I mentioned the fear of running out of scenes to paint. That fear was once again proven to be completely irrational this morning when walking on ‘The Line’ in Ystradgynlais’ Ystradfawr Nature Reserve. Even with the light not being as strong as I’d hoped, with a hazy cast softening the morning sun, I still managed to come back from the walk with a handful of shots that will make great inspiration for new woodland paintings.
I really like the feel of this one and it would definitely benefit from being painted on a larger canvas. The foliage detail needs more room to breathe and I think a large piece would draw the eye into the scene better. I really do enjoy painting forest scenes and I reckon they could end up forming a large part of my body of work.
Recently I’ve started doing colour sketches a lot more frequently. Usually taking less than a couple of hours to complete, colour sketches allow me to explore creatively without worrying too much about the final result. Unlike working on longer-form paintings, they give me a chance to finish a piece in a single sitting. At the rate I’m going, I’m going to have a queue of colour sketches lining up ready to be made into final paintings.
I can’t complain about that!
