Autumn Trees

 

Especially at this time of year, it is good to get out and enjoy the sun when it makes an appearance, these two paintings remind me of a walk on  just such a sunny late autumn day.

Wrest Park

This is a side view of the Archer Pavilion at Wrest Park (an English Heritage property). Because of its name I wrongly assumed it had something to do with archery, but it is in fact the name of Thomas Archer, the architect that built it.

Out of sight to the right is a long lake that leads up to this pavilion and reflects its image in the water. The whole layout is very reminiscent of Versailles. 

The architecture is quite complex and needed some simplification in order not to get bogged down too much in the detail. The overall effect I wanted to achieve was to show the contrast of the shadowed and light side of the building.

I added some finials on the left roof line that are not actually there in real life, but I thought it improved the design of the building.

Pheasant

 

I was quite surprised to see so many pheasants at Wrest Park and have never had the chance to see them so close before. Their plumage really is astoundingly patterned and colourful, which was a pleasure to paint.

I painted the belly of the bird wet-into-wet (dropping paint into wet paint) and the back wet-against-wet (placing patches of paint next to each other, while still wet).

Cows in a meadow

 

In art, we look for variation and repetition, and the way these cows arranged themselves is a good example of this. 

It's also a nice memory of a visit to Wimpole Hall and it is now easier to visit National Trust properties, as one doesn't have to book any longer. 

Fritillaria meleagris

 

I found these striking flowers in Anglesey Abbey near the lode mill. I just loved their regular geometric pattern, which looks a bit like a chessboard or stone flags so it makes sense that one of their common names is 'chequered daffodil' or 'chequered lily'. 

I painted this flower on a small postcard size watercolour pad that my son gave me for my birthday; it's just the right size for a small study.

Spring Display

These tulips from my garden have brought a bright note into my house, so they deserve being remembered in a painting. I grouped them with other objects of similar colours to create a harmonious composition.

I just love the Chinese vase and have painted it before. My husband brought it home from a business trip a few years back, and he also made the little Easter arrangement of chicks and bunnies in the bowl.

Coot on ice

 

This is from a trip back in February during a cold snap. The local pond had frozen over in parts and there were several coots sitting on the ice, not looking particularly bothered by the cold or the ice. 

The challenge was to paint the reflections and giving an impression of the ice without too much extra information. Wet-in-wet and wet-on-dry painting achieved the different textures.

By the River

Lockdown has given me a deeper appreciation of wildlife close to home. While we could not meet family and friends, there has always been nature to engage with. Over the last year, I had the chance to follow the life cycle of coots and observe the changing bird population on the river and lakes and this has given me a sense of normality that has been missing in everyday life. 

Two weeks ago, I happened to come across a heron by the river and managed to take photos for reference. I hadn't noticed before the striking pattern of its plumage, and it seems both male and female herons look similar.

I first made a little study, before developing it into a painting.

heron study in watercolour

heron and duck on river, watercolour

Big Sky

 In between 'proper' paintings, have started to paint on the back of failed efforts to try out techniques or ideas. 

This is a recreation of a dramatic cloudy sky I observed on one of my walks. I knew I wanted to paint it as simply as possible and used just three colours, the darkest being Teal by Ken Bromley instead of my usual French Ultramarine. It seems to me that it makes more transparent greys than the latter colour.

For the tree reflections, I just bled the trees into the bottom part of the paper and the reflections appeared as if by magic.

This painting took all of five minutes, but I am very pleased with the result.

River and lake

 Two local scenes from of the river and gravel lakes. These particularly provide a haven for wildlife with changing bird species over the course of the year. I noticed that more cormorants have moved into the area, which seems to be their migrating pattern for the winter.

I loved the bright blue colour of the canal service boat and used white oil pastel for its white railings and the conservatory of the house behind it.

For the first painting, it was the flash of bright yellow that inspired me to paint the scene. 

Tous Saints chapel, Sion

 

This little stone chapel is part of a castle in Sion, the capital of the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Sion is in the French speaking area of Valais and looks very picturesque with is castles and fortresses overlooking the town.

I painted this on Hahnemühle Aquarell Anniversary Edition. This turned out to be an ideal paper for painting the stone church,  as the structure of the paper helped with granulation, which suggested the stone texture in an effortless way.

Winter scene

 

Painting a winter scene in watercolour does not take too long, as the white paper does most of the work. 

I painted this from photos of a few years back. This house has since been torn down and rebuilt in a different style.

The pink house makes a nice warm contrast to the cool winter colours. 

I painted the snow on the fir trees in two different ways: 

- by using white oil pastels on the two small trees and 

- by leaving gaps of white paper on the big tree on the left.

To achieve the wintery branches of the trees in the background, I split the hairs of a Chinese brush before dipping them in paint and applying gentle upwards brush strokes.

A new year has begun; let's hope that this is the year we can finally get back to a more normal life.

This is the same park but with a view of the church.