Toby and more plein air

Another pet portrait I did as a gift for a friend's 50th last week.  I can finally post it now that she has received it, I really enjoyed painting him, it just seemed to come together nicely

Toby
© Sharon Whitley

And yes I've been out doing more plein air bits and pieces - I'm rarely happy with the result but enjoying the process! Here I am on Tuesday night at the summit of Moel Famau doing a very quick sketch because it was freezing of the Jubilee Tower

the resulting small watercolour  5.5 x 3.5"

and last night it was much calmer and warmer and I did a couple of small watercolours from this view point

 this is one of them, of the fence that lines the path up there

I'm painting in the comfort of the art room at home tonight, or I might just nip into the garden!  Til next time fellow bloggers..................

More Plein Air

It's funny isn't it - when you find that you really enjoy doing something that you didn't think was your cup of tea?  Well, I've found this with plein air painting.  I've been toying with the idea for a while but really didn't think I'd take to it, being so used to painting in the comfort of my home and when I am outdoors I'm used to walking, not sitting!  Yet I've found I've really quite enjoyed it - I've only done a handful of plein air sketches and the results haven't been great, but it's the enjoyment of sitting there with a live subject in front of you and being out in the open.  I did a couple on Friday for Maggie Latham's small works challenge.  The challenge is to paint some postcard sized watercolours en plein air.  I've got some watercolour paper scraps from Ken Bromley's Art Supplies - they have a box that you can help yourself from and I took a handful when I was there (link to post) so they came in very handy for this challenge!  We drove to Loggerheads which is an AONB near us - I already knew what I wanted to paint, the bridge over the River Alyn, so I sat myself down on the bench near the bridge, got some water from the river and started to paint.  I use one of those pan sets that W&N do when working plein air, which is a bit alien to me as I normally use tubes and it's weird not knowing what colours you're using as well but I'm getting used to using them.

Here is the first watercolour sketch which took about half an hour.

Bridge at Loggerheads
© Sharon Whitley

and here is me in situ - there were a couple of light showers but the trees helped keep me dry

Then we had a wander through the woods and I sat at the side of the path to paint another watercolour

The finished painting and my favourite of the two

Walk through the woods
© Sharon Whitley

With two small paintings under my belt it was time to visit Caffi Florence for a delicious bowl of homemade soup, then home, a perfect end to a lovely morning.  Poor Gary though was hoping to get some wildlife shots while I was painting as we sometimes see Tree Creepers, and Dippers in this area but no such luck this morning - it's a good job he enjoys watching me paint!

We went out to Loggerheads again on Saturday night and I took my little scraps of watercolour paper with me and had another go, this time the weather was a bit more extreme and the wind was howling making it a bit difficult to keep my pot of water upright and paint straight !!! 

Extreme painting!

Needless to say the results were quite loose - good job that was the feel I was going for then!!!!  I did three small sketches but am only showing you the one I like best as the other two are howlers!  I'm out with the paints again tonight to do a bit more!

Moel Famau
© Sharon Whitley

Til next time bloggers, have a lovely day!

Link to Maggie Latham's Small Works Challenge blog

Walking in the Carneddau

For the last 2 days of our week away we camped in the Ogwen Valley in Snowdonia under the watchful eye of the majestic Tryfan.  I love this place and Tryfan is a favourite of many mountain walkers. The North ridge is a scramble pretty much from bottom to top - I managed to get a quick sketch in using water soluble graphite and a bit of watercolour - all of course while being attacked by those darn midges whose bites I'm still itching now a week later!

Tryfan sketch

We didn't climb Tryfan on this occasion but instead crossed over to the other side of the valley and walked the beautiful Carneddau mountains. It was a glorious day and I wore my shorts -eeek! ... a very rare occurence for me but luckily it was only a few other walkers that had to suffer the sight of my very white, never see the sun, chunky mountain legs!!!

Here is a small selection of the photos that Gary took on the day, we again came across a few of the wild Carneddau ponies which roam this are and which always give me a thrill and got some lovely shots of swallows being fed on the wing.

Tryfan in the early morning sun

A fledgling swallow fed on the wing - one less midgey to worry about!!
(thinking of painting this one!)

Tryfan and Llyn Ogwen

The beautiful Ffynnon Lloer (Source of the Moon)

A nice little scramble up the East ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen 

Carneddau pony

Ffynnon Llugwy below Pen yr Helgi Du (Hill of the Black Hound)

This beautiful wild pony appeared from over the hill, a lovely sight to see and followed by many more looking for water on a hot afternoon

It was a beautiful walk though the soles of my feet were hurting a bit towards the end - which they never used to on big walks - think it may be time for new boots!!!

That's enough of my rambles for today, hope you enjoyed the photos - I'm very lucky to have a walking partner who doubles as an excellent photographer!  To see more of Gary's photos from our trip you can check out his blog site here.

As always your comments are most welcome - I love to read them and I've switched off the word verification - I know it's a pain!

The Welsh Matterhorn

Cnicht - the Matterhorn of Wales!

Hello fellow bloggers!.... just a quickie today, this is a watercolour sketch I did last week as we were passing through Dwyfor in Snowdonia.  This is a mountain called Cnicht which comes from the word Knight in English (the silent K used to be pronounced in olden times apparently).  I just love how it looks from this angle - it is also known as the Welsh Matterhorn because of its appearance when viewed from the south-west but is actually the end of a long ridge.  It's part of the Moelwynion range of mountains in Snowdonia.  We'd been admiring the view from the car while driving from Harlech and decided to stop so that I could do a quick watercolour sketch - first time I've sat at the side of the road painting something but it was great fun especially in such beautiful surroundings on a gorgeously sunny day.....

