Leisure Painter - UK (2019-06)

30 JUNE 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

I

came across this scene on a stunning

Lakeland day walking from the

campsite at Nether Wasdale towards

Buckbarrow (below). Rarely as an artist

do you find a scene that needs little

adjustment to turn it into a beautiful

painting, but here it is: a rustic old barn

with its Lakeland slate roof covered in

patches of lichen, bathed in sunlight

and perfectly framed with trees on either

side. In the distance, above the barn,

is Lingmell fell, leading up to Scafell,

with the Wasdale screes on the far right.

Look closely at the subject, note where

the light is coming from and look for

the highlights and shadows, which will

enhance your painting even more. Notice

how the shadows give the indication of

the pale blue barn doors being slightly

open and the angle of the shadows in

the other two doorways. There is a white

chimney stack showing in the centre

of the barn roof; this is actually on the

farmhouse situated behind the barn

and would possibly look odd in the

finished painting so I will leave this out.

However perfect a scene, there is

usually something that needs moving,

enhancing or leaving out. In my photo

the top of the dry stone wall shows in

the bottom left-hand corner. This clutters

up the foreground and spoils the

composition, and in my finished painting

I will only include the wall coming in

from the left and the foreground field

extending out to the left, to give a sense

of space. In a scene such as this where

there is detail in the distance and around

the focal point, I aim to keep the sky

as simple as possible. I know this is an

unusual Lakeland sky, however to make

it more dramatic would take interest away

from other parts of the picture. Notice

also that sky is showing through the

foliage in the trees on the left, which I

will emphasise even more. When painting

summer trees and foliage it is very easy to

end up with the green ‘lollypop’ effect.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

nStudy the scene

(look for the shadows)

nPaint realistic-looking

summer foliage

nHow to work successfully from

a photograph (what to leave

in and what to take out)

Paint along with LP

Part 1Try Graham Cox’schallenge to paint a Lakeland barn and trees in high

summer from a photograph using a small selection of pastels and pastel pencils

Painting project

tThe reference photograph for this project: an old barn near Buckbarrow in the Lake District