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"
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 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
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
Please click to read better, these are the thoughts I wrote before I started to paint.
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
Here’s the painting just as it looked when I left the field to go home.
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
The beautiful lane I wandered along…it was great.
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
The hedges here are of Hawthorn, when they’re in bloom not only are the pretty but they smell great.
Field view
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.
Today is a tale of meeting a snail, hmm…I feel a poem coming on…maybe later.
We went to Alnmouth and explored all around the dunes and on the beach. As we walked between the great high dunes to reach the beach, I couldn’t resist stopping to pick up so many pretty coiled shells. I didn’t have my usual field painting bag with me so I ended up filling my little purse! Those that were packed with sand I plopped into a dish of water to soak once I got home. Imagine my surprise when the next morning I found one of the ‘shells’ crawling up my coffee pot! (Lucky it wasn’t on!)
Well I quickly made his acquaintance and before you knew it he had food and shelter. At first he lived in a little plastic jar with the lid on very loosely on, but now he’s in a glass jar on it’s side with nice mosses to hide under. Click on the page below and read the notes I wrote as I painted his picture that day.
Snail Studies pg 1
My set up with the Model
Here’s my set up while I painted him, he was on the little plate with lettuce etc. but then slide off, and went up the brass lamp about halfway, this is when I took a bathroom break! When I returned I put him on top of my waterbottle, for this picture. I’m using the watercolor pan I take in the field with me all the time, it’s got a good selection of half pans. I used permanent ink marker to draw over my penciled sketches then used watercolor with regular brushes to color. On the right side you can see a rectangle shaped silver thing, that’s my little light up magnifier for reading maps; it’s great for field work.
Close up of snail studies
Here’s a close up of two of the snail studies with notes.
"Escargo Escapee!"
This painting makes me laugh, I did it with just watercolors. He was escaping from the plate…so I called it “Escargo Escapee”…he didn’t want to give me any ideas when I was hungry! The funny thing is I think he’s a copse snail…so a copse snail is escaping…but shouldn’t he be a robber snail then? (Oh gosh I know that’s corny!)
Cuthbert the snail with the shells I found
One more picture for now, more to come soon. I love this shot of him with the empty shells I found…poor thing, he’s probably crawling around them saying,”Where’d everybody go?” I decided to name him Cuthbert after the Patron St. of Northumberland, we found him near the cross for St. Cuthbert in Alnmouth.
Here’s a great website I found on snails, this page has a diagram on shell parts and helps with identifying your snail:
I have already drawn more pages of sketches and I’m recording changes in his shell growth. Please come back soon to see what happens to him! I have created some really neat gifts with these snail images on them, please have a look and pass the link to my shop onto your friends!
Today we had such a great walk that we really didn’t expect. The weather turned out nice in the late day as we drove to Alnmouth on the Northumberland coast just north of Warkworth Castle. I wasn’t expecting to go on much of a walk so I didn’t even have my field kit with me! Makes me feel bare, but I did have my camera and my purse which always has a small handmade sketchpad in it.
Road to beach at Alnmouth
I really can’t resist putting so many pictures in my post because it’s hard to pick and choose, leaving one out when I feel they are all beautiful! All of these will be in my shop as note cards and gifts, please visit the links at the end.
Dunes at Alnmouth
As we walked from our car, this is looking back through the dunes at the Rape Seed fields. The sand dunes here are quite impressive and filled with interesting shells. I picked up a bunch, so many that I had to fill my purse pocket. I have a story about that on my next post make sure you check back.
Beach at Alnmouth
This is the gorgeous beach at Alnmouth, the sand was fine and light colored, a great beach!
Cross at Alnmouth
This is St. Cuthbert’s Cross, that’s the name carved onto the base of this cross. Here is a great link about St. Cuthbert explaining more about the patron St. of Northumberland. This is the view as you climb up the not very high hill, to a windy spot that gives you views inland and out to the North Sea. We saw many sea birds and a heron ‘behind’ the hill, as the waterways wind around behind it as tides come and go.
Alnmouth from 'cross hill'
This is the view of Alnmouth you have from the top, it’s really great. I just love this photo with the sweeping clouds and quaint buildings.
Me drawing on hill
So you must have known sooner or later I’d have my sketchbook out! I had my tiny field sketchbook in my purse and tried to whip out a quicky sketch with watersoluble graphite pencils. Gary took this photo but my photographer friend Mark Baker did some editing to perk it up, Thanks Mark! ( www.mhbaker.com)
Alnmouth waterfront sketch in water soluble graphite
I had to touch it up at home as it was getting late and we needed to go home. No sitting and sketching time today 🙁 I used a waterbrush on it to do the washes. (I took a photo of the sketch with my camera to upload it.)
