Landscape Sketches
I do less of these than I used to…
In my first years of painting I always had to be out there staring at the colours to get them right, and it’s still an excellent exercise to do that every so often.
Painting out of doors is demanding. My Guru on this has been the late Ken Howard. I’ve learned so much from watching his tuition videos.
He once said… Don’t throw anything away when you’ve first done it. Nature is so fantastic that you’re bound to be disappointed. But take it away, and you’ll see that perhaps after all, you did capture something of what you experienced that day.
This is good advice.. the paint settles into itself and, as with the old masters, the sketches can be highly prized for themselves, and what they hold, in quite a different way to the finished studio works that may result.
Main kit list for painting outdoors:-
- Camper van
- Awning for light rain
- Full mobile studio.. (posh term for ancient loaded Landrover pushchair)
- Ski trousers
- Goose feather down coat
- 3 x hats
- 2 x pairs fingerless gloves
- Scarves jumpers and full thermals
- Sheepskin lined boots (with thick socks) from Celtic Company in Cornwall
All of the above can be worn at once.
Especially in the cairngorms when it is below freezing.
All this means I can stay outside all day: staring at the most beautiful landscapes without looking daft for standing still for so long, or freezing to death, whilst trying to distil some of it onto a 2D surface.
It’s not always cold ofcourse.
Ray Balkwill’s painting weeks at Mullion Cove in Cornwall are always good fun and are to be highly recommended.
