Thursday 16 September 2021

A cold misty day....

 ......not the sort of day for standing outside painting.  That's what I was faced with yesterday at Arlington Court.  My intention was to paint a plein air study of a hydrangea - they have some lovely shrubs over there, so before the flowers went over too much, I wanted to capture at least one of them.   

A good idea in theory, but it was cold and misty when I arrived yesterday - life of a painter!  Thankfully the staff at Arlington are really helpful, they agreed for me to paint in their Exhibition area (currently the bookshop, where I painted the other week).  But first, I needed some reference photos, so off I set with my camera...



As you see, some of the flowers were going over, but even so, there was something very nice about them too.  In amongst all the blues, there was one pink flower...


did you spot the spider!


As tempting as it was to paint the pink version, (and that would have been minus the spider),

I opted for blue

and went with this photo for reference - thought it had a nice shape



My easel set-up


work-in-progress stage


At this point I left it.  This oil painting needs to dry, otherwise I would be moving paint around too much.

It also gives me the chance to set it aside, and come back to it when it is dry.

I will then work on it again, to hopefully complete.


~ Will update you on this in a week or so ~







4 comments:

Eileen H said...

They are beautiful flowers and your painting will be stunning when you've completed it. The weather is so unpredictable right now, good that you could take photos and paint indoors.

ann @ studiohyde said...

Thanks Eileen.....it would have been lovely to have painted outdoors, but this was a great alternative. In fact, I may be painting indoors at Arlington next year - they have recently completed a newly built Visitor Reception building, and want me to have a section of it with my paintings/and me painting there, probably once a week. Quite looking forward to something new and different over there. That won't replace my plein air painting though, I still love that as it is so much better to do a painting in situ.

robin cox walsh said...

Too bad you couldn't have painted it 'in situ'.....but you nailed it! Simply lovely! (Did you know.....you can get hydrangeas to change color by changing what fertilizer you use? Neither did I....lol.)

ann @ studiohyde said...

Thanks Robin......after I set up my easel indoors, about an hour or so later it did clear and the sun came out, typical, lol. (It was still a bit chilly in the shade though, so I think it was a good call to have been indoors).
- I guess that would work with the hydrangeas, thinking about it, adding something to the soil. I try to remember it's acidic soil for the blues and alkeline for the pinks. I'm no gardener though, most things we plant get a 50/50 chance. 🤣