Morning Sun

Quite often the best light for painting in England are those 2-3 hours after sunrise. The air is clean, the colours vivid and the shapes of light and shadow are very interesting. After that a blanket of shapeless, milky clouds usually covers the sky and the light changes dramatically from crisp to softer and pearly. These brief hours in the morning are perfect to paint the buildings, especially made of light stone.

Morning Sun, oil on canvas, 9x12in

Last golden leaves

Willows, Windrush River, oil on canvas, 9x12in

We have it easy this year - almost end of October and temperatures around 15-17 C. But some trees, like this willow on the bank of River Windrush near Burford, decided that's enough and it's time to shed the leaves. I love painting leafless trees, love the twisted shapes and rich colors of mosses and fungi on the bark. Here also added bonus of some golden, soon to fall down completely, leaves.

Blue doors

One of the walking paths around Swinbrook leads through the ancient village of Widford. Some of the cottages there, I am guessing owned by the same person, have window frames and doors (and a clock) painted in a most peculiar shade of blue, I would say a mix of cobalt blue and cadmium lemon. The color is very unusual for Cotswold buildings, where most often the woodwork is painted in a muted grey-greenish tone. But I liked this electric blue and it inspired me to set up my easel against the light, with the scene framed by strong yellows of semi-transparent leaves.

After Rain, oil on canvas, 9x12in

For those of you interested in a traditional Cotswold architecture there is a short but very informative brochure prepared by Cotswold District Council in 2000, titled "The Cotswold Design Code" link to pdf, 1.3 MB.

On the Edge of Foxholes Nature Reserve

Red Roofs, oil on canvas, 9x12in

Around 5 miles south-west of Chipping Norton lies Foxholes Nature Reserve, a woodland and meadows area, once part of an ancient Wychwood Forest. The best time to visit is Spring, when parts of the reserve are smothered with bluebells. But for painting purposes other seasons are equally if not more interesting; I especially enjoy painting there in late autumn and winter. Autumn barely started here and I wasn't in a mood for all-green painting, so I set up my easel on an abandonend farm at the edge of the reserve. I was especially interested in the visual interaction of three red roofs and the shadows.

Autumn Meadow, Swinbrook

Autumn Meadow, oil on canvas, 12x16in

Can you see colours when it's dark?

Well, I couldn't.

Left home around 6.30pm, and with the sun setting at 7, I thought there was enough time to paint just-after-sunset landscape. I walked 10-15 minutes and finally settled on a top of the hill, from where there was a lovely view of my village. I set up the easel, squeezed the paints, decided on the composition and realized that I didn't bring brushes. By this time the sun was gone and the light was perfect. I called my daughter (always bring cell phone on a painting trip!) and 10 minutes later she brought the brushes.

From there the light deteriorated quickly. I usually paint the sky first, but on this occasion I started with the ground because I was using dark colours. The hues were barely recognizable and I was mixing "blindly" - I remembered what each blob of paint was and more or less how much from each pile I needed to arrive at certain colour. For the sky - I mixed titanium white, cadmium red light, cadmium yellow light and cobalt blue, and added a bit of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for the clouds. But I couldn't really evaluate the hues, I could only see that the sky was light, the clouds a bit darker and the ground just a silhouette.

The painting turned out quite good though.

Village After Sunset, oil on canvas, 9x12in

Paintings of River Windrush, near Asthall

Late Summer Day, 9x12in, oil on canvas

One of my favourite subjects are rivers and the reflections. On a calm day the water acts as a soft mirror, with dark colours reflecting slightly lighter while light colours appearing darker. When there is a breeze, the reflections are more varied; part of the ripple reflects the sky and part takes the colour from the surrounding objects. When the water is shallow the colour of the water is affected by the colour at the bottom of the river, you can see this in the lower part of "September Blues". If you are facing the sun, as I did when painting "Late Summer Day", the water is very light in color, almost blinding, but when you turn away the colour of water reflecting the sky is a rich and beautiful blue. 

September Blues, 9x12in , oil on canvas

My favourite painting spot

Umbels and Roofs, 15x11in, oil on canvas

Two seasons, two different times of the day. I painted both pictures from the top of a hill, overlooking a quiet stream near Swinbrook. I like revisiting places I painted before. Although the compositional elements stay the same, each time a new light situation creates a different drama.

Quiet Evening, 13.5x14in, oil on canvas