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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Berber woman grinding flour

A Berber woman making flour
Arches  30 x 40 cm (n/a)
This is based on photo that I took a couple of years ago in the small village of Matmata in Tunisia. While this particular village has become quite popular and a sort of ethnographic show for tourists, the rest of the population in the area still has a very traditional way of life for real. Their houses are a kind of troglodyte dwellings with artificially made cave-like rooms dug around the perimeter of a large pit in the ground. Some part of Star Wars was shot in these dwellings.
I was surprised how much fun it was to paint the draped fabric of the clothing. Watercolor is perfect for that.
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8 comments:

  1. Lydie27 November, 2011 04:07

    Beautiful memory, which is a very good testimony in watercolor.

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  2. Jane27 November, 2011 05:09

    This is gorgeous Blaga, very well captured. I think draping is quite hard o do well, but you made a wonderful job. All the best. xox

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  3. Judy27 November, 2011 05:34

    The folds in the clothes are fabulous, Blaga! Lovely scene for a painting, and a wonderful memory!

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  4. Isabelle27 November, 2011 09:36

    j'aime ces scenes de vie en peinture surtout quand elles renvoient à des souvenirs

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  5. cathy27 November, 2011 10:09

    LOvely painting and very interesting post. I am wondering if you will post more paintings from your trip?

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  6. Unknown28 November, 2011 04:05

    Beautifully painted, Blaga and a lovely memory of your trip too!

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  7. Blaga28 November, 2011 09:05

    Thank you, Lydie! This was an interesting and unusual place to see.

    Thank you, Jane! I found that using wet-in-wet makes the folds just happen, as long as you time it right, of course. At one point it felt almost like I was painting a renaissance figure ;)

    Thank you, Judy! I liked this photo a lot and have been planning to paint it for a long time. The clothes had patterns that made them tricky, but I eventually decided to ignore them.

    Merci, Isabelle, c'est vraiment un souvenir pittoresque

    Thank you, Cathy! This was just a day trip into the desert part of Tunisia. The other attraction was a camel ride in Sahara. Funny that when you asked that, I was trying to sketch those camels :)

    Thank you, Michael!

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  8. Tito28 November, 2011 14:03

    Hi Blaga, you have well captured this woman during one of her characteristic activities. I like how you paint the folds of her dress. Congratulations!

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