Watercolour Landscapes: Kippford, Cwm Penmachno, Eccup, Slaithwaite

I’ve been on a bit of a manic painting spree recently to learn and practice watercolour more. There’s been quite a few dead ends (and I may show some of these as posts about the development of what I hope to be better final images, but here’s a few more recent pictures I am reasonably pleased with.

I was very taken with this old boat on the banks of the estuary at Kippford, which has apparently been there for many years, as it combines very well my love of rust and decay with the idyllic countryside.

This was quite a challenge to paint, as I really still struggle with perspective on complex shapes, and I was fidnig it very hard to visualise the shapes as the completed boat until it was very nearly done. I’ve used my current favourite trick of shadows using Potters Pink in the clouds here.

This next painting is the River Machno in Cwn Penmachno, Close by Twll-y-Cwm, the waterfall of one of the myriad of smaller streams which are the Machno’s source. I wanted to play with a snow scene, and a photo I took when I went to Wales back in 2013 was a great source to work from.

Closer to home now, this next picture is a field just outside Eccup, from a photo which I took back in 2012. I used my new Cerulean Blue from the Van Gogh range from Royal Talens, which for all it is a mixed pigment containing some white is a very vibrant shade. I splattered masking fluid from an old stiff brush to make thw white flowers.

This final image is Slaithwaite Reservoir from my walk from Marsden to Slaithwaite (which was interupted by beer) back in 2013. After getting a free book on painting water with a magazine I wanted to have a go at getting some good reflections, which I am quite pleased with.