My Colombia and Ecuador trip: one more painting from Cuenca

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Cuenca

 

This painting still had to be published:

 

 

Cuenca, river view, watercolour on paper, A3

 

 

 

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Cuenca, Eucalyptus trees

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Cuenca, Eucalyptus trees

watercolour on paper, A3

Cuenca, Eucalyptus trees - detail

Cuenca, Eucalyptus trees - detail

Painted with new, much larger brushes- these allow me to stand back to work, and force me to focus on the general, not the details.

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Cuenca, a bridge over the river

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Cuenca, a bridge over the river, watercolour on paper, A3

Cuenca, a bridge over the river - detail

I`m going to experiment more with this cross-hatching style. 

I much prefer it to large washes. I like how it allows, or encourages quick reactions, and how the picture builds up over the session.

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Cuenca, by the river

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Cuenca, by the river, watercolour on paper, A3

Cuenca, by the river - detail

Cuenca, by the river - detail

This is on the excellent Hahnemühle 300gsm paper. It allows much more subtle layering, a little erasing of errors (by rubbing with a wet brush onto the paper to remove a mark) and doesn`t buckle. 

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A Journey round Colombia and Ecuador

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December 2022 to February 2023: 

journeys in Colombia and Ecuador

 

 

 

Colombia and Ecuador

 

 

 

This trip is only just being sketched out: so far, I know I fly into Medellín.

 

 

 

 

Map showing Medellin to Bogotá via Manizales  and Ibagué.

 

 

 Then, I think I take the bus from Medellin to Bogotá via Manizales,  Pereira and Ibagué. Maybe also Salento?

Next, I fly from Bogotá to Quito.

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 In Ecuador I make my way down to Cuenca by bus: from there returning a couple of weeks later.

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I'm travelling light. And I'm taking watercolours, a medium I haven't used for over a decade.

 

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Ecuador 2019- definitely this time

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Ecuador, the Rough Guide and other travel essentials

I did it. I managed to find cheap-ish tickets- it's weird but getting two returns- from from Florianopolis to Sao Paulo  and another from from Sao Paulo to Quito is considerably cheaper than one return flight from Florianopolis to Quito- even though it is with the same airline. I just have to hope there aren't delays on connecting flights. 

It is a pity that Sao Paulo is such an unpleasant city as it would be nice to break the Brazilian leg of travel somehow. 

This time the trip is about six weeks and is the longest I've ever done. That makes me a little anxious, though I don't think the difference between the five of last year is significant either psychologically or economically. One certainty is that it would be far too hot here in Florianopolis to do anything much other than sit around complaining about the heat or the influx of tourists blocking the roads with traffic jams.

I'll follow the Andean route described in the previous Ecuador post, back in September 2017. From what I hear Cuenca is an extremely agreeable city.

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Ecuador alone

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Andean Ecuador: map from Sandfords 1912

This is alternative January itinerary, this time leaving out Peru.

Why? Because the border crossing, from what I read, at the point at which I would like to cross just south of Loja, is pretty awful: by bus you cross at night , at 2 am, and the buses are pretty ghastly. Better, therefore, to focus on Ecuador, that means less lugging stuff around,  a simpler timetable and more energy spent concentrating on painting.

From north to south, circled on the map:

 Quito

 Latacunga 

Riobamba

 Guamote

 Cuenca

 Loja.

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