Matera, Basilicata, Italy

Have you ever wondered how to make a sky look really moody without losing the light? It is a question I get asked a lot in my workshops and online demos. In this painting of Matera, I wanted to show the strong contrast between the heavy clouds and the bright white walls of the cathedral. The sky needs to be very bold to make the buildings stand out and glow.

To get that dark and stormy feel, I used a lot of Ultramarine Blue mixed with a touch of Neutral Tint. I like how these colours work together to create real depth in the clouds. I painted the sky quite quickly while the paper was still damp so the edges stayed soft and natural. You can see how the dark blue sits right against the white paper of the church tower to create a sharp focus.

For the old buildings in the town, I kept things simple with Yellow Ochre and a bit of Burnt Sienna for the warm shadows. I used some white paint at the very end to catch the light on the edges of the roofs and the tower. Matera has such an interesting shape and it is all about finding those big blocks of light and dark. The dark foreground helps to lead your eye right up to that tall cathedral spire in the background.