Painting a house in Tuscany

This house is quite close to our place and I was able to visit it frequently.  It took a while to find the angle and also the time of day to paint.  I was drawn to this position because of the shadows on the stairs and on the little greenhouse. The driveway served as a nice entrance.

The house in morning light

Since I could visit this house often, I took some time to do a pencil sketch and take some notes.  I think that the sketch helped a lot when it was time to touch the canvas with a wet brush - I had some experience with the lines and the vanishing point.

Underway

After the the final drawing was on the canvas I could relax (sort of) and paint,  I had to try to fit the values together like a puzzle - when they fit the light "appears" on the canvas.  The shadows changed position in about 10 minutes.  So I came back the next day and was ready for the moment that the light made the diagonal shadow across the greenhouse roof.  I had to note the position of all the shadows on the canvas at that point in time.  Once the light changes it can be difficult to remember which potted plants were in light etc. at the chosen painting "moment".

 I did some retouching at home - calming the yellow grass for one thing, and below is the finished painting.

Podere Monte Merazzano  o/c  30x40cm  SOLD