Our weather is unpredictable and always changing. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.
The opportunity to paint outside is often short lived and must be relished when the wind and rain stops and it becomes warm enough to sit in a field or by the river, with paints, sketchbook and a picnic. If you blink the light changes, the clouds start rolling across the sky, the sun struggles to shine and bright colours fade into more gentle tones. The essence of painting outside is to work with speed and try and capture the landscape before it rapidly becomes a different landscape. No distractions.
Perhaps the best thing to do, if you can, is to paint your feelings and senses with the sounds of nature all around you. Listening to the singing birds in hedgerows under an ancient oak tree, my daughter Sam and I gazed quietly at the gentle Blackmore Vale and distant blue grey hill ridge. When fully absorbed we took out our brushes, mixed our paints and began. We didn’t chat. The birds kept on singing.
The opportunity to paint outside is often short lived and must be relished when the wind and rain stops and it becomes warm enough to sit in a field or by the river, with paints, sketchbook and a picnic. If you blink the light changes, the clouds start rolling across the sky, the sun struggles to shine and bright colours fade into more gentle tones. The essence of painting outside is to work with speed and try and capture the landscape before it rapidly becomes a different landscape. No distractions.
Perhaps the best thing to do, if you can, is to paint your feelings and senses with the sounds of nature all around you. Listening to the singing birds in hedgerows under an ancient oak tree, my daughter Sam and I gazed quietly at the gentle Blackmore Vale and distant blue grey hill ridge. When fully absorbed we took out our brushes,
mixed our paints and began. We didn’t chat. The birds kept on singing.