After the Shearing

After the Shearing

Acrylic

20 x 36 cm

My second outing with the pochade box. This time I dipped my sleeve in some Titanium White! Lesson Two - 'Roll up your sleeves! The box worked well again though.

It was a grey day and I was struggling to find an interesting subject. Then I saw these sheep. They had been shorn recently and, unusually, they actually looked white with their clean wool - brilliant white, in fact, in the cool light.

Trying Out a Pochade Box

I had an old box for storing photographic transparencies that wasn't being used any more. It was just the right size to make a good pochade box, so I thought I would see what I could do with it. I fitted out the lid to hold two 8 x 10 inch panels, with the base holding the paints and brushes and a palette holding everything in place.

For its first trial I took it out to the same location as the previous post. This time it was raining, so it was an ideal opportunity to see how I would get on painting with the pochade inside my vehicle. It worked very well in the cramped conditions and was very easy to use.

When I had finished I just closed the lid and went home. Later, when I opened the box again, I found a blob of Pthalo Green right in the middle of the painting! I think the wood that I used for the palette was too flexible, so it had got pushed up into the lid. I was using acrylics, so normally it would have been easy to wash the green off. Unfortunately, I was trying out Atelier Interactive acrylics, which can be reactivated when they are touch-dry. Wiping the painting removed some of the paint underneath, so I had to repaint that area.

I think I have solved the palette problem by using a thicker piece of wood. At the moment I am using greaseproof paper taped to the wood for easy cleaning. I have also modified the lid so that I can carry a wet painting face-down, so the surface should be protected. Hopefully that will prevent any future disasters.

The Moorland Road

Acrylic

20 x 26 cm

The Lark Ascending

The Lark Ascending

Watercolour

26 x 36 cm

There can't be many things more peaceful than painting on the moors, in warm sunshine, with a skylark singing in the sky.

Thanks to Ralph Vaughan Williams for the title, and Bruce Sherman for the inspiration.

"The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Afternoon Twilight

Sunset and Blue Hills
Acrylic
20 x 26 cm

The necessary consequence of having very long summer days is that winter days are very short. The sun never gets very high in the sky and sets not long after the middle of the afternoon. I sketched this view at 3.30 on the afternoon of Boxing Day, a couple years ago, and made this painting from it recently.

Simmer Dim

Simmer Dim
Watercolour
26 x 36 cm

At this time of year in these northern latitudes it never gets very dark at night. The sun sets late in the evening and then the afterglow remains throughout the night, until it gradually turns into the sunrise. In Shetland they call this time the 'Simmer Dim'.