garyartista

[garyartista]

Futbol (soccer) players in ink, male figure drawing and portrait

Futbol players in ink, 21 x 30 cm, 8.3 x 11.7″ Each drawing 21 x 30 cm, 8.3 x 11.7″

[garyartista]

Discover Olite's Gothic Castle: A Hidden Gem in Spain

Surely there is no king with a more beautiful castle or palace and with so many gilded rooms (…) …how magnificent and sumptuous is this palace. — 15th-century German diary (British Museum) Olite is a town of 4,000 in the Spanish Province of Navarre. The Royal Palace located there is a beautiful example of French castle design. French, you say? Indeed. King Charles III built the Royal Palace in…

[garyartista]

Castle at Vic sur Aisne, pen and ink drawing

Castle at Vic sur Aisne, pen and ink, 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7 We came here on our boat last summer. The locals refer to it as Donjon de Vic-sur-Aisne. The first castle was built in the 8th century. It was part of the defense that stopped the Normans in the 9th century. The keep was built in stone in the 12th century to a height of 25 meters with walls two meters thick. The castle was badly…

[garyartista]

The Royal Palace of Olite - 3 drawings

Royal Castle of Olite, pen and ink, 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7 Royal Castle of Olite pen and ink as in the first but digitally modified

[garyartista]

Ballerinas, three watercolor paintings (version 2)

Studies for a larger painting. Images updated. Abstract Ballerina in Abstract Background 1, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 2, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 3, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor

[garyartista]

Ballerinas, three watercolor paintings (version 2)

Studies for a larger painting. Images updated. Abstract Ballerina in Abstract Background 1, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 2, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 3, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor

[garyartista]

Ballerinas, two watercolor paintings

Ballerina 1, watercolor, 21 x 30/ 8.3 x 11.7″ Ballerina 2, watercolor, 21 x 30/ 8.3 x 11.7″

[garyartista]

Two Chilling (watercolor)

Two Chilling, Watercolor 21 x 30 cm/ 8.3 x 11.7cm

[garyartista]

Royal Monastery of Santa Maria in El Puig and the legend of Valencia's bat

With the renewal of the €10 unlimited regional travel pass we’re again visiting the smaller towns near Valencia. Puig (officially El Puig de Santa Maria) is just 14k and less than 30 minutes away. The train wasn’t crowded on the way there, though bursting at the seams on the way back as people were joining the King’s Day festivities in Valencia. Walking to the center of Puig from the metro stop…

[garyartista]

Nude in Pompeii

Acrylic painting Acrylic

[garyartista]

Music video: Paintings, watercolors and figure drawings, 2024

Some of the art I produced this past year. Most of the watercolors were done aboard Viking. There is limited space and I have to put everything away each time so larger paintings are difficult to mange. It’s perfect for watercolors though! It was a wonderful year for cruising once the rains let up around June 1. Before that it was rather dreary and the Maas was running quite fast as we headed…

[garyartista]

Holiday Foods of Rome, and ditching Panettones

Christmas eve dinner here in Rome: I prepared a multiple course meal. Well it was mostly me, as the spousal unit managed to sneak in some very non-Italian smoked herring and salmon. You can get both of these in the stores here these days, but that is no excuse, IMHO. In Italy the meal is divided into courses: antipasto (before the pasta), Primo piato (first plate, meaning pasta) and Secondo,…

[garyartista]

Drawings from Roma

St Stephen’s Gate, Aurelian Wall, Rome (watercolor) Castle Sant Angelo from the Bernini bridge House near St Stephen’s Gate Persephonne, Bernini’s statue American Academy, Rome (pencil)

[garyartista]

Rome: pen and ink drawings

The Boxer. Bronze, Roman era Statue at the Altemps Museum Gaul couple committing suicide From statues at the Barberini Palace Reclining Couple, terra cotta, 750 BCE (Conte pencil)

[garyartista]

Religiosity in Italy

Rome is the seat of the approximately 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. Strictly speaking it’s the Vatican City State that occupies this position, but as it is surrounded by the city of Rome, it is understandable why so many meld the two. The Pope was the head of the Papal States, comprising roughly the center third of Italy, from 756 to 1870. By 1860 most of the Papal States had been conquered by…

[garyartista]

Rome: What's up with the 2025 Jubilee.

Rome is just a 2 hour flight from Valencia so even Ryan Air’s uncomfortable seats can be manageable. We plunked our two carry-ons in the overheads and sat with a sizable and friendly Bulgarian fellow living in Valencia somehow wedged between us. There went the manageability. He’s with his wife and children, with them to the rear of the plane although at first I thought they were hiding in the…

[garyartista]

At last! Our narrated video "From Amsterdam to the France 2024"

Filming and narration by Peg Kirkpatrick, editing and production by Gary Kirkpatrick. Copyright 2024