Our Xmas Day walk… in pictures!
It’s Christmas once again and we set off for our early morning walk!
Starting out we were greeted with the sun catching the side of Bernithan Court which is on the opposite hill from us. A lovely building which we have seen in all weathers especially when the snows come and settle on it!
Today was not so bright as it was last year and also it was darned chilly. We set off down the lane and across a field which was well soggy after all the rain we had been having.
This is the track that runs through the fields to the cottage at ‘Way Go Through’. It really is well out of the way but with all the trees that surround it makes it rather dark, but a lovely setting all the same.
The footpath has been diverted around to the left of this sketch and the field you see usually has a donkey in it.
Once through the gate into the next field there is this view of this lovely old tree and gate which I painted up in Gouache for the Artist magazine. The early morning sun had just come up and was shining through the hedgerow lighting it up and contrasting nicely with the frosty colours in the foreground. This was one of the paintings I did from last years Xmas walk and have got a different view of this same subject from this years walk so I may have a go at that as well.
At the foot of this field we enter the grounds of Langstone Court which offers so many different painting subjects as the group that joined me this year will testify to!
The Garron Brook was in full spate although not as high as it had obviously been as there was obvious evidence of where it had burst its banks earlier. You can still see the flooded field beyond.
This is the small kissing gate that leads from the Court out onto the lane . I have painted this gate from a different viewpoint with Acrylics onto a canvas panel. I have used that image for the header of my new website which will be up and running very soon (a bit of subliminal advertising there!)
On and up the lane with the small collection of stone buildings that surround the Court and have been turned into private dwellings. The Court buildings are off to the left.
This is the lane that leads from Langstone up into Llangarron and again it is from last years walk. A simple subject but one which grabbed me with the strong light coming across the fields and the pools of water on the lane.
Last year we went all the way round and finished coming uphill along Ruxton Lane which is where this sketch was from. This was painted this year from a photo I took when we walked across the fields. You can see the flooded Garron Brook down in the valley.
This is the main Lane leading out of Llangarron which was the route we took this year . This is a tonal sketch I did for an article in the Artist last year using my super Fude Nib Pen.
And that Folks is about it! I thoroughly enjoyed doing these really quick sketches using my Pen and some basic watercolours and took my mind off all this Covid mayhem.
The Fude Nib Sketching Pen.
For those of you into painting mode I would recommend you invest in one of these delightful pens as they really are top notch! A special thanks to Matthew who introduced me to these pens on an overseas painting holiday. He let me try his out and I was hooked.
They range from around £10 and upwards, I spent £20 on mine from Amazon after reading good reviews and was certainly not disappointed. The bent nib is unique as you can draw really fine lines with the side of the nib then flatten it to give you some lovely thick lines all from one nib... simples!
It is a fountain pen and you fill it as you would a fountain pen by inserting the nib into the ink and filling the reservoir . One of the main foibles with any of these sketching pens, and I referring back to the days of the famous Rotring Sketching pen , when you were forever having to clean them before use as the Indian ink would go solid on you... EVERY single time!
Not so with this wonderful ink ! It ain’t cheap but I have had my pen filled with this ink and have left it MONTHS without use and I can get straight into sketching with no cleaning beforehand. When dry its also waterproof which is a real plus but whilst its still wet you can dilute it and produce some lovely tonal areas.
And that really is it!!
Just to say Happy New Year and hope its a darned sight better than this one!