Painting in Alpandeire

Posted by Maggie

Today we went to another one of the pueblos blancos in the Genal Valley. Alpandeire is one of my favorite villages. It's sometimes called the "forgotten village," as it has not been modernized as much as some of the other white villages. You often see people riding or leading their horses through the village, and life has not changed much in the last few years, or perhaps dozens of years. The village is a little bigger than Júzcar, having a population of around 200. Today it was bustling as they prepared for a celebration of Fray Leopoldo which will happen tomorrow. It was also a market day, so there were tents with clothing for sale, and a clinic day, which meant the doctor was visiting.

We painted in spite of the unusual traffic and activity. My demo this morning was on aerial perspective and how to make tree-covered hillsides recede or come forward. It is a challenge to see the subtle variations between the mountain ranges and to paint them. To make it more complex, the farthest mountain had bare rock which was somewhat pink in the morning light. Two of the valley's white villages were in my composition, though they were quite some distance away. I am happy with the way the painting demonstrated the concepts I reviewed for the group. Left, White Villages, 9x11, pastelmat, ©Maggie Price.

By the time I finished the morning demonstration, the chill had turned to warmth and we began shedding layers. Most of the painters went to take photographs and explore the village, and I moved my easel a little to paint a closer subject of a white building, tile roof and chimney. I was not able to bring this piece to a point I really considered a finished painting, but it's a good color and value  field study. The tile roofs could use some more attention, but at this point I was in full sun and the light had changed. Left, Chiminea, 7x10, Pastelmat, ©Maggie Price.

We enjoyed a packed lunch and painted until 4 p.m., then headed back to Júzcar. On the way back the bus paused for us to take photos of the village from a good vantage point in the later afternoon light. I love the view of the village from this perspective; you get a good idea of its placement in the mountains. We're having an early dinner tonight and then heading into Ronda for a flamenco performance, which should give us all a chance to get some great photographs. I'll post some tomorrow.