Croatia
In August we took a weeks holiday in Croatia. We’d heard lots of good things about Dubrovnik, so we booked an hotel nearby in an area called Lapad. The hotel was well located, only a short bus ride from Dubrovnik and right next to a small pebbled beach. I’d used the last of my handmade sketchbooks not long into lockdown in 2020. So in the weeks leading up to the trip, I made a new batch at the Lit & Phil bookbinding club to paint in.
The old walled town of Dubrovnik is stunning. I wasted no time in taking the steps to walk onto the city walls. I wasn’t too far into my walk when I decided to stop and do a quick watercolour sketch of St Lawrence Fort overlooking the harbour. It was mid morning, so the sun was bright and hot and the paint dried quickly. The town was very busy with lots of tourists (including ourselves!) so it wasn’t very relaxing. However it was still a very worthwhile experience taking the walk around the walls and looking into the city with its narrow streets and terracotta tiled rooftops.
Cavtat
On another day we took a boat ride to a nearby island called Cavtat. It’s a very quiet picturesque place to stay if you want to get away from the crowds. I didn’t paint any watercolours there. Instead I took lots of short walks near our hotel in Lapad to find places to paint. I found that the views from the walk around the bay where we were staying very inspiring. Over the next few days I did quite a number of sketchbook watercolours of the roughly hewn steps leading down to the turquoise waters.
Lapad
The waters were very inviting. I would often find a suitable place to paint from then dive into the sea to cool off. Some of my sketches would feature folk sunbathing on the rocks. On other occasions I would also capture the distinctive trees that would create wonderful shadows against the white rocks.
I’m looking to see how some of these sketches can be worked up into larger watercolours. If you are interested in a painting commission of Dubrovnik or Lapad, then please contact me to discuss.