Vintage steam engine

Nene Valley Railways, steam engine

This is outside the engine sheds of  Nene Valley Railways. Engines are quite complicated to draw, which I solve by simplifying the shapes, as I am not interested in technical detail. 

Looking at the subject through half closed eyes is a good way to cut out detail when judging overall shapes and tone. 

I suppose this painting is about shadow and light and how to make greys colourful. Most of them I mixed from varying proportions of alizarin crimson (Winsor & Newton), raw sienna (Jacksons) and turquoise blue (Turner).

Nene Valley Railways

On the day of the Royal Wedding, we went on a rail trip to the Nene Valley to celebrate my husband's birthday. Although we had expected a steam engine, our train was pulled by a vintage Diesel engine, which apparently is used once a month.

We had an hour's break in Peterborough, which had a Morris Dance event on. It was very enjoyable to see so many different styles of Morris Dancers. In the park in front of the Cathedral, a big screen was installed to broadcast the Royal Wedding and lots of people had set up for a picnic, some little girls dressed up as bridesmaids to celebrate the occasion.

I liked this little scene of the three people chatting, waiting for the departure of the train. The bright sunshine made for strong contrasts in tone.