Sketching in Lanzarote: Day 3. A Glowing Volcano

[by Lynne Chapman, from England, in Lanzarote] So, I have to confess to a slight cheat: on the actual Day 3 of our trip, I didn’t do any sketching at all. Shock, horror!! I know, very lazy. John and I spent the morning at an artisan’s market in Haria and, in the afternoon, visited one of Cesar Manrique’s houses – he had actually been living in Haria, when he was killed in a traffic accident.

So, this sketch is from the following day, when we drove to the other end of the island, to the Volcano Park: an extraordinarily spectacular place, where the road winds between one volcano after another. We went on a long, hot walk through a lava field, which was created in the 18th century, when the lava poured out for 6 years solid and killed everything in its path.

The lava is completely impossible to walk through, because it is so uneven and so very sharp, but a rough, narrow path had been created through the spiky, black rock. Jagged lumps often towered as high as us, and the barren blanket spread back from the sea as far as the eye could see.

I didn’t sketch during the walk itself, as it was too challenging, but I didn’t want a second day to pass without getting my book out so, when we were done, we drove back through the park and found a place to pull over, so I could paint by the side of the road. The colours of the volcanoes varied so much, according to the chemistry of the lava. Some were covered in black ash, some were yellow and red. Because the sun was going down as I painted, the colours of this one were really rich and accentuated.