Behind Elstead

Another empty landscape. This one is to the back of Elstead village. I 'm lucky enough to pass this way most mornings. It's pretty parched now in mid Summer but it's amazing how it changes through the seasons.

This pic' might not look much to you but I'm really happy with the way the paint is going down here and the fact that the image captures the colour/light pretty successfully. I'm going to try some other similar, simple compositions to keep paint options to a minimum and reduce the potential for messing up.

Graveyards

I spent some time in graveyards this weekend, another great place to put things in perspective:-) Anyway, once I was suitably humbled I got sketching. Graveyards are interesting places to paint, nice mixture of hard structures and organic stuff. However, despite the potential I didn't really come back with much to look at.
I did discover that painting without drawing first (at least less than I normally do) can be surprisingly rewarding and is something I will try more of. It could be a good way to being more free with the paint.

The Rec'

The last effort for this weekend. A view of the old manor house over the beech hedge to the side of Elstead recreation ground. This sort of subject matter seems to suit me even if it doesn't especially excite me. I would like to be looser and more expressive with paint but I still incline towards drawing and 'colouring in'. I'm working on it though, so watch this space.