Aylestone Meadows, Winter Sunlight

Aylestone Meadows, pollarded willow, detail
I did this mixed media sketch in the leather sketchbook, it's smaller than the one on Watermarks (link at end of post) It didn't photograph or scan very well on the hand made paper so I've shown a detail above which shows the glowing colours.
The late afternoon sun glowed amber on the pollarded willows but the surrounding landscape was all cold pale blue greys and dried reeds and grasses. It was a very cold day.

Pollarded Willow, Aylestone Meadows, Vivien Blackburn

I'm planning to revisit this area over the course of the year, looking at it as the seasons and light change.

I was sketching near these willows once when I saw a grass snake come swimming down towards me and come out just next to me through the reeds - he just slithered leisurely on his way, totally ignoring me.

There is a larger painting of the same trees on the Watermarks blog.

Do you revisit a place, studying it in different lights? Tina has written a good post on her interest in this on Watermarks today.



Comments

Billie Crain said…
this is a wonderful piece! 'pollarded'....you've taught me a new word today, Vivien! there's a private club on an inland lake in my home town with several very old pollarded willows down by the beach among the cabanas but i never knew the correct term for this manner of pruning. now whenever i see them i think of the whomping(sp?)willow in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie for some reason.
7:03 pm
vivien said…
:>D

Tina mentioned that on our watermarks blog - and I think of Old Man Willow (a villain) in the The Hobbit!

They used to do this to use the new branches for basket making and fencing and stuff.
7:29 pm
dinahmow said…
I think, first, of Arthur Rackham. Then Monet and his quest to paint from the same spot over a year.
11:44 pm
vivien said…
yes, and over a day - as you know he had a stack of canvasses to work on as the daylight changed - which is what I do when we go over to the Norfolk coast. Sometimes we'll move to a different place but often spend the entire daylight hours painting from the same place as the light and tide changes.
10:22 am
Anita said…
More super pollarded willow trees! making me home sick for the Somerset levels!
12:13 pm
Jeanette Jobson said…
There is a wonderful glow on this old willow. You caught the light perfectly there. There is something satisfying about watching the year pass in the same spot. Light, physical changes, etc. can provide a new inspiration every day without ever going stale.

I think I must be the only person in the world who hasn't read or seen any Harry Potter films so the references sail over my head. :)
1:52 pm
vivien said…
thanks Anita :>)

:>) you are missing out Jeanette! HP is really good!

Yes, the light changes everything and the scene becomes new again :>)
8:20 pm
rob ijbema said…
wow!what a character,love those old willows,great marks vivien!
9:12 am
vivien said…
Thanks Rob :>) I've loved your snow images lately - you've caught the white misty haze when there's falling snow and a bit of a mist too, beautifully.
7:31 pm
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