After visiting Mathewson’s, to look at classic cars I headed west towards Helmsley. The sign to Kirkdale is small and easily missed. I remembered visiting St. Gregory’s Minster, an ole Saxon church dating back to 1060. That, though is for another time. Today I again took the road to Kirkdale remembering a view of some poplars. Just before a bridge, a field gateway allowed me to pull off the road where I could see this view. I had a canvas board and a ‘Sharpie’ pen. I wanted to capture the scene. It is, in a way reminiscent of a painting by Monet of the Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil, inasmuch as the dominant feature is the trees. Here a field which had been full of wheat in the summer, stood harvested and being prepared for another crop. The interesting patterns of field preparation creates lines that criss cross. Tractor tyre marks turn and head for the gateway in which I stand. The land is not flat, it rolls down and up to the trees. The sky is grey. As I stood making this sketch the wind was strongly gusting making me remember a previous visit with a pochade box. On that occasion the wind ‘stopped play’. Today, holding the canvas board, I could cope with the malicious cyphers. This is another sketch painting using a ‘Sharpie’ on a 12 x 10 inch board. At the moment I am enjoying the freedom of making these quick sketches, as the pen prevents one from adding too much detail. The essential elements of the composition focus one’s mind in a refreshing way.
Books available
Art books featuring the Yorkshire Wolds ( Low and High) full of paintings done at various venues. Video here of the HIGH WOLDS book. Other books feature panoramic sketching using a concertina sketchbook, a Yorkshire sketchbook and how to paint plein air and make your own painting box
No comments:
Post a Comment