D&D: Elsir Vale | Val d’Orcia (2005)
But it’s literally Italy
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When I received the assignment for this D&D book, it included an illustration of a pastoral fantasy landscape. I was living in Pienza, Italy, which overlooks the Val d’Orcia and well, I didn’t have to walk very far to take reference for this.
The scene here was so perfect that all I had to do was omit some farm houses that dot the valleys and then paint it. Since it is otherwise so literally that place, we’ve kept it as a record and memento of our time living there. Because I sourced the panel in Italy, it is in centimeters, so it is 7.87x15.75”. This has meant framing it has been a challenge and ironically it has gone unframed this whole time! I mean, all it takes is a custom frame, but I’m used to being able to order standard-sized ones, which was the whole reason I increasingly moved to standard-sized paintings!
While there, and before this assignment, I also did a plein air painting down there on the little path you can see.
Painting en plein air is quite a unique discipline. You show up and you might have scouted out the area first, and bring with you the barest of supplies. Ideally you’ll set up a bit early and have a little prep time to sketch out the scene. Then you wait a bit as you watch the sun slowly creep along the sky, observing the shadows being cast and the colors change until just that right moment...then it’s showtime. That right moment is typically going to be a little earlier than the time you wish to record for the simple reason that from the moment you start, you might have 2 hours, max, until the lighting changes so drastically that you will no longer be able to square what’s on your painting to what is in front of you and are forced to stop.
It’s a pretty hectic pace, and if you’re working at evening, a bit stressful (in a good way). I kept looking to my right, noting where the sun was. I had to beat it--it was on its way towards sinking behind some mountains and if it got there before I was done, I was going to be sunk as the lighting would instantly disappear. In this situation you have to make choices quickly, what you will show and what you won’t, the level of detail you’ll put here or there, when will you commit to the shadows you are seeing though they are lengthening by the minute?
Before moving out to Italy, it was noted that the area of Tuscany where we were moving was used in the filming of Gladiator, specifically the portion of “Spain” where Maximus once had a home, and the visions of Elysium he sees when he dies, his murdered wife and child waiting for him.
Indeed, I was standing about 10 yards ahead of where Maximus’ wife was (Ridley Scott’s long-time partner). Re-watching the scene with commentary it was learned that this scene was filmed on the last day of shooting, and that that is Crowe’s double, not the actor himself. Oh well. Still, I thought that was kinda cool. Tuscany is, well, pretty large so the coincidence was interesting.
