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Title : Behind the Scenes: Sketching in the Algarve, Portugal
link : Behind the Scenes: Sketching in the Algarve, Portugal

Behind the Scenes: Sketching in the Algarve, Portugal

[By Róisín Curé in the Algarve] I know just where I was when the invitation came through to take part in the Sketch Tour Portugal. It doesn't get better than that for us sketchers.

You can see a flick-through of my sketches here on You Tube. This piece has some photos from behind the scenes...

There were two catches: we had to make six sketches a day and we would travel off-season. Well I did, at any rate.

I had never been in Portugal and it was a country I had long wanted to visit. I brushed off the Duolingo app on my phone, got listening and repeating - and soon I was all set.

Susana and Hélio met me at the airport in Faro. Such friendly, smiling faces. Susana Neffe was our guide from the Tourist Office and Hélio Boto was the local sketcher who'd travel this journey with me. From the minute we met we knew we would get on, but I don't think any of us realised then that we would become firm friends. They are like all the Portuguese people I met - laid-back, introspective and always funny.

We sketched Nature in Parque Natural da Ria Formosa...

 ...and here's the beautiful Susana acting as ballast to stop Hélio from toppling over as he takes a pic of his work!

We basked in "warm" sunshine on the ferry on the way to Farol Island (my scarf is an illusion)...

...and on Farol Island Susana sat next to me and collected a feast of pine nuts while I sketched -

Next day I sketched orange trees in Faro...

and ate the freshest, plumpest razor clams in Taberna Modesto around the corner -

In the afternoon we hob-nobbed with the well-to-do in Quinta do Lago...where we ducked under the boardwalk in Quinta do Lago to escape the wind.

Next day we sheltered from the rain in Loulé fish market -

and when it stopped raining trekked through Fonte Benémola, listening to happy birds feeling safe in a sanctuary -

Next day we drove to the babbling brooks of Monchique, where mineralised waters flow down a verdant valley and are sometimes trapped in bottles and sold. Francisco the cameraman joined us and filmed our adventures.

After a gorgeous lunch in Sagres where the sun inspired me to get sketching before we ate...

we went to the beach to sketch, but it was also a very relaxing afternoon.

Here I am chilling as I sketch...

Afterwards we went to Susana's favourite beach - Praia do Beliche. The many steps to get down made my lazy self baulk, but it was (a) well worth it and (b) not a big deal to go back up. On the beach I was reminded of happy days in my 20s surfing off another stretch of Atlantic beach, off the west coast of Ireland. Such a vibe of freedom...I reminded myself that the sea where I used to surf is still there and I was inspired to return with my board.

Next day we faced the ferocious wind to paint the beach at Amoreira. The only sketching situation that scares me is when sand might blow into my paint, where it can lodge and be a terrible nuisance. It was hard for me to find a composition that was both inspiring and out of the crazy wind, but in the end I found just the job. That is Francisco's hand and Francisco's camera cage to the left of the frame.

Feeling grateful to get back in the car, we drove to Aljezur to visit a ruined castle on a hill. It's just a few ramparts now but the view is wonderful. A sign outside the castle tells us that it was built in 1249. I had to find a composition that would take in the ruined walls and the faraway rooftops. The only view I could see had a horrible gate in the way...so I left it out.

Pedralva was the next stop. It's a little holiday village - but with a difference. The houses were in a dilapidated state a short while ago but a local with a vision bought the lot and renovated them. They are too gorgeous now! This is my second sketch from there - you'll have to look at the YouTube at the top to see it - but it's really as pretty as a picture.

 Here is Francisco trying to line up my sketch with the subject - no easy feat!

 Then Francisco conducted his interview. He got me to sit on a white wrought iron chair in a beautiful whitewashed square in Pedralva, and Hélio in a quiet patio elsewhere in the village. Soon he had what he wanted in the can and it was time to make for our last sketch. We were all a bit road-weary by now and it was a little difficult to find something that worked - but the three locals knew where to go and we ended up on a long winding road that swept down to yet another wild, windy stretch of Atlantic coast. We stopped a short distance down and sketched the setting sun, which was fraught with difficulties because it was just too cold for the paint to dry.

Luckily for me Francisco stepped into the frame at just the right moment and I used his figure as a focal point, and to tell of the shadows...

One last sketch over dinner and the trip was in the bag. I hope you enjoy the flip-through on You Tube...there's one in my halting Spanish too! I will always be grateful for this opportunity. They don't come around very often...

Obrigada a todos!

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