CHAPTER FIVE
painting from life

Cortona Hillside
8" × 11" (20cm × 28cm)

Why paint from life when photos are available? Well, there is no greater teacher than life. No camera can capture the subtle nuances of color and light as it touches the skin of a model, hits a copper pot on a table or falls on and describes the forms of the landscape. The more painting you do from life, the stronger all your work will be.

I paint the landscape from life as often as possible, and have learned to set my easel and supplies in the smallest possible area—sometimes on the edge of a sidewalk in a village in a foreign country, sometimes on the edge of a cliff where I dare not back up, and once balanced precariously on rocks in mid-stream.

When you paint in view of the public, comments are inevitable. Some of my favorites have been in foreign countries, where my limited understanding of the language still allowed me to appreciate the “Bella!” or “Trés jolie!” Once a small, solemn boy of about five years of age studied my painting quite carefully before pronouncing it “very good.” Another time, my critic was a silent but intent hummingbird, who apparently found the selection of pink and red pastels arranged in my pastel box quite attractive.