“Are you painting us? Only, I’ve just moved our sun loungers” shouted the lady as she strode purposefully towards me and my easel.
We’d pitched up at a campsite in Tavira, Portugal, I’d just set up to paint outside and put brush to paper, I was expecting visitors, just not this quickly, she was nearly at my easel.
‘No, I’m not painting the view’ I said back, ‘Ok’ she said and immediately spun on her heels and headed back to her camper.
Now, given she just needed one more step to peek round and see what was on my board, plus she was British on a predominantly European site (when meeting a fellow Brit there’s generally a conversation about, how long, far, where, when, what etc) so, her turning away surprised me.
I know, had it been me, I wouldn’t have been able to help myself, I’d have to look given my curious (some would say nosy) nature.
Observing her body language I suspected she wanted to deliver a lecture on how I should ask permission first before I start painting and was retreating disappointed, internally I rolled my eyes, (I probably did externally as well, I’ve been told I’m useless had hiding what I’m thinking ), the reason I was painting outside was to test out my new outdoor easel setup, I’d planned a series of small sketches, nothing that would require my full attention, you see, I knew people were coming…
If you set up an easel in a public place, people will come and look, comment, tell you what they think, they can’t help themselves
‘oh, you like watercolours’
‘what is it?’ (one of my favourites and never fails to make me smile, especially when I’m working in my sketchbook, there are times I struggle to tell what it is I’m painting!) See my first Sketch with Jo video for an example!
‘Oh that’s the Castle, I’d have thought you’d paint the Church’
‘That’s not very good’ (usually said at a distance but just loud enough so they know you can still hear them)
I’d set up in the relative safety of a private campsite, I wasn’t in the centre of the historic town painting a monument for all to see. I prefer painting in isolation, in the quiet, without interruptions and plan to take my easel out into the depths of the countryside, but it was a good reminder that painting with an audience can be quite fun too.
I don’t think you need a thick skin to paint in public, just a sense of humour and an understanding that what people say out loud about your painting, says more about them and what they’re feeling in the moment than the standard of your work.
Only you can decide if you like what you’re working on and most comments people make are just questions, it’s great practice for giving tutorials being able to draw or paint and talk about what you’re doing at the same time.
I also see why Urban Sketching groups are so popular, there’s a feeling of safety in numbers, and with a group of you sketching in public, there’s less likelihood of you being singled out for comment.
Back at the campsite, our Dutch neighbours came over to have a look, then there was a steady stream of visitors, I’d picked a couple of local scenes to paint using reference photo’s from my phone, a flowering cactus and one of our dog, Thomasina. Like a game, there was sheer delight in their voices when they recognised the subjects I had painted, honestly, I was just relieved they could tell what it was.
It did get me thinking though, if you’re reading a book in public, occasionally a perfect stranger might approach you and say ‘oh I’ve read that, it’s good isn’t it?’
I’m trying to think if that has ever happened to me in ‘real life’, I think not, the closest I do remember is when Captain Correlli’s Mandolin came out in the nineties and in London, you’d be travelling on the Tube and there’d be at least 3 copies per carriage being read with everyone giving each other a sort of knowing head tilt.
But would you go up to a complete stranger and tell them you wouldn’t have picked that book to read, or sat in that location to read their book, I don’t think so, having said that, if someone has approached you and said something odd or inappropriate whilst reading, I’d love to hear what, do spill the beans in the comments…
Reading is, I suppose, a private activity no matter the location, whereas sketching, painting, or drawing is producing something visual so it’s a natural instinct to want to go and look, as for making comments my big tip for discouraging conversation is to wear a big pair of headphones, those full over-the-ear ones, they act as a marker that you don’t want to be disturbed and generally people respect this, there’s always that one person though who is convinced you need to hear their critique of your work and will just shout it out so you can still hear it!
Now where was I, oh yes we’d arrived at Tavira, Portugal
Visually there’s so much to take in, from the tiled houses, medieval castle and a church with the tombs of several knights, to the riverside restaurants, art galleries and alleyways. It’s on either side of the Gilao River, there are salt pans that attract flamingos and a ferry that takes you to Tavira Island and long sandy beaches.
This trip (we’ve been more than once), our favourite places to eat were;
Little India (after weeks of your own cooking, this place is a very welcome taste sensation)
Avant Garde Bistro (clever twists on a traditional Portuguese menu, also dog-friendly on the inside, quite the rarity in Portugal)
Flavour Cafe (great for breakfasts and lunches and suppers, an all rounder)
Whenever we arrive somewhere new, both my sketchbook and camera come out and my mind starts to fizz with ideas. What I’ve started to do is create travel illustrations and reproduce some of my sketchbook pages as prints, here’s my illustration of Tavira (paid subscribers can download a copy to print themselves).
I hope you enjoy the poster, I plan to do a series of these to go with more of my tales from the campsite posts.
The poster is a hi-res pdf of my original illustration, ready for you to print at home (or at your local printers) colours may vary slightly to those you see onscreen.
The size is A4 and it will fit a standard-sized frame, if you need Letter or would like to request a different size, please just let me know.
Until next time…