Urca Fishing Boats
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
This is definitely a rainy season. Another break after several rainy days and there I went to paint in Urca. I had done a small sketch of this composition last week and I decided to do it in a larger format,this time a vertical one. I wanted the mountain, the Yatch Club and the bridge. The boats would be the stars.
These old boats are very charming and Corcovado mountain is a perfect background for this scene.
After setting up my painting gear, I started organizing the compositional elements on canvas looking for a better harmony of shapes.
Soon I realized that I wouldn´t have time for a detailed drawing as, despite a beautiful sunlight bathing the boats, there was a curtain of clouds starting to cover the mountain.
If I wanted to stick to my original plan I would have to work fast, so I decided for a more direct way, brush and paint, painting and drawing at the same time, adjusting shapes, colors and values. It was as if the mountain were playing hide-and-seek, clouds come and going, challenging my ability to capture the best moment to register on canvas.
I knew I wouldn´t finish this work in one session, but I was determined to go as far as I could until light changed too much. I was lucky, it didn´t rain.
Fortunatelly the next day the whether condition was the same and although the hide-and-seek continued , I could go on painting.
Last 2008 painting:
Urca Fishing Boats - oil on linen canvas 90cm x 50cm Sandra Nunes
Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:27 PM 2 comments
Labels: Contemporary Landscape Artists, Corcovado, fishing boats, marine painting, oil on canvas, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes
Albamar
Monday, December 22, 2008
End of the year and an atypical whether here. Besides the constant rain, the temperature is lower than usual, considering we are entering summertime...
If by one side it is much more agreable to paint without the unbearable warmth, on the other hand, the rain provides a few breaks to open the easel outdoors.
In one of these breaks at the seashore:
This is a reminiscence of Old Rio de Janeiro, this tower is what was left from the five ones that integrated the Municipal Market. The others were demolished to give way to a new freeway in the in the 1960`s. Nowadays it is seafood restaurant that operates at the same spot since 1933.
The sea smell intensified by the damp atmosphere inspired me in this composition
Albamar -oil on panel 16x22cm -Sandra Nunes
Posted bySandra Nunes at 4:25 AM 2 comments
Labels: albamar, Brazilian Landscapes, mercado municipal., oil on panel, Old Rio, plein air painting, praça quinze, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, Seascape, seashore
Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas
Thursday, December 18, 2008
This is the same spot where the last Worldwide Paint Out took place.
Being the host of the event , I didn´t have time to paint that day, I´ve done a small unfinished sketch and later I went back there to paint , this time by myself.
One of the most beautiful Rio de Janeiro´s postcards, Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon portraying a rich ecossystem offers to the passersby spectacles of uncanny beauty at any time of the day at any season of the year .Surrounded by sophisticated districts (Ipanema, Leblon, Jardim Botânico) and framed by majestic mountains it is a good option of leisure for the family.
Sunday at Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon -oil on canvas 46x61cm - Sandra Nunes
Posted bySandra Nunes at 7:45 PM 0 comments
Labels: Brazilian Landscapes, oil on canvas, pleinair painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes
Curvelo Tram Station
Friday, December 12, 2008
This post could be named "There goes the Tram" complementing the post 'Here comes the Tram" , from my ongoing Santa Teresa series. This painting was done from the same spot of the last one. This time, working on a larger format, I looked to my right side where the tram leaves the district to its final stop downtown. I was intrigued by the exquisite backlight on the building and on people walking on the quiet street.
Curvelo Tram Station - oil on canvas 38x61cm- Sandra Nunes
Check other paintings from this series in my official website http://www.sandranunes.com/santa_teresa.html
Posted bySandra Nunes at 6:03 PM 0 comments
Labels: bonde de santa teresa, Contemporary Landscape Artists, oil on cavas, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, santa teresa tram, tramway
Saint Francis Church
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saint Francis Church, oil on canvas 27x22cm
This study is a crop of an old church, maybe one of the oldest in Niterói(one of Rio de Janeiro´s neighbour cities). It was established in the XVIth or XVIIth Century and it is a precious example of Brazilian Colonial architecture, keeping in its interior rarities as an image of Saint Francis plated in gold and a Baptismal sink made by the Indians.
I intend to go back to this site as the reflective surface of its white walls in light as well as in shade are very appealing to paint.
Posted bySandra Nunes at 4:18 PM 0 comments
Labels: oil on canvas, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Saint Francis church, Sandra Nunes, São Francisco, World Tour of Contemporary Landscape Artists
Plein Air Painting in Urca
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sketching in Urca
I love mornings in Urca. This district in Rio de Janeiro, home of Sugar Loaf Mountain is always very quiet. The charming houses and small buildings shaded by trees is a real oasis.
I´ve decided to work in some small sketches as a counterpoint of a very large painting that is in progress by now.
I aimed to simplify the most I could. I intended to take pictures of the process, but it didn´t work, I took just one of the first washes and then, I forgot to stop...
First washes...