Cross at Alnmouth 2
Well I’ll leave you with this last view, though there were many more I had to choose from.
To see these wonderful photos as note cards and other gifts, go here to my shop. Just scroll down the page to see all the photos from Northumberland.
I wanted to share some work in progress with you on a little painting I’m doing of Edlingham castle. It was built in the early 12th C by the Normans, it’s in Northumberland and I can walk to it everyday from where I’m staying!
Sketch of Edlingham Castle, Northumberland
(Forgive if my pictures aren’t perfect as I’m using my camera to upload images) I brought my field kit with me and walked not on the typical path that tourists take right up to it, but one that goes behind an old Abbey that sits next to the castle grounds. I don’t like to be painting around lots of other curious people so I decided to view from afar. I found a big wooden gate with nice heavy posts that I sat on top of, I sometimes have a pad I can sit on to keep away the dampness, lucky I had it today. I decided to do a detailed drawing of it, not knowing if I’d get time to watercolor it on the spot, I took several reference photos before I left. The weather got really drab, cold, windy, actually chilled me through! So…the detailed sketch is as far as I went! Pretty clear for being drawn while sitting on a fence post!
Edlingham castle work in progress
Back in a cozy house, with a pot of tea, I pulled the picture up on my laptop and worked on it from that. The color is NEVER the same but it’s not a bad way to work, especially good if you can take color notes while in the field. I figure I may get back down there on a nice day and finish it up, or just work from the photo, we’ll see.
Until I finish it, you can see some nice photos of the castle here in my shop. Follow the link above or go to this one for more photo note cards of the castle.
Come with me on a walk up into the Ingram Valley in Northumberland England, land of unending vistas and wildlife. I know that sounds ‘corny’ but its true, Northumberland is so beautiful and wild.
Mama sheep and 2 lambs
As Gary and I began our walk, right away we met a proud and healthy mama black faced sheep with her two little lambs. Walking the hills in lambing season is so much fun, the little ones prance, bounce from all fours like they have springs in all hooves and they join up in little gangs to play king of the hill. When they can they run to their moms and push under for a feed, their tails wag like little flags of victory!
Ingram Valley -shepherd's road
We turn our attention towards the uphill walk in very chilly wind, but with the sun it was bearable. This is a small track used by the shepherd with his quad-bike, to visit the various hills with sheep on. (I’m actually taking a look ‘back’ downhill here).
Ingram Valley-old stone wall and some lone Scots Pines
This is along the way up, an old stone wall like so many you see in England, with a few lonely Scots Pines playing sentinel on the lonely hills.
mama sheep
When we went as far as we wanted to go, we watched the sheep playing and running. This ewe and her lamb were all by themselves on the other side of the fence. The lamb looked so special that we couldn’t help but wonder if the shepherd had separated them on purpose. The mother was gorgeous with a coat like no other! (I loved them so much I created note cards of them, and the other sheep, in my shop!)
Wheatear in Ingram Valley, Northumberland
As we made our way down, I talked Gary into stopping for a sit down….of course this was my chance to try to do a watercolor study of the hills opposite! We relaxed, and sitting quietly as I worked, a little bird landed down the hill a bit and started to work it’s way up towards us. I got my camera slowly and started to shoot as he came closer and closer; the wonderful thing about nature sketching or plein air painting is because you’re so quiet, usually wildlife will come near. (keep your camera always handy!) I created note cards of this one too of course, I can’t wait to do a painting of it!
sheep on far hill
Now this is the hill we looked at on our way down and what captured my attention for painting. I wanted to show you first if you look closely, you’ll see tiny white dots on it, those are sheep! No kidding…see the picture below.
sheep on far hill-Zoomed in
This is a close up of the same hill, see the sheep walking single file along the steep hill? They are sure footed but Gary told me sometimes they do fall and get killed 🙁
The picture shows you the scale of the size of the mountain.
Ingram Valley
So I sat on one of many tussocks remaining from and old forest, (a tussock is a small hump covered with grass that remains from where a tree used to be) and used my watercolor pan and one water-brush.
Ingram Valley-watercolor
This is the finished painting; I used the photo I took and looked at it on my computer screen when I got back to finish it. It may have the wrong color cast as I don’t have a scanner to use while I’m away from home, I just shot a picture of it with my camera. Here is a note card of this painting in my shop.
I hope you enjoyed this hike with me, I enjoyed having you along! Remember when you’re out for a walk to look around with curiosity and you may discover something you never noticed before.
Remember for any of my note cards, if you order 10 or more you get a discount…and the savings increase the more you buy, they can ALL BE DIFFERENT CARDS TOO!!
