Wednesday 3 March 2010

Sheep grazing in the snow


Based on the Moleskine sketch below which I did in January late one bitterly cold afternoon. It was about 4pm and the sun was getting low picking out the trees along the skyline against the pale icy blue sky. At the bottom of the valley at Soundbottom where I stood it was already getting quite dark but the sheep were still busy eating what grass they could find sticking up from the snow. They watched me suspiciously but soon turned their attention back to eating.

The field on the right, which I remember sledging down many years ago, was covered in snow. It contrasted strongly with the woodland which was almost black in comparison. The sheep in the foreground seemed to almost dissolve into the snow-covered field.

At the time the valley was in deep shadow and the view in front of me was almost in black & white so in this development study I decided to stick with a monochrome rendering and concentrate on the richness of tones and textures. Once again I opted for red chalk pastel on a heavyweight watercolour paper which I could really work into. But there are possibilities in colour which I would like to explore at a later date in a painting.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

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.