton to Florence, Italy. The watercolour bag is packed and the plan is to roam and paint whatever takes our fancy.

More updates to follow soon!