Michael Gage

Last month, the sun was much lower in the sky, so today I came an hour earlier. (Or with the clocks changing, is it the same time -- or two hours earlier?) Even so, the sun is now only just above the trees that are around the top of the hollow.

And those trees have turned orange and brown; down here in the hollow, there's still a lot of green, with just a few hints of yellow. The orange and brown leaves on the ground are those that have fallen from the trees above. The nettles have died back almost completely.



Ink and watercolour, 31 x 23cm. Click to enlarge.

(Fifth in a series: Click here to see the rest)

In front of the church of San Lorenzo. The man on the motorcycle stays in the same position long enough for me to draw him. Some campaigners are imploring people to sign their petition: "Sign against drugs. Is important. Where are you from? New Mexico? Is beautiful, no? Will you sign against drugs?"

Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

In Oltrarno, the much quieter side of the river; much easier to find somewhere to sit and draw. You can see the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio.



Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm.

From outside the National Library, across the river Arno to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Didn't finish this because it started to rain.

Round the back of the church of San Lorenzo. I've just realised that you can see some of the church windows (cut off at top right) reflected in the windows of the red car (bottom left).


Ink and watercolour, 43 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

Overheard conversation 1:

"It's fifteen years since I was last in Florence."
"Fifteen?"
"No, fifty."

Overheard conversation 2:

"French people don't like curry."

Widescreen view, in the cloisters of Santa Maria Novella.

Ink and watercolour, 42 x 13cm. Click to enlarge.

The view from the our apartment at Il Gatto congli Stivali (highly recommended!). Early morning: a cat wanders across the rooftops; sadly, he is not wearing boots.

Crowds! This would usually be an uncomfortable situation in which to paint and draw, but everyone is so busy looking at the architecture (and their phones) that they don't notice what I'm doing. Also, they pause just long enough to sketch them, and keep the same pose for a minute or two.

Ink, 43 x 13 cm. Click to enlarge.

House at Piddinghoe, Sussex.
Ink and watercolour, 14 x 9 cm