" Lunch Hour " - watercolour paintings of Florence, Italy.

This stylish young lady was enjoying her lunch on the go, on this sunny day in Florence, Italy. Watercolour 12 x 9 inches.

Available here.

Have a great day!

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" 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

"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!

" 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.

"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!