Morocco Episode 5: Marrakesh Medina

Cat. No. 1318 Marrakesh Medina – 22cm x 30cm – Oil on Linen

This is a somewhat larger painting in the same street as I did the micro painting, Marrakesh Alley.

I went onto the opposite side of the street to get a slightly different perspective.

This is very near the main souk (market) in Marrakesh, and is packed with tourists. The big problem with painting in these narrow streets is the fumes from the exhaust pipes of motorbikes. Eventually I had to leave Marrakesh and escape to the mountains because I was feeling that I was getting badly poisoned by the terrible air quality. The things we put up with in the name of our art!

Stage One

On the left is the first stage of the painting. I was getting a bit hot and bothered by the end of the morning because I lost my shade and was roasting in the sun. So I messed up the value structure and wasn’t too happy with the end result.

Stage Two

So I came back the next day when the sun was in the right position and reworked the values in the light to get them closer together. This strengthened the notan structure and in the end I was quite happy with the result, on the right. It had just the feeling of light I was searching for. You can see how the value structure is simpler. It is so easy to lose this when you are painting outdoors and simultaneously struggling with getting the composition worked out, getting the color right, dealing with all the people interrupting you, dealing with traffic, and the ever changing light conditions. This painting was a lot of work!