The What

Here is my first attempt at focusing on one element of the landscape, rather than trying to capture it all. (Remember the "ah go on" post?).

My sketch on the day was trying to do too much -every colour was vibrant, every shape was important. But hey, it was done on the side of the road, with sheep and passersby showing an interest in what I was painting. And it retains something of what I felt at that moment

Rule number 1: always do a thumbnail sketch, so here we go. Oh, hold on, actually, what I did there was focus on different elements as if I was using a view finder. Mixing my metaphors. Never mind. It's a start










So, the first one I decided to paint was the sheep close-up:

I had sketched the sheep on the day, which I think helped me get a feel for what a sheep shape is like. Oooh I love that sound "sheep shape, sheep shape, sheep shape".

And here is how it turned out. I did move a few boulders and mountains, and yes, the sheep will need a second leg somewhere, but I'm not trying to achieve framable quality here, just to explore different approaches and techniques. And the painting reflects my memory of that happy day, the summer light, the pure blue sky, the heat, and that start-of-the-holidays feeling.

Here he is now with his second leg (colours a little bit too bright - reality is something in between)