Ash Trees in Winter

Out for a walk one late afternoon last month, I was taken by the way the Ash trees and hedges along the field boundaries were etched against the low setting sun. In the foreground the stubble echoed the vertical forms of the trees and was catching the light before the field fell away, dipping down into a valley and rising up to the tree-line.

I sketched quickly in my Moleskine to catch the salient features. Back in the studio I worked up the sketch into the b&w pencil study below, which I think has possibilities as a painting at a later date.

6B pencil on 200 gsm cold pressed watercolour paper

24 x 32 cm.


Update: November 2012

Finally started work on the painting, provoked by all the current concern about our Ash trees. We mustn't ever take our wonderful landscape for granted. The Ash tree in the garden has shed its leaves for the winter. Let's hope that it comes safely into bud again next year.