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mary mcandrew's Landscape Paintings photoset mary mcandrew's Landscape Paintings photoset

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“Berwick-Upon-Tweed, August visits”

We went to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, on the Scottish border on two occasions. I found it to be a nice town to walk through, you can shop or just a few streets over is the water front, complete with an old fort you can walk about on. It’s on the River Tweed and that’s where it gets it’s name.

Berwick upon Tweed unfinished cr auto ex re 300x261 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Berwick-upon-Tweed unfinished

The first visit I only had time to start a small watercolor of the houses in the town while sitting on the grassy wall of the fort. Here it is unfinished above.

Berwick cemetary gate cr auto ex re 211x300 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Berwick cemetery gate

This is an old gate to the cemetery of a church right behind the grassy walls of the fort. I didn’t have much time to do a nice painting but really just wanted to study the colors of the stones used in the wall. I also didn’t have the nice sunshine you see coming through the gate while I worked, it popped out just for the photo. If I ever have time I’ll go back to the sketch and add more details in the stones from my photos.

me sketching 1 resize 300x224 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Painting the gate

Here’s a picture of me working on the gate, you can see I’m sitting on the grass but am using a foldable foam pad to keep the moisture and chill away. I still always get so stiff when I sit on the ground like this, I think it’s the position for my back, no support. I’m holding my sketchbook with the pan of colors on the left hand side. I’m also using a ‘real’ brush not my waterbrush to do this, I have a container of water sitting on the ground nearby.

me sketching 2 resize1 224x300 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Painting the gate view 2

Below are some photos of the biuldings in Berwick-Upon-Tweed

biuldings in Berwick resize 224x300 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

biuldings in Berwick

town hall resize 300x224 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Town Hall

P1030503 resize 300x224 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Skyline of Berwick

fort walls resize 300x224 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Tweed Mouth Dock Fort

This is the fort in Berwick called Tweed Mouth Dock.

ship coming in resize 300x224 Berwick Upon Tweed, August visits

Ship coming in

Here’s a ship coming into harbour.

Hopefully I’ll get another chance to go back and work on some longer studies. It’d be a nice town to spend a weekend in, I saw lots of couples walking about hand in hand going to shops.

Keep checking back, more updates from England coming!

“Derwent Water Marina” 9-13-09

Today I’ll take you to the Marina at Derwent water where I stayed overnight at The Derwent Hotel. It’s a gorgeous place to stay all newly refinished, the bedroom was just sumptuous! And oh yes, I really liked that they had internet so I could catch up with the folks at home and let them know I wasn’t lost somewhere in the English countryside!
lobby+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09This is the front lobby, coming down in the early morning to have my oatmeal made with cream and oh boy was it rich!
Derwent+hotel+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09Then I made my way across the street and just down a driveway and there you are…the marina. A small, uncomplicated, peaceful place so early in the morning. http://www.derwentwatermarina.co.uk/harbor+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09Walking toward the water…I took note of birds I saw, almost all were new to me, how exciting!
Derwent+Water+early+morning+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09I love when the mist is lower than the mountains around it, the puffs were making their way up each ‘valley’ from the lake. Small coots were chugging across the still water looking for fish…I did some small sketches of birds and wrote my bird list on the sketch page shown below.
Derwent+Hotel+harbor+1+9 13 08+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09Click the page to read my notes.
Derwent+Hotel+harbor+2+crp+9 13 08+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09These are simple sketches done while walking around, this is typically how I draw birds in the field. Not much to them, just identification notes, and I had my Altoids watercolor kit with me and did some simple coloring. I think one of my favorite birds was the wood pidgeon; with a flash of white on his wings when he flew from the deep trees where hidden. They are quite big compared to ‘our’ rock doves or pidgeons.
Derwent+Hotel+harbor+3+unfinished+9 13 08+resz Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09Later in the day I walked up the hill behind the hotel. It was very chilly and damp as I sat and worked. I did a small sketch of the lake view over the hotel, trying to get some color notes on it so I’d remember how it looked. I think my friend Gary arrived just in time though as my fingers were getting quite stiff! Time for hot tea!
%28c%29Derwent+water+painted Derwent Water Marina 9 13 09I just finished the sketch,(back home in the states) working from a dull photo because it was a dull day. I sat in a coffee/lunch area in the grocery store on a nasty snowy day and worked on it…then finished it in the comfort of my studio. I perked up the color a little trying to keep in mind the original colors I had on the paper. I signed it Lake Derwent before I learned that it’s called Derwent Water. By the way, I did the entire painting using one waterbrush and my travel palette. I’m trying to practice using the waterbrush so it’ll come naturally in the field.
I think it’s a nice little painting!

I think the painting will always mean something different to the artist who painted it in the field. As I sat and sketched, then painted…I absorbed all around me. My eyes studied the colors, my ears heard wrens and thrushes singing, the wind blowing through the pines, my fingers felt the cool rain drops and mist, my face felt the breeze and my nose smelled the wet leaves and mosses in the undergrowth behind me…and the smells of the kitchen below. As I look at that little painting…I can remember it all! THIS is what makes painting outside in nature so rewarding, and it’s why I do it. I hope you’ll join me someday in experiencing this feeling.