quick sketches of cornwall

all images copyright Vivien Blackburn

The view of the sunset over the sea from our windows was spectacular :) These are some quick sketches done from the window and the one above is trying to catch the pattern of the clouds and waves - they changed so fast and the light was going, so I didn't attempt to use colour. They are all in my moleskine sketchbook - which was only added to my art bag(s) as an afterthought because I'd planned to work larger. I made notes to myself of the colours so that if it develops into a painting I'll remember them.

This one is the view from the windows looking more to the left, where the steep road hairpins round to a narrow little old bridge over the stream - the stream that comes down the valley (the Vale of Lanherne or Mawgan) past the farmhouse a couple of miles uphill, that we lived in for a year when we first moved to Cornwall. We rented half of the house and the farmer lived in the other half. It was a lovely tall Georgian farmhouse, the farm was only small but he kept dairy cows, pigs and chickens and there was haymaking in late summer, an idyllic place to live.

This was a day that started off with rain (it was lovely later) and the tide was high. There was a rainbow as the rain approached and at one point I could see it in front of the cliff as well as in the sky - I've never noticed that before, seeing the rainbow over the land and so near - you may have been more observant! (charcoal pencil)

This one is much the same view but showing the edge of 'our' garden and some people on the beach for scale - they should have been slightly smaller but the pencil wouldn't cooperate!

I think between sketches I did, the watching I did and the zillions of photos in all sorts of light, I ought to have enough information to get some large/largeish paintings done :)

please keep telling me about your special places :) ..... mmmm geographical ones! that statement could be better phrased!