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May 2009-2010 visitors to this site: 22,824

“Time in a Field in England” June 12, 2010

This morning was sunny so I headed up the country lane to walk above the little village of Edlingham in Northumberland, England. Here’s a watercolor painting I did while sitting in a field, see the pictures following it and ‘come along with me’ on my walk. Enjoy!

"Fields above Edlingham"

"Fields above Edlingham"

After walking as far as I thought I had time for, I picked a corner of a nice field, not far from the road to work. The painting above is almost all done sitting in the field, I added details to the house and changed a few little things on the hills once I got home. There’s a picture later showing how it looked when I came home, before details were added.

Rock from Romans

Rock possibly from Roman times

This is the very interesting rock I sat on, I keep a pad in my bag from an old diaper bag; it’s great to sit on cold damp rocks or ground. I’d like to learn more about this rock, there is an old Roman fort right at the top of a nearby hill; we feel this looks Roman made.

my sketchbook with 3 page layout

my sketchbook with 3 page layout

Here’s a picture to show you how I worked, my sketchbook is on my lap clipped to a small board with watercolor pan handy. I had a small container of water on the ground within easy reach and I’m holding the only two brushes I used to create the painting. One round and one flat, it’s the first time I ever used a flat with watercolors and I’m very happy with what I could do. It was great for making the bush and tree lines on hills.

As you see I was also wearing gloves because it gets very chilly when you just sit still for one plus hours; these are thin kidskin I think, a dress pair that I decided would serve better on my sketch hikes. They’re thin so I can feel what I’m doing still and the leather helps me with grip.

writing on clouds

writing on clouds

Please click to read better, these are the thoughts I wrote before I started to paint.

Close up- left side of painting

Close up- left side of painting

Here’s a close up of the left side of the painting, just to show you more of the details. I touched up the house, posts some of the road and if you notice the tops of the clouds I softened them up. I’ve also totally removed a treeline somewhere…can you find it? (compare to the pic below)

Fields above Edlingham watercolor unsigned

Fields above Edlingham watercolor unsigned

Here’s the painting just as it looked when I left the field to go home.

country cat

country cat

A friendly cat I met while walking up the hill, I caught her with her tongue out! I LOVE the note cards, mugs and stickers I made from some cats I’ve met…including this one and a gorgeous black cat on the castle wall. (Go here to see their pictures!)

country lane

country lane

The beautiful lane I wandered along…it was great.

Sheep resting

Sheep resting

There are many different breeds of sheep here in England, this one I still have to learn. My favorites are the black faced sheep. These moms and lambs are really enjoying the sun. (Go here to see more photos of sheep in fields I’ve seen in England, you can order note cards if you like.)

country lane

country lane

The hedges here are of Hawthorn, when they’re in bloom not only are the pretty but they smell great.

Field view

Field view

The riding lesson

The riding lesson

Here’s a girl getting a riding lesson, walking on a long line then sometimes off.( Here’s some note cards and gifts with my horse paintings, drawings and photos I’ve taken.)

I hope you enjoyed taking this stroll with me and seeing my painting. Please visit my shop on Zazzle to see many of these photographs as note cards and more, here’s Landscape Photos and Landscape Paintings.

“Oak Tree Along Edge of Feild” 11-2-07

I painted this 4″ x 6″ oil painting on an early November day, sunny, cold and gorgeous. I have updated this post with photos of the day out in the field, please see below.

"Oak Tree"

"Oak Tree"

The great thing about painting or drawing outside, en plein air is what you observe…hear, see, feel, smell. This day it was the visit of the bees and teeny tiny spiders. It sounds creepy but when you’re used to treking around in nature you learn to just observe the critters for what they are and do, and not get ‘creeped out’!
Burnt Umber sketch with bee

Burnt Umber sketch with bee

So as a wasp kept landing on my painting and easel, I figured it was interesting. I took pictures of him of course.This shows the first stage of my painting, I used a ‘wipe off’ method here; you paint Burnt Umber on the masonite board and brush it out so it’s a medium value. Then you ‘wipe off’ with a rag and your finger or a brush, the areas that are lighter. It’s like sketching with value, it’s very freeing as you won’t try to catch details you just look for the big shapes and wipe them out. If you don’t like it you brush it back on, easy! Then you lay in darks and bring out shadow shapes with more burnt umber. I have my board attached to a piece of cardboard that has clear tape covering it. There is another small canvas ready to go next to it and they are both attached temporarily with ’sticky tack’ or ‘blue tack’.
spider on easel

spider on easel

Then every time I started to paint, a tiny spider would appear hanging from the brim of my baseball cap, I’d lift him off with his thread of silk and put him in the grass, then another would appear on my easel. My guess was they were ’sailing’ on their threads down from the beautiful oak tree.