Watercolour: Single track road leading down to Pendeen from the moor

Lane leading down to Pendeen, watercolour/mixed media, in 12x9inch Canson sketchbook, Vivien Blackburn

I love the lanes leading down off the moor, seeing the sea ahead, the horizon often indistinct - a blur of blueness.

Hedges, stone walls covered with banked earth, stones show through in places, bushes and hundreds of wild flowers, towering above your head; quick glimpses of fields or sea through gateways, small stone farmhouses and ruined mine engine houses - the view changes with every twist in the road.

On the hillside to the left you can just see Pendeen lighthouse, the one I sketched close up.

I've kept this Canson sketchbook just for sketching in Cornwall and it's like revisiting when I flip through.

Comments

dinahmow said…
Thankyou, Vivien. I love revisiting Cornwall with you.
10:11 am
vivien said…
Good :>)


If only I could win the lottery!
6:35 pm
annie said…
I have already commented on WATERMARKS but wanted to add that a whole Canson full of Cornwall is such a wonderful memory book, especially if they are 9 x 12 like this one.

annie
6:57 pm
Kristin said…
I love your paintings. I really like the composition of this one and the colors, expecially the orange!
1:38 am
vivien said…
Kristin thank you :>)

Annie most are - some are double page spreads and some are smaller.

It's a book that's for me - I'll paint from the sketches in oils, watercolour, pastel or whatever but I'll keep the book itself intact.
10:54 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Eye, Urban/Rural exhibition

Image
Vivien Blackburn's work in the Urban/Rural show We've just hung a group show at the The Eye Project, Urban/Rural show.  If you want to come and see it it's on for a month - well worth seeing, 11 lovely artists and some fabulous work. Those large canvasses are 40 inches square. There are rural landscapes, flowerscapes, intriguing textile work including a large knitted building, abstracts .... something for everyone. It's in the gallery below the cafe in the Adult Education Centre at the top of Wellington street, Leicester, opposite Fenwicks.  Meet the Arttists day is Saturday 1st April 10-2.  Come and have a chat with us?
Read more

Hedges silhouetted agains the snow, winter light: watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal pencils in Stillmand and Birn Beta Hardback sketchbook

Image
 Detail  I have always liked the calligraphic tangle of the hedges when they are sihouetted against the sky.   Recent snowfall meant even more opportunities with amazing light and the landscape simplified and hidden by the snow, throwing hedges into relief. Above is a detail of a double page sketch in the lovely Stillman and Birn Beta A4 hardback sketchbook.  This paper is so forgiving and the watercolour works beautifully with it.  It allowed me to work through wet washes with charcoal pencil - something that tears many papers, leaving holes.  Some of the hedge is paint, some tinted charcoal. First snow, more on the way, winter light: silhouetted hedges in watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal in a Stillman and Birn A4 beta hardback sketchbook The earlier warm golden glow of the low sun is covered by clouds, threatening more snow to come.   The spiky calligraphic marks of the hedge and the underlying form of the bank, with some of the taller dried grasses showing
Read more

looking at non traditional composition and quiet vs busy areas in paintings

Image
Paul Klee I thought I'd look at non-traditional composition - where the rule of thirds isn't the key but the painting relies on different compositional methods. in response to an excellent series of posts on the various ways of looking at composition by Katherine (link at end). These alternative considerations or breaking of rules - but making it work - appeal to me more than too heavy a reliance on the rule of thirds. The painting above, by Paul Klee is a 'field' painting' - the composition is overall, the eye travels around enjoying the glowing colour that he creates by juxtaposing complementary colours, subtle greyed greens enhancing the oranges/reds/pinks. Most of the image is composed of the various greens, greeny browns and khakis, with accents of the warm colours. When working this way it's important that the balance is unequal and that the accent colours are placed carefully to keep the eye moving in the way the artist wants. A couple of the brighter
Read more