As followers of my posts will know, I take every opportunity I can to draw and paint, and a recent family wedding took me to West Norfolk where I was immersed in the countryside for a few days and inspired by the different light and landscapes.
In the fields next to the place we were staying I saw some Highland cattle and immediately wanted to get outside to draw them; they are such a gorgeous colour with their ruddy glow. You can see the sketches I made in the image below, together with a new piece, oil on canvas, which I started as soon as I got home; I wanted to capture the marsh light while it was still in my mind. I start with block colours and over the next few weeks will be adding layers and detail. In my next post i hope to be able to show you the finished work!
While exploring the wild meadows I also found this beautiful and rare bee orchid and started to draw it. Unfortunately a little boy grabbed and picked the orchid which was very upsetting; children should be taught to value and appreciate wild flowers and herbs, not destroy them.
While travel undoubtedly gives you new subject matter, it also can force you to be creative about your materials; these next two sketches were done early in the morning with conte sepia pencil. I didn’t have access to my paints, and I wanted to capture things before they changed, so I improvised with a tea bag and I must say I’m rather pleased with how they’ve come out!
Improvising with leftover paints also opens up new possibilities, as shown in these prints I’ve recently made of Breckland landscapes.
It was so wonderful to be outside in West Norfolk and it reminded me of how much I enjoy outside sittings, so I have also recently started this new oil painting of my conservatory. The perspective is from outside, looking in, which is unusual for me as many of my pieces are the opposite; from inside, