The Virtual Paintout and The Big Mistake!!

The Old Place in Antibes

8" x 10"   oil on canvas

$75

This month The Virtual Paintout went to the Cote d'Azur, in southern France. The Virtual Paintout being a challenge to paint off a google map. The rules were simple, paint anywhere east of Saint Tropez to the Italian border, south of the A8 (a major highway).  Well, for what ever reason, I got turned around and started going west of Saint Tropez (on the google map) and sighted Arles ahead. Now anyone who knows art knows that Vincent van Gogh did a lot of painting in Arles, and me, being a die-hard van Gogh admirer, simply lost my head. Paint in van Gogh territory? How could I resist. So I painted this lovely little piece, not far from the Pont de Langlois, at a spot that van Gogh himself might have painted.  Here's my painting:

The Road to Arles

(Near the Old Pont de Langlois)

13" x 91/2", oil on board

$75.

Then I realized I was way off course! Oh, crap! Less than a week till the competition ends, and me with almost no painting time. So I wrote Bill Guffey, who hosts this site a quick note asking if Arles would be acceptable. Bill, who runs a tight ship and doesn't seem to suffer fools gladly, sent a equally quick reply. No, it would not be all right to stray over to Arles. 

Since I really enjoy this blog site and challenge, and didn't want to get left out, I had to paint like crazy in the right area. So I did. This is my submission, at the beginning of the post, I hope you like it.


If you'd like to see the google-map I painted from, click here.
You can see the site in Arles -for what it's worth - click here.