On Friday I had the great fortune of meeting up with blogger buddy Roger Seddon for a sketching trip to Hengistbury Head. It was a beautiful day made even better by good company. Roger has posted his work from the day here . Using a bank to shelter from the breeze we settled down to sketch the the view to Christchurch Priory across the reedbeds of Christchurch Bay.
I started a graphite sketch to loosely plot out some shapes and tones. The thing that caught my eye was the contrast of tone between the end of the shale and the dark shadow of the bank behind. I was sitting on the shingle and had a low viewpoint and so to accentuate this tried a portrait format for a pastel sketch. On reflection I think maybe a square format would have been better.
Aside from sketching, it was a really great day. It's so nice to meet a fellow blogger out of the confines of cyberspace. It seems Roger enjoyed it too so hopefully it will be the first in a series of sketching expeditions.(This post is decidedly late due to blogger gremlins, which I hope have all been sorted now. I seem to have some weirdness in my tags still, has anyone else?)
It is interesting to see both your painting and also Roger's on his blog of the same location. You have taken a different view point yet our eye is taken far into the distance too by the building that lies on the horizon. The colours are especially nice Roger captured fine weather yet it had a spring time feel to it with the blues being fresh looking and warm. You have captured such atmosphere in your painting Lisa the distance has almost a veil of weather coming in.
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline, I found it really interesting to see the differences too. We seemed to pick up on completely different things and the decisions of what to include and what to leave out varied too. I took quite a few liberties with the colour and to some extent perspective. (There is a soft lime green and tiny dashes of bright terracotta in the reeds and grasses closest - maybe I should have played them up a bit more.)
ReplyDeleteNice post Lisa and thanks for the kind comments. I think it is good that two artists can choose the same landscaoe subject but represent it in entirely different and personal ways.When I started my acrylic the weather was bright and sunny but as the afternoon progressed it turned a wee bit dull and overcast.I resisted hard the temptation to fall into the trap of modifying the work as the light changed I think my colours captured the brighter morning whereas your pastel, started later in the afternoon represents more closely the light as it was then. Good story so let's stick with it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great story Roger, I'm game to stick to that :o)
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely and it is interesting to compare it with Roger's treatment of the same scene. Both of your paintings have made me look forward to the annual family hols in Swanage for the Carnival - I can't wait now. Just hope there's enough room in the car for all my sketching gear!
ReplyDeleteHello Michael, welcome and thank you for commenting. Swanage Carnival eh? That will be fun, there will be lots to sketch. Have a great time.
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