I’m back from Fabriano in Acquarello.

Walks in Watercolor

For the second time, the international watercolor festival Fabriano in Acquarello or Fabriano in Watercolor, took place in Bologna instead of its namesake. From April 24. to 28. the Salaborsa library located in the picturesque town center of Bologna was host to hundreds of watercolor paintings from all over the world. I was fortunate enough to exhibit with Team Switzerland. The Salaborsa was the perfect spot for this exhibition, as the area is a hotspot for locals and tourists alike. I am certain the paintings got a lot more exposure than in previous venues.

Salaborsa
I had to look up to spot the smaller paintings.

Outside Salaborsa, the annual group painting took place. This is where I ran into Carsten Wieland from Brushpark Watercolors . I have been following his blog for several years now, and it was nice to bump into him. He is the team leader of the German watercolor group that was also exhibiting at Salaborsa.

I took a watercolor workshop with Felice Feltracco . It turned out to be more of a painting demo by the artist where he gave pointers for painting architectural scenes. Mr. Feltracco began with a very light wash for the facade and used more pigment when zeroing in on his point of interest, the overgrown balcony. I had a go myself and noticed how hard it was. The facade came out too strong which made the sketch look flat. On the bright side, my simple and lightweight plein air setup consisting of a children’s whiteboard and clips worked out well. When I was done, I clipped a clean kitchen rag to either side of the whiteboard to protect the painting.

Felice Feltracco’s plein air setup.
My simple plein air setup.
Kitchen rag and clips protect watercolor painting.

Art supplies showing a brush soap, a sponge and two watercolor brushes.
At the sales point I bought a brush soap, a special sponge that is great for getting rid of excess water in the brush or for lifting by Borciani e Bonazzi, a pointed mop brush and a dagger brush by Tintoretto.

The beautiful city of Bologna was the perfect place to hold a watercolor festival of this magnitude. I look forward to visiting again.

Published by Walks in Watercolor

8 Comments

  3. Thanks so much for this write up – great to hear you had such a good time and this post really helped to make up for me not being able to attend! (Jealous of your new goodies too!)

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi John, thank you so much for commenting. Hopefully, you’ll be able to attend next year. If you do, we definitely have to go for an espresso. The brushes are magnificent. The larger brush has a magnet on the back, and somehow, it makes for better handling of the brush.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment