Scarecrow festival Thornton le Dale

This week sees a scarecrow festival in our village.  They are very popular in this area, some places being very much better than others.  I suspect that those who have been doing it longer have evolved   a greater level of Worzel Gummaging than others.
I think this is the first one here, but the standard was pretty high, and certainly provided much interest for the hundreds of ice-cream licking tourists who wander the streets of the village looking for something more to look at.
I bravely took to the main street to paint it.  For such an attractive village there aren't all that many 'ready made' painting locations,  indeed even the postcards on sale in the shops only have a limited choice of views, mainly centered on the thatched cottage that I posted about recently.
The structure of the cottages was really complicated to sort out, and I abandoned my first attempt as I had strayed away from the initial sketch I did in my sketchbook, and it was already starting to get more formal that I wanted.  The careful approach is my fall back position when I am struggling with a difficulty (in this case getting the drawing right), but for my second attempt I had sorted out in my mind what went where so I made better progress.
On reflection I think I have got some way towards the simple statement in the painting of the cottages.  I think it might look better overall if I crop down the left and bottom by a few centimetres.  As it is painted on a board that I made myself at least I know that the canvas will be firmly adhered and it won't suffer unduly from the attentions of a stanley knife.

Scarecrow Festival Thornton le Dale

oils on canvas board

10x8"

Still on the chocolate box trail

Hutton le Hole this time, a favourite North Yorkshire haunt of tourists, for good reason, a really pretty village and the gateway to the open moors.
The streets are narrow so no parking, which means quite a walk with kit from the official car park, and with rain threatening to boot I had to take my brolly just in case.
In some places it is useful to shade the painting from the glare of the sun, but on this occasion it was essential to protect the painting (and the artist) from the frequent downpours.

Nonetheless I had a good day, and the net effect of no sun is that the light remains fairly constant so you can work a bit longer without chasing shadows.

The stream at Hutton le Hole
oils on canvas on board
8x10"

Chocolate anyone?

I am not a natural blogger so I constantly have to remind myself to update here.  I sometimes feel it is a waste of time because I have only three followers, but I hope others do occasionally come across it.  In reality it is more for a permanent record of my progress, or lack of it, currently in the plein air field, but more generally of my artistic journey.

We have lived in Thornton le Dale for four years now, almost next door to the most painted cottage in all of North Yorkshire.
The path where you need to stand to get a good view is swarming with people, admiring the view and enjoying the delightful quintessential cottage garden in front of the cottage, but it makes it a hard task to concentrate on making a painting.

I got the initial drawing badly wrong; never a good start, but the light soon disappeared behind the wall so I had to retreat, armed with a photograph.  As soon as I got home I could see the error of my ways and was able to correct, and finish the painting quite quickly, but it is much harder in a studio situation to be generous with the brush strokes.
The limitations of time are removed and everything becomes much more considered.  I prefer being surrounded by lots of fresh air and little time to consider, even if one does have to take on board the onlookers and the facile comments (although I am sure most are well intentioned, I don't think people realise how much you need to concentrate)

Beck Cottage, Thornton le Dale

oil on board

10x8"

A short walk in high pastures

I have been concentrating my efforts on reducing my payload.  To that end I have cut my colour selection down to 6 + white, less brushes, less everything, so that I can manage to hike without needing a pack donkey or a porter.
This trip, which was my first sortie more than 100 metres from my car, took me a 45 minute uphill trek to one of my favourite spots near the Refuge de Roque de la Peche.
It was in full sun so I was relieved to have taken my brolly.  It takes a bit of securing to prevent it being blown away and taking my set up with it, but the shade it affords enables me to see the colours, and the intensity in a more accurate manner.
As usual it need a couple of tweaks when I got back home, but it now takes its rightful position amongst my ever growing collection of mountain views.  A friend has made a rustic style of frame for me.  I really like the effect, it suits the mountain paintings very well.  I will post a photograph shortly.
In the mean time here is

Le Gorge de Montaiment

Oil on panel

12 x 9"

L'Auberge des Fontanettes with new clothes

Auberge des Fontanettes

9x12"

Oils on panel

It is my intention to spend the entire year painting only in oils.  I feel that until you are confident, competant and comfortable with a medium, chopping and changing can prove to be more than just a distraction.  I spent a year painting in nothing but acrylics until I got a handle on them.  Now it is the turn of oils, but I think I have come home at last.

This is one of our favourite mountain retreats, but without it's cloak of snow it looks quite different.  I have painted it many times, but I think it does no harm to revisit, (and I can always call in and get a refreshing drink when it gets hot and tiring).

The dark shadow isnt on the paiting, it is the shadow of the easel holder.  The paint was very wet so I didnt really want to move it or I would get oil paint all over my camera.  Not good.

My paintings are always for sale. Please email me if you are interested.

Babbling brooks

From high up in the mountains above Pralognan the glacier melt babbles down towards the village, passing on its way a few summer hamlets. Les Prioux is one of these, and from below you can just see the roofs peeping over the hillside.
It was a lovely day but the sneaky wind meant I had to wear my husbands old sailing jacket over my shorts to keep warm. Everyone else was in full summer gear, but when you are standing still it can be chilly up high.

I am still in oil mode. This one is painted on a beige linen canvas glued to an archival board. I really like the surface to work on. I am now only using six colours plus white, it certainly makes my pack lighter to carry. I have abandoned my chair, I find oil painting easier from a standing position, but still need to carry my tripod, pochade box and an umbrella. Without the umbrella to shade the canvas it distorts the way you see colour and the finished paintings get very dark (or at least mine do!). The difficulty when it is windy is to prevent the umbrella being blown away, together with your setup. Oh the problems of being a plein air artist!

Vers les Prioux
Oils on canvas
30x30cms


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Location:Rue des Grands Prés,Pralognan-la-Vanoise,France