Trees

FOR ALL SEASONS

Takrouna

A FORAY INTO THE PAST

Takrouna is a small berber village not very far from Hammammet, by going inland. The village is perched on a steep hill. Because of the remoteness of the village, it is said that the population of the village did not mix much with the various waves of invaders, and hence, it preserved a good part of its berber heritage. We visited mid-afternoon during a cloudy October day, and the sights were all the more impressive. Thank god my phone had poor resolution, and so its camera didn't enhance the lightning, and thus, I was better able to convey the ambiance--I hope.

CABIN

Not being an impressionist, I tend to reproduce details. In this case, thank god, the details are coarse enough, that I am able to get away with it, by drawing the stones literally one by one. I had to develop different techniques when painting building in Pérouge, France, where the walls are several centuries old, and are built from much smaller stones (see page 'medieval France'). But this was close enough.

TAKROUNI

A young boy, perhaps 9 or 10 years old. Apparently, he has typical berber features--he just looks Tunisian to me. In any event, I failed to convey his youth (not very good at conveying facial features), and screwed up the eyes region through repeated corrections. That is the problem with watercolour. You can't keep laying colour: a couple of strikes and you are out. Actually, two strikes is one too many.

OVERLOOKING THE VILLAGE

Towards the end of the visit, it was dusk, but the clouds had thinned somewhat. Thus, the sky was lighter than it had been, but the colours looking down all veered towards a nondescript grey. Tried to play with a mix of watercolour + pen contours.

Dusk

This was based on a picture taken yet later than the previous when it was getting darker still. I went for many shades of grey to convey the eery light of late dusk with a timeless scene.

NIGHT IN TUNISIA

While we were at it, Figured why not paint an (imaginary) night scene with greater contrast than the previous one. And so I imagined this scene lit by moon light using variations of blue, and I called it "Night in Tunisia", with a wink towards dizzy Gillespie composition with the same name.

By the way, here it is by Dizzy Gillespie himself, circa 1981, and a new nuclear version by Michel Camillo on speed.