We went for a long family dog walk across the local meadows last Sunday, taking our chance in between the recent showers we have been having here of late. The walk hugs the river for most of the course and the river itself divides into several branches and the local council have kindly provided lots of wooden bridges to cross between the islands as well as stiles and cattle gates (or kissing gates as we call them) to stop the local herds from wandering too much. We are quite used to walking around the edges of some of the fields to avoid the bulls but we did have a rather stressful encounter with one particular bovine who decided to walk over towards us and so we all made our way through the gate a little quicker than normal lol!
The views across the meadows are truly lovely and there is one particular spot where you can see the spire or tower of three village churches, each belonging to a separate village. This watercolour is a view across the River Great Ouse, looking from Houghton Meadow towards the church of Hemingford Abbots whose spire seemed to puncture the threatening looking sky that hung across this low lying countryside. Happy weekend to you all :)
 |
| Hemingford Abbots, Jackson's watercolour on Arches 300gsm/140lb Not, 180mm x 260mm/7" x 10" |
The first thing I thought when I saw that this was just a view of a village here in The Netherlands. This is really beautiful Michael. Beautiful colours, beautiful clouds and the shadow in the water is so nicely done, it's just off.
ReplyDeleteMichael, this is wonderful. I love everything about it. This is such an accomplished piece. Kudos!!
ReplyDeleteMichael, this is really VERY good and I can see remarkable progress in your work.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful. I like the reflections of the church tower and of the trees on the water.
ReplyDeleteYou've absolutely nailed it! The light is amazing, which makes it such a beautiful painting. Oh, and good luck with the garden studio...it's such a wonderful thing to have.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous painting Michael, so peaceful. Do you enjoy painting on Arches? It's my favourite paper, everything seems to flow just right.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a lovely painting! I am SO glad you have a blog because I am enjoying your paintings so much! I happen to be terrified of cows and bulls so you wouldn't catch me anywhere near one :0)
ReplyDeleteThank you all very much indeed. I'm delighted to get such lovely comments from you all.
ReplyDeleteRenske - yes, a lot of the land is used as flood meadows and much of the nearby Fens are reclaimed from the sea so very similar to your own lovely country. I know what 'just off' means now lol.
John - that's so very generous of you - I think you should have some kudos back from me for your fine artwork!
Roger - I'm starting to see little leaps of progress now too. It's thanks to blogging and all the wonderful people out there.
Cora - it's a really beautiful place so I'm pleased that came through in my painting.
Sharon - that's some complement from the wizardess of light! No progress on the garden studio today - we have a slight shower at the moment and I guess you have too!
Lisa - it is a very peaceful place with a few keen walkers like us and the occasional river cruiser. Yes, I do like Arches the best, it's the king of papers in my view. Ray Campbell Smith says something like - good paper flatters our work and sometimes we need all the flattery we can get lol :)
Sandra - and I'm SO glad you encouraged me to start blogging in the first place! I grew up in a semi-rural part of Cheshire so I'm used to cows but bulls still scare the xxxx out of me lol.
So fresh! Love your story too....always nice to get a slice of life with art.
ReplyDeleteThank you Maggie. If I could only get this freshness in all my watercolours I'd be a happy man :) Glad you liked the story too!
ReplyDeleteWonderful painting, Michael! It is really very good! I spent this day in Dutch countryside, with lovely views on village church towers. And I met some cows today! Your painting does remind me of that!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Michael. One of your best I think. It looks just the way I remember those riverside meadows.
ReplyDeleteGood evening Judy and thank you very much. Renske also said it reminded her of the Dutch countryside. I guess because we live in similar lands that were once flooded, nature takes the same course and produces similar trees, hedgerows, rivers, good artists (lol) etc etc;)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Keith. I seem to go round and round sometimes but this is a style and a subject I'm comfortable with and keep returning to. I hope it brought back happy memories of Cambridgeshire for you. I wish we had some hills though - perhaps you could spare a few of yours!
Beautiful painting. Love the feeling of movement in the shrubbery!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering were you going to show us a close up painting of that bull's eye ;)
Good morning Pat and thank you very much! I was hoping to do a pastel of the bull's eye but I didn't even manage to get a quick sketch done;)
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful landscape, Michael! I love the clean, transparent colors, with yet plenty of contrast. You have mastered the skill to simplify the subjects, which is apparent in your lovely sketches too. Oh, and the sky is great!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Blaga. I always try to get clean transparent colours but it's never easy although my new set of Jackson's artists paints really has helped. I have also started to use Raw Sienna in preference to my favourite Yellow Ochre!
ReplyDeleteHi Michael.
ReplyDeleteThia is fantastic my friend. I love it. The Sky is brilliant, The field and the trees really show one another at there best. All the best Michael.
Vic.
Hi Vic. Thank you for your lovely comment. It's very much appreciated my friend. Best wishes, Michael.
ReplyDeleteMichael, this painting is outstanding. Love the color, the tones and the composition. Really very beautiful and you and I are on the same page as for using the watersoluble graphite. Just used mine today on moleskine pad.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael for you concern for us during the hurricane. You are very kind.
All the best to you,
Joan
Hi Joan, it's so nice to know you and your family are all well out there and you're able to blog again! Hope you managed to get your internet and utilities sorted. Thank you ever so much for your lovely comments. I'm hoping to do a few more like this of the other villages and churches in the area en plein air but with autumn fast approaching us here in the windy UK I think I'll be using a lot more red and orange than I did for this one! Best Wishes, it's good to have you back in blogland, Michael.
ReplyDelete