Friday 16 August 2013

Swans Below Waternewton

 Oil on Canvas, 16 x 28 inches

Another biggy for my show. Well, quite big, relatively speaking...

I always like to do one or two larger classically English riverine paintings for an exhibition, and this fits the bill pefectly.  It's the river Nene just down the road from me near the village of Waternewton, which sits right next to the A1, unfortunately, but this scene of tranquillity lies just beneath.  Using a bit of artistic licence, I popped in a couple more barns apart from the one in the centre that was there, just to balance the composition.  I also put in the swans for a focal point, otherwise it seemed a little empty.  The water was painted quickly with a minimum of fuss, using slabby strokes of a hog brush combined with a Rosemary Ivory Long Flat, and the reeds in the right foreground were stroked in with a Rosemary Mongoose Long Flat, a gorgeous brush that retains a lovely sharp, chisel-edge, pefect for the job.

4 comments:

  1. beautiful painting Peter, and thanks for the tip on painting water, always a challenge for me, maybe I should invest in British brushes!
    john

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    1. Thank you John! The Mongoose brushes are the same as the Langnickel Royal Sable, but far better quality. There are a lot of American painters who use Rosemary and Co brushes, so you may be able to get them over there, or if not have some shipped over.

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  2. Lovely painting Peter were you in a boat or standing in the water. Thought of you this evening when walking our dog past a local boating lake and the sun was glistening so bright I know how much you like such scenes and doesn,t it hurt your eyes to look at the sparkles of light? Ve

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    1. Thank you VE! I was standing on the left bank as it turned back towards the right of the painting, but I see what you mean - it looks as though I was in the water!
      Yes indeed, looking straight into the sun does dazzle the eyes somewhat, but it's a great challenge to try and replicate that dazzling effect in paint!

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