Beggs – Vernazza Idyll

The harbour at Vernazza is the definition of picturesque. Part of Cinque Terre (literally, the Five Lands) in Italy, the village rises quickly from the sparkling harbour and bakes in the endless Mediterranean sun. We were there in 2012.

I was looking for a feeling of relaxed heat, coastal light and a lazy day. As always, I was trying to paint the movement of light across the scene, rather than things.

The man motoring out of the harbour is the intended focal point, not the foreground. I painted the foreground boats with impressionist strokes to put them a little out of the way, even though they are in front.