Follow oil painter, Noel Gregory’s painting and thought processes as he depicts an exotic market scene in old Casablanca

Noel Gregory’s

Oil

Casablanca Market , oil on canvas, 51x311⁄2in. (130x80cm)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

How to work with a limited oil palette

Learn to draw with brush and paint

Know when to stop

One of the great joys of travelling around the world, teaching art on cruise ships, are the scenes and images I see that make great subjects for my paintings. It is because of the limited time the ship spends on non-sea days, land travel is usually too short lived and more often than not there is not enough time to actually paint on location. In any case, the weather is often too hot to stand and paint all day. However with our digital-camera age I can record and immediately use images that can be painted in the comfort of the studio or, in my case, on board ship.

I have now painted in practically every continent in the world and have photographed some spectacular images. Just occasionally, however, one such image stands out as being special and this was certainly the case when I visited Casablanca.