Portmeirion

Following on from yesterday's post -  after Sunday's strenuous walk around the Snowdon Horseshoe and climbing Moel Hebog (Hill of the Hawk) and Moel Ogof (Hill of the Cave) on Monday, when it came to Tuesday we decided on a 'chill out' day and visited the beautiful little village of Portmeirion.  This is a place I've wanted to visit for some time but even more so since seeing Rob Piercy's watercolours inspired by his love for the place.  Portmeirion is a tourist village built between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian coastal town.  It's a wonderful little place and we were blessed with glorious sunshine the day we visited which made the colours of the buildings and gardens all the more vibrant.  I took my little watercolour sketch pad with me, a paintbrush and a palette of watercolours, got some water from the pond in the gardens and sat sketching for an hour in the sunshine.....

Watercolour sketch of the Dome Gallery, Portmeirion

Gary took some great photos of this gorgeous place with loads of juicy colours for me to use in future paintings......

Click here for a link to Rob Piercy's Portmeirion collection which I saw exhibited at his gallery in Porthmadog earlier in the day - they are superb!  Oh to be able to paint like that!

Oh and to finish off here are a couple of photos from Monday's walk

Making my way up Moel Hebog - Hill of the hawk, not that we saw any!

The beautiful little village of Beddgelert

Thank you for taking the time to read my rambles, as always I would love to read any comments you have, enjoy your day!

Back from Snowdonia

The old mountain legs certainly got a workout over the week - we got lots of walking done, saw and photographed beautiful scenery, mountain goats and wild ponies....and my wish for a few rain free days came true yay!!!.. I also finally got to visit the Rob Piercy Gallery in Porthmadog, one of my favourite artists (take a peek at his website here)...so just had to treat myself to a signed copy of his latest book showcasing his Portmeirion work.  We also visited the gorgeous, colourful village of Portmeirion, a place I'd heard about but never seen before.  So over the week I've gained lots of inspiration for future paintings which I will share with you over the next few days .......  and I managed to fit in a bit of plein air painting as well, something I've not really done before.  This is one of them - a watercolour sketch of a mountain called Yr Aran which we could see from the campsite we stayed at, painted whilst being attacked by midges!

Yr Aran painted from Cae Du campsite, near Beddgelert
by Sharon Whitley the Rambling Artist

As promised in my last post the week started on Sunday with one of the best mountain walks Wales has to offer, Crib Goch and the Snowdon Horseshoe which we did with a group of friends, some of whom had not done this walk before.  It was exhilerating - and a bit scary at times on that knife edge ridge!!  Here is a small selection of photos I've 'pinched' from friends as I forgot my camera!

Richard Ratcliffe who joined us for the walk writes a superb account of our day on his website here.

Scrambling up the ridge
photo by Gary

Look no hands! on Crib Goch ridge
photo by Jane

Crib Goch
photo courtesy of John Worral

The beautiful Llyn Llydaw from Bwlch y Saethau
 photo by Gary

Gary and I on Bwlch y Saethau looking back towards Crib Goch
photo by John

Mountain goats on Y Lliwedd - a potential painting perhaps...
photo by Gary

Looking back towards Y Lliwedd
photo by Gary

Our group at the end of the Snowdon Horseshoe with Y Lliwedd in the background
photo by Jane

Thank you for taking the time to read about my ramblings.  I am now home nursing midge bites and sunburned legs - but it was all worth it!

Moel Famau sunset

Holly my black labrador
by Sharon Whitley the Rambling Artist

After the soaking we got on Saturday in the Lake District it's been quite a treat to have a couple of nice sunny days - yesterday I even grabbed a chair got out into the garden and did a bit of plein air painting - for someone who always paints from photos it felt a bit different - but it was great fun and will definitely do some more in the privacy of my own garden - not sure if I like the thought of doing it in public with people looking over my shoulder (shudder) - I've recently moved into a bungalow where there are lupins and roses in the garden (wonder how long they'll last as I'm not particularly green fingered!) and I enjoyed having a little dabble at recreating them on the paper in front of me - straight in with the paint - another thing a bit alien to me as I'm used to having the comfort of a pre drawing.  Unfortunately my camera has suddenly decided to stop working so I can't post a picture!

It's been another lovely day today but work meant I couldn't get out for a walk until this evening - and what a gorgeous evening it was watching the sun go down into the Irish sea. The following photos were taken by Gary Jones who is a wildlife photographer.... for some amazing wildlife and landscape photos you can visit his blogpage here.

Moel Famau with the Jubilee Tower

Sunset

Sunset over the Irish Sea

Moel Famau is such a special place for me, I'm so lucky to be able to just pop in the car and drive the 6 miles there and I do so at every opportunity.  Holly my black labrador loves it up there.  The painting I've posted today is one I did of Holly a few months ago,  you will recognise it from the masthead.  I was pretty pleased with this painting as I think I've captured Holly's expression and personality, something I try to achieve with all my animal paintings whether they are pets or wildlife.  I also like the colours - I'd been putting off painting her as I'd never painted a black animal before and didn't want to use black but to mix my own - using alizarin crimson, indigo and yellow ochre.

Photo of Holly taken by Gary last night with the glow of the sun on her fur