Sunburst finish

I love sunsets, especially the stunning ones we get here in Cambridgeshire which remind me very much of the ones from my childhood and teenage years when I lived up in Cheshire. I was travelling home last Saturday evening on the bus and just as the light was beginning to fade, the lower part of the sky seemed to have ignited across the flat landscape. These two watercolours were painted from my recollection of that journey home, relying on my memory of the colours I saw, but with the foreground landscape based largely on imagination. Happy weekend to you all!

Cambridgeshire sunset II, watercolour on Arches 300gsm/140lb Not, 180mm x 260mm/7" x 10"

Cambridgeshire sunset I, watercolour on Arches 300gsm/140lb Not, 260mm x 180mm/10" x 7"

Shepherd's delight

It looks like the weather may finally be on the turn here if last night's glorious sunset was anything to go by! I just happened to venture outside at the right time to see the sky had turned into one of those sometimes fleeting visual spectacles that we often get treated to here in Cambridgeshire. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few reference photos and then went back indoors to paint what I had seen. I really enjoyed painting the dark green foliage which for me was almost like painting an interior wall at this size LOL! I used a big palette with lots of gorgeous tube colour, a squirrel brush for the sky and most of the foliage, and finally a rigger to add the detail of the dark leaves against the luminous sky. I really must get some house and garden tidying done today. 'See' you all again soon :)

Shepherd's Delight, watercolour, 9" x 12"