This evening we went for a drive up towards Beanly Moor which looks over a gorgeous valley with the Cheviot mountains in the background.
Road by Beanly Moor
You can park your car on the side of the road here and just walk up to Beanly Moor, a beautiful and wild area filled with heather and bracken with wonderful views.
Shepherd and his dogs
I love seeing the shepherds with their dogs, they don’t go on foot or by horseback as they used to, nowadays it’s a quad bike or 4 wheeler as transport across fields and the dog seems to LOVE riding on back!
View from hill by Beanly Moor
We walked up the hill and watched the sun set here, I just love this view. I dream of having a house in a setting like this, with a view just as peaceful.
Cheviots from Beanly Moor + Rothbury biuldings
I pulled out my watercolors and used my water-brush to do a little sketch. It was a bit hard because though it’s sunny, it was cold! At the bottom of the page is a pen and ink sketch I did the next day, of buildings in Rothbury, a small town in Northumberland. I was freezing while sketching this, but I liked the windows and stones and though angles are tricky, I like to do them because it’s good practice.
Church in Rothbury, Northumberland, England
You can see the day was cloudy and cold, I sat on a bench looking out across the town square. You can see the hills right in the background, I love walking near Rothbury.
Rothbury church
I hope to get a nicer photo of this church on a sunny day then do a painting.
Good morning everyone and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! I’ve always loved St. Patrick’s day, it was a day I could wear green to school and even be bold enough to wear that pin that said, “Kiss Me I’m Irish!”…of course I was too shy to really want anyone to kiss me! But somehow I felt more special on this day because I was able to identify with my family roots that my dad always talked about.
My love of Celtic design developed over the years, I love making up my own letters in the style of the “Book of Kells” and was thrilled as an adult to finally view the real deal in Dublin at Trinity College. They only display one page a day and you are limited to a set time you can view it for, not good for those who may want to sketch from it.
Here’s a few products in my Celtic Collection shop that feature my original designs, you won’t find them anywhere else! Just click on the picture to view that page in my shop, click on my name to see my entire shop.
Here’s one that was inspired by the ancient letters like the Book of Kells. It’s great for anyone with a last name starting with “Mc” like me! If you look closely at the bottom left area of the M, I put a tiny paintbrush with rays coming from it’s tip and circles along it representing colors on a palette. It’s fun to put little things like this in that no one notices!
This design is the “Celtic Mandala”, I was inspired when my brother Chris got engaged, so with thoughts of love and eternal bonds I created this with swans entwined to create the symbol for infinity, doves for love and the “Never Ending Knot” that I think represents love very well. These mugs (there are several mug options) have been a popular item with my customers!
And here’s one more, the first of many to come, the “Celtic Angel Dude”! I created this for my 2009 Christmas card and it’s been a big hit with customers. He is cute but not overly, his little bare toes sticking out while standing on that ‘Celtic’ style cloud. And check out the snowflakes, they are all originals made up by me to look Celtic. People use this card all year to send friends, and there is also a sticker, a mug and t-shirts with his image.
Well enjoy today and I hope you visit my shop to look at my original designs. Just so you know, if you buy 10 or more note cards of ANY designs you get a discount; the more you buy the higher the discount. And I have to say, I’ve ordered the cards myself and the quality is superb! Heavy card stock and super glossy finish, you can add any text you want to ANY of the items! Have Fun!!
I was creating note cards from my butterfly photos and noticed this one, though beautiful, has a torn wing. I thought about how so many of us have some kind of physical difficulty, or imperfection, but just go on with our lives. It inspired me to write a small poem that appears on the inside of this inspirational card.
Please click on the title above to see the glossy note card in my shop. If you click on my name it’ll take you to my Zazzle Shop where I have many note cards for sale featuring my photographs and paintings of nature and landscapes. The poem is below.
We Are None of Us Perfect
We are none of us perfect,
From the outside perhaps,
Torn and tattered.
Broken
Parts not working.
But on the inside
Who knows us better
Than ourselves?
Or those who love us?
We are all bright shining
Lights of love and beauty!
(c) Mary McAndrew 2-15-2010
(The butterfly is a Red Admiral, I took it while in a garden in England.)
