 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Page 1 | Page 2
Painting outdoors in the Lake District with Keith Fenwick
The six paintings illustrated below are to be shown on Sky TV - Painting and Drawing Channel 167
You will be able to see every brush stroke in this series to be called the 'New Art Doctor' following on from my successful series the 'Art Doctor' shown some time ago.
When painting in the open air all your senses come into play, hearing, smell, sight and touch. They all play an important role in the painting experience and should be enjoyed to the full whilst creating your work of art. Select your area and plan your compositions carefully, and in the case of this series, the Lake District, choose a variety of potential compositions and using your viewfinder or simply create a frame with your hands as I do, decide on the best composition at each venue.
The Sketches - Key Considerations
1. Watendlath
- A small hamlet in Borrowdale where Sir Hugh Walpole based his books, "The Herries Chronicles" based on Rogue Herries
colourful character.
The composition is important here as when painting a bridge I position myself so that I can see a little of the underside of
the bridge. This is important to the composition. The distant hillside had to be painted simply as not to dominate the
packhorse bridge that was the focal point. The shape of the river and the positioning of the rocks was another factor
pleasing to the eye. I don't like to paint straight river banks or canals. The lights and darks in a painting are paramount.
Notice the shadows to give depth to the bushes and trees and the shadows in the water to provide contrasts in tone. The
bridge and the stonewalls were created with my "Wonder" knife, a specially shaped palette knife.
2. River Derwent. The river Derwent flows from Langstrath beck and Greenup Gill through Borrowdale into lake Derwentwater. Here I have used artistic licence. I did not want all the landscapes in the new series to be green, so I have painted the river as in Autumn allowing me to show the viewer how to mix a wide range of autumn colours. Notice the snow covered mountains to create contrast with the autumn foliage. One's eye is led into the painting by the river vanishing behind the dark tree on the left. The sky is simple in format as the middle distance and foreground is detailed. This exercise of painting a landscape in a different season is a valuable exercise.
3. Ashness Bridge. A well known beauty spot in Borrowdale. Here I have painted the view from the lower side of the bridge, a view not normally attempted by artists. The reason for including this landscape was to show the viewer how easy the bridge structure and rocks can be created by moving paint with the "Wonder" knife. The background trees provide counterchange with the bridge and the taller trees on the right help to provide balance. To create the bridge and rocks three colours were overlaid - raw sienna first, followed by some burnt sienna and an alizarin crimson/Payne's gray mix for depth. The knife was applied to move paint, just like buttering your toast. This knife has changed my life.
4. Eagle Crag. A view from Stonethwaite in Borrowdale. Below Eagle Crag, Langsrath Beck and Greenup Gill merge creating beautiful waterfalls - a painter's paradise but a bit too far to carry the TV equipment. Eagle Crag dominates this secluded valley and is the focal point in the composition. There's a significant amount of trees covering the mountainside and here only an impression has been given or the painting will look too fussy. The structure of the crag was the main feature with the rest of the mountain painted wet-in-wet with some groups of colour representing foliage, being brushed in. To create an impression of the distant fir trees on the peak of the right hand mountain, I patted the rigger brush against the paper, the shape of the size 3 rigger giving the impression of a ragged edge, representing the fir trees in the distance. Notice the left hand mountain ridge that was painted in light tones to provide contrast with the profile of the crag.
A few sheep in the foreground add life to the painting.
5.Blake Hills Farm
makes a pleasing composition and is typical of a Lakeland farmhouse and stone barns. For variety, rather than paint it as
a green painting, I have chosen to represent it as a snow scene. With the weather over the week being changeable we
began filming on the last day at 7am in a light drizzle. I had just painted the sky when down came a light shower of rain.
This is one of the hazards of painting with watercolours but in this case, the rain droplets have created the effects of snow.
I had to work quickly to finish this painting in 50 minutes, as you can see there is lots of detail. I have altered the shape of
the background ridge a little as it is in reality a virtual straight line. The green doors contributed a splash of colour as did
the red brick chimneys. I have included smoke rising from the chimneys to indicate life and painted in the sheep to add
interest to the foreground.
6. Causey Pike, Derwentwater - painted from Crow Park on a cold windy day. The focal point was the profile of Causey Pike, with the mountain range of Catbells to the left, not shown in this composition. The sky was painted wet-in-wet and darker tones to create the profile of the mountain painted in whilst the underpainting was still wet. Care was taken to paint the range of trees and bushes on the right hand land projecting into the lake. A boat and two watching figures added interest and helped balance the composition. We experienced problems painting this landscape due to the strong wind and the easel had to be protected by using umbrellas. I have never been so cold, I could barely speak as my teeth were chattering so badly.
Hopefully you will be able to see me painting these landscapes in the midst of some inspirational scenery. They are to be shown on Information TV, Channel 181 in the Autumn. I don't know when they will be edited, but contact the channel nearer the date and they should provide more exacting details. Painting landscapes like these in 50 minutes is very tiring. They can only be rough sketches but hopefully you will enjoy watching me paint them for you. There's no substitute for painting outdoors but choose fine weather and unlike me you will be able to relax and take as long as you like.
Happy painting.
There is no cropping in my programmes, as I want you to see every brush stroke.