Another Friday session & a bit of a hiccup as somehow I ‘forgot’ it was the same date as Steve’s birthday-oops! However, a swift adjustment to the time was made & everyone happy to start at 9.30 French time, 8.30 U.K. & just before apero time in Australia! We also agreed to stop 2 hours later to then allow for b’day celebrations to start-what a patient man he is.

In fact we managed to complete the cabanon – champ de coquelicots by 11.00 so it shows how competent everyone is by now. I guess it gives a head start by showing the picture first on the site + colours & brushes, & encouraging a faint pencil sketch to cover the horizon, &, in this case the outline of the cabanon & the olive tree all helps to speed things up. It’s interesting to see how everyone has a different sky & , & also background greenery, which is always a free & easy loose style, sweeping along in gentle strokes, down to the bottom of the page. There will be poppies scattered all along the ground, underneath the building & the olive tree, but for the moment an earth colour will do.

While that is drying you can start on the rustic wall of the cabanon, & a light creamy brown colour with drops of rust & a bit of blue, quickly dabbed off to leave stains, & make it look old. Then the rust roof & wavy tiles, & later a shadowy colour for shadows under the eaves, plus the darker browny/shadowy colour for the arched window. Three swift strokes for the cypresses by the house, & as with the olive tree trunk just put a little bit of water at the bottom to help them sink into the ground. Almost the same principle for the olive tree branches as you don’t want them to look like sticks in the air, so drift some plain water  into them before dabbing quickly with a small brush of olive green/blue/grey for the leaves.

Then comes the free & easy fun with the poppies! Again a small pointed brush dabbing at random to give the impression of dancing poppies in a field. This should feel a relaxed version of a cabanon in a field, & in this case it was with a view of Tourtour in the distance, & the cabanon still just about exists.