Felix Laranjeiras Square - Urca- oil on canvas 22x27cm Sandra Nunes
This charming red brick house half shaded by a green garden was calling me to paint
The red brick house- Urca -oil on canvas 27x22cm -Sandra Nunes
Posted bySandra Nunes at 7:22 PM 4 comments
Labels: oil on canvas, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Urca, World Tour of Contemporary Landscape Artists
6th WORLDWIDE PAINT OUT - Rio de Janeiro 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
6th Wordwide Paint Out - Rio de Janeiro 2008
The event this year in Brazil was different from the past ones. This time I´ve decided to invite all plein air painters groups and individual artists from Rio de Janeiro and neighbor cities for the 6th Worldwide Paint Out broadcasting in a web art community and the response was great. I was surprised by the level of engagement of all involved. Not only nearby cities but other states decided to register with IPAP(International Plein Air Painters), like São Paulo with three groups. We had even artists on their own from North and Northeast of Brazil, painting these days and sending us the photos and reporting their experience.
A According to the weather forecast there was 80 % possibility of raining. The place we had chosen was Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a beautiful spot to paint plein air, but no shelter available in case of an incoming shower. Rodrigo de Freitas , one of the most beautiful sceneries in the city is preserved by National Patrimony and it portrays a rich ecosystem; it is known as the heart of Rio de Janeiro- for it is heart shaped- , embraced by Corcovado and Christ the redeemer (elected one of the seven modern wonders of the world).
It is surrounded by parks, roller skating ring, a heliport, and jogging /bicycle paths, besides several multi sport courts. On Sundays and holidays, paddleboats offer visitors a unique view of the forest covered mountains framing the loveliest lake in Rio.
Fortunately it was a sunny just a bit hazy morning and the forecast didn´t prove right. Artists started to come at 8.00am some in small groups, with their easels and canvas willing to find a good spot to compose their paintings.
Our meeting in Rio de Janeiro was amazing, the most talented artists came from distant places, and some travelled up to 200 km to be with us.
What a pleinair painter can´t do for a good composition?
Few inches backwards and we would have to rescue a painter from the lake...
Others found a nice spot under a tree...
The interaction with the public:
Observe the perfect handling of the brush:
And expressive brushstroke!
Plein air Painters new generation coming...
Canvas and eseals: Perfect integration with the scene...
It was not a competition, there were no prizes involved and the willingness of being there was evident in each participant´s face. There was an atmosphere 
Receiving a very important guest:The Brazilian Contemporary Master Lydio Bandeira de Melo (In blue shirt)
Who didn´t save efforts to go to easel from ease...
Making remarks with the authority of his almost 70 years of artistic life....
João was really trying to focus and paint...
Time for the official photo:
I was trying to gather the artists ...
Almost got it . There are some missing...But I could not locate them
Sitting: Yeda, Afonso Carlos, Arimatéia,Pedro, Yvone Paloschi,Arlindo, Patricia Newman, Alencar, Mária Perroni, Caiado, Sol Vilas Boas, Júlia Smith,Lício Maia Davi, Jeanne Rouvier, Eriberto Almeida, Charlene Moreira , Rafael, Zito, Sidney LacéStanding: Claudite,Leonídia, João, Juan Cuenca,Vera Braga, Alexander A., Angela, Alexander A., ângela Chefer, Cândida Ferreira,Solange, Lú, Sousa , Sandra Nunes, Eli Epstein, Ana Moura, Reynaldo Caó, Dyandreia Valverde,Gilson de Souza, Oliveira Celso ,Flora, Ignez Rodrigues,Thiago, Silvânia Paraíso,Augusto Marques,Virgílio Dias
Bandeira de Mello arrives and of course another picture has to be taken
We see some late comers in this one but there are still a lot missing here...
sitting: Reynaldo Caó,Sidney Lacé,Yeda Arouche, Julia Smith,Sol Vilas Boas,Pedro da Costa,Patricia Newman,Arlindo,Marcia Perronistanding: Charlene,Rafael, Oliveira Celso, Thiago, Zenaide, Dyandreia Valverde,Gilson de souza,Lício Maia,Ana Moura, André, Cristina Bicalho, Rudson, Rita ,Lúcia, Souza Rodrigues,..., Bandeira de Mello, Sandra Nunes, Virgilio Dias, Carlos Lacek,Solange, Cândida,Leonídia, João Barcelos, Arimatéia.Sandro Nolding, Zito
As a hostess of this event, I guessed I wouldn´t have much time to paint, so I decided to take my pochade box and do a small sketch. I couldn´t imagine that it would be almost impossible to use it.
Just after most of artists had already finished their works I could open my box and get my brushes to work.
Am I alone? Can I stop talking?
not yet.
We know that the artist´s life can be lonesome and the International Paint Out promoted by IPAP provided a wonderful opportunity to share experiences and thoughts. Great names of artistic scene answered the call; it was a feast for the eyes to watch them working together, united by the love of plein air painting.
The Worldwide Pain Out - Other Brazilian States
Thanks and Congratulation to the artists who immediatelly accepted the invitation and organized the meeting at their places, promoting Plein Air Painting:
São Gonçalo- Organized by Encontro com a Paisagem
São Paulo Capital 1- Organized by Cíntia Midori
São Paulo Capital 2 - Organizado pelo Grupo Umapaz - Maricy
Peruibe -Organized by Paula
Maceió -Organized by Paulo de Tarso
Belém -Organized by Heloísa
Espírito Santo- Jorge Magalhaes
Minas Gerais - Mário
click to enlarge
Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:06 PM 6 comments
Labels: Bandeira de Mello, impressionism, IPAP, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, landscape painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, Virgilio Dias, worldwide paint out
