Sketching En Plein Air, Far Ings Nature Reserve: The Tadpole Trail
Tree Trunk with Severed Bough, mixed media
En Plein Air: Far Ings Wetlands
In the summer I decided to do
more en plein sketching and joined a group of artists on a trip to the south bank of the Humber Estuary. The visit to the Far Ings Wetlands, Barton was organised by visual artist
and curator, Linda Ingham. There was a lot of mutual feedback during the course
of the day, and it helped that I already knew two of the other artists and had
worked with them previously.
The Tadpole Trail reinforced the
benefits of working en plein air, improved my confidence and gave me the impetus
to do more.
Photographs from the sketches I made on the day are
illustrated below.
A general pencil sketch of the water and surrounding
wetlands, including layers of reeds and water plants.
Colour matching exercise
Water colour sketch of reed bed with colour notes
Below: Study of the tree trunk worked up back in the
studio and later at home:
Tree Trunk with Severed Bough, mixed media
The aim was to think about paths, planned and unplanned, real, and imagined. What is it like being on the path; what is edging the path? The theme lent itself to ways of looking and thinking and being creative. We all exchanged ideas about the benefits of working en plein air – taking in the atmosphere, experiencing all the sensations such as smell, feel, sound. Linda especially thought that working outdoors (even for sketches which are later worked up in the studio) adds a certain dynamic and feeling to the finished work which cannot be replicated.
No comments:
Post a Comment