A Break in the Clouds

A Break in the Clouds
Watercolour on Paper
28cm x 18cm (11" x 7")

Last Saturday, I went for a walk in the Peak District. This is the view from above Castleton towards Win Hill. There is a patch of blue sky above Win Hill and an area of bright sunlight underneath it.

The sky is based on some of the sky washes I experimented with in 2012. First, I painted the blue patch onto wet paper. After this was dry, I added the clouds.

The red patch on the hillside is oil pastel. Elaine gave me Chris Forsey’s “Pushing The Boundaries Of Watercolour” and “Beyond Watercolour” DVDs as Christmas presents. He uses oil pastel as a resist to the watercolour in his paintings. This is my first small trial of the technique.

Windswept?

Windswept?

Watercolour on Paper
25cm x 35cm (9.75" x 13.75")

Elaine and I spent the August Bank holiday at Eagle Tor in the peak district.

We had a pleasant weekend walking and visiting the local pubs. On Saturday, we had lunch at The Flying Childers Inn - an excellent little pub in Stanton in Peak.

One of our walks took us past Robin Hood’s Stride and the Arbor Low stone circle. I was looking for a view of the circle to paint and this windblown tree caught my eye.

Arbor Low isn’t that far from civilisation, but when the wind howls and the rain comes down, it feels isolated and remote.

This picture was an experiment in painting atmosphere and trying some new techniques. It was also a bit of an antidote to my previous two paintings, which were based on detailed drawings and contained some fiddly details. It doesn't look as windswept and weather blasted as I intended, but it is an interesting first try.