This watercolor was commissioned by a lady for her husband’s 80th birthday! He loves groundhogs (just like me) and she really liked the groundhogs I had sketched on my blog this past summer, so she asked me to do a painting. Here’s the finished painting and below it I’ll share the stages of painting as I worked on it, along with how I changed or corrected areas as I went.
my set up 1
Above is my set up, an artists’ table easel box type thing that you can put oils paints in underneath, I have it filled with color pencils at the moment. I like it because you can change the angle to work on, I altered it though by drilling holes right up the front panel so I can change the height of the little shelf that you put your painting on while you work. (Yes, I love using my power drill!)
my watercolor pan palette
When I work on little watercolors, I like to keep my palette of colors close to the work. The paint dries out quickly in the tiny brushes so it helps to have it all close by. I set my pan of colors on a little wooden box and I can keep other supplies in here instead of all over my table. This pan is also what I use in the field, I have so many colors in it, I really don’t need to set up my big huge palette that I use in my studio for big paintings. When I worked on the painting, I had several pictures of groundhogs to the left of it for my reference, I used sticky tack (blue tack) to hold things in place on the Plexiglas surface.
my set up 2
I really created this set up because I wanted to work where the wood stove was, right in the middle of my living room. You can see the cold snow outside my window! So it’s like my little studio island, a plastic table 4′ x 2′, complete with laptop, small lamp, bundles of color pencils and some other piles of ‘stuff’. (ahmm…there’s a dark chocolate bar hidden in the box too, well you know, gotta keep the ‘ol strength up!)
groundhog 1
This is the first stage of the painting, a light pencil sketch that I lighten first by tapping over it with a kneaded rubber eraser. Before I started I decided to make this a 5 x 7″ painting to fit a standard mat, so I lightly trace the inside of an 8 x 10 mat (5 x 7″ opening). Then I wash in a simple background of trees and start to place the long grasses and dandelions I want around this plump little groundhog.
groundhog 2 blocking shape
I like to try to keep some spontaneity in my paintings especially in the backgrounds. Here’s a little trick you can try to keep it loose while protecting areas; I grab a piece of paper or plastic to block or protect an area. This piece was just the right curve for his back, when it’s covered I can very freely stroke my brush right over the area with out it looking contrived and stiff.
groundhog 3 blocking shape
You can see above the protected area of his back.
groundhog 4
In “groundhog 4” I have laid in some light body washes and beginning some fur areas, starting on the darker areas first. Notice I have left a light ‘cut out’ looking edge to him, this is so I can go back later and stroke color into it to make it look like fur, but also he’ll stand out a bit from the background. I also started to push the darks around the grass blades in the front left.
groundhog 5
In “groundhog 5” you can see I darkened around the dandelions, added some grasses in front and also added some more tone and fur strokes on his body. Keep looking for the dark and light areas of his body; sometimes you show this by adding strokes or by adding whole washes to an area. If you look at his tail here I want to point out that I didn’t just paint in a tail shape, I put dark bits around where the grass went over it and it looks much more natural.
groundhog 6
In “groundhog 6” you can see I have put a light wash of green in the background, then washes of brown in the foreground. I then added more grasses and darks around the dandelions, foreground and his body. I developed the arm and shoulder area more now, also added more to the head.
groundhog 7
I developed the grasses around him in “groundhog 7”, pushing the darks in places.
Now I’ll show you some close up pictures of parts of the painting as I did corrections. I find it interesting to look back on how I changed things and I know my readers really like to see this, you can learn a lot by looking at how another painter reworks things to correct them.
correcting the back 1
When I painted more of the grasses in I was able to see his back silhouette better; I then realized that it looked too straight. So I gently re-wet the area along the edge (above) and rubbed a bit with my brush to lift the color then I blotted it with a clean paper towel. I repeat this as many times as nessesary to lift what I need to, you can’t always lift everything though!! Take care also not to lift other areas.
correcting the back 2
To reshape the back I carefully put down the dark green grass colors further out from the original back line. (above) Then you have to soften where needed so it all looks ‘right’ together.
Below I show a close up of an area that when I thought I had finished the painting, I looked back and decided to fix. That blade of grass pointing at his head looked ok in the beginning when it was lighter, but now was too strong.
blades of grass 1
Below is the area that I changed.
blades of grass final
Here’s some close ups of the head as I changed it. The mouth I found difficult to do, it was a give and take between showing details and sort of softening them, but then that’s the essence of painting! Notice the careful biulding of darks on the head to shape it’s 3 Dimensional feel, the changing of the black area of the mouth and the developing of the dark area under the jaw.
Head close up #1
Head close up #2
Head close up #3
#4 Final head close up
I ended up going over the entire head at the end and added darks here and there…sculpting until it looked just right.
Once again here is the painting finished and ready for it’s new owner!
"Groundhog" finished
The original is sold but SHOP for gifts, note cards, prints, t-shirts etc with this image on it in my Zazzle shop! Go to www.zazzle.com/marymcandrew*This will take you to my shop where my artwork and designs are listed, go to the Small Mammals folder to find the groundhog designs or just type Groundhog into the search box. You can add your own text to customize gifts! If you want it on something you don’t see, just email me to ask!
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