sunlit ruin and stormy sky

Painting a sunlit ruin and stormy sky in watercolour
Painting a sunlit ruin and stormy sky in watercolour

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a new abandoned town - Tiermas. This one is an old Roman town and had some beautiful medieval buildings, including a very large church. In the 1950s most of the town, the old Roman baths and all the orchards and arable land was flooded to make way for a reservoir. Everyone, except 2 of the inhabitants, moved on, with the remaining 2 staying until they died. It's a sad story for sure.

The part of the town that was on a hill still remains, and is quite extensive. But it certainly is very ruined! On the day I was there it was rainy and I had a number of false starts before sketching, plus a few trips back to the van to wait out showers then setting up again and continuing. It was rather funny, and also totally worthwhile, because the lighting was beautiful with the sunlight catching the stonework on the buildings and the dark stormy sky.

After I finished sketching, I took a million photos, and we're going to be working from one of those for this lesson.

Happy painting!

Find the full tutorial on Patreon or Renee's Studio - www.walden.co.nz/learn

Paint a free watercolour online lesson

A free lesson for you!

One of my all-time favourite paintings of a stormy day in a ruined Roman town in Spain.

You can do this! Let me show you how. Join my community to receive this free video tutorial.

Join here
how versatile is potters pink?

how versatile is potters pink?

1 July 2026

Potters pink is very pretty, dusty pink with an old world feel. It granulates beautifully and is very lightfast. While pretty on its own, it’s a super versatile colour to use in all sorts of ways. J...

Read more →

a vase with white flowers

a vase with white flowers

24 June 2026

Here's a deceptively simple painting delivers maximum impact for minimal effort — a wet-in-wet background and a limited palette do most of the work, while the result glows with light and looks far m...

Read more →

summer flowers & an old fence post

summer flowers & an old fence post

16 June 2026

There's something irresistibly paintable about a weathered fence post half-swallowed by summer wildflowers. It's the contrast that does it — rough, sun-bleached wood against the soft, fleeting delic...

Read more →