Sledmere House day 2 visit, first of two paintings

The conifer interested me. 

In fact there are two trees, one hidden behind the other. I arrived in the morning and had decided beforehand that this is what I wanted to paint, so I went straight to the spot. It proved convenient as it was near a bench seat on which I could place my rucksack as well as securing George. A nearby yew tree provided shade for George and he settled quickly. I set up my tripod and pochade box, filled my water container and paused to look at the view. I pictured it in my mind noting the proportions and imagined it on my 12 x 10 canvas board. With the composition in my mind I quickly laid out the essential information starting with the tree which determined the size and position of the House. The view above is how it looked when I stopped. Some important elements like the white window frames would be added later.As I painted people meandered by and one couple, a mother and her daughter who had a young child, came over and we talked about the painting. It was not finished but they could appreciate how it was developing. I think they might have been from Holland.  I stopped and walked back to the car to change pochade boxes. On the way I met FSD and friends so I detoured and enjoyed a coffee outside the cafe. In the afternoon I painted another view. ( see next post ).

I had a lovely talk with an art group who meet regularly on the first and third Thursdays at the House and hope to see them again.