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Joseph Zbukvic, day 3
Today we painted Girona, a very beautiful city with old buildings and narrow streets. Joseph took us to a narrow passage with a long ancient staircase leading up to a large green church gate. A very difficult subject. He drew the gate quickly and easily, straight on, seemingly without much thought of composition. He was careful about the wide staircase, saying that there is no shortcut for stairs. You have to draw them, all the steps. He painted everything with a faint grey-beige color, leaving small white areas here and there. Then it was allowed to dry. Then he painted from top to bottom, sometimes a broad brushstroke, but mostly…
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Joseph Zbukvic, day 2
Today we took a bus to Besalú, half an hour’s drive from Girona. We were actually going to the beach for a seascape, but there would be thunder and rain today according to the weather forecast. Besalú is a small town, with walls for protection and a stone bridge with gates over a small river. Joseph started painting down by the water. He sketched the tower and some offthe bridge that led into the city. He emphasized not trying to include too much, draw what you see without moving your gaze. He sketched quickly, without lifting the pen too much. First put on a light layer over almost the entire…
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Joseph Zbukvic, day 1
We had the privilege of attending a workshop with Joseph Zbukvic, one of the world’s best watercolor painters. I have been trying to get a place for many years, but his courses have always been fully booked. Last year around Christmas the places for a workshop in Girona were to be released. At exactly three o’clock I managed to press the button and pay the advance on time. It was lucky, the waiting list to join in the event of a possible cancellation is over 350 people. So who is this popular artist? Joseph Zbukvic was born in 1951 in Zagreb, in what was then Yugoslavia. He is self-taught and…
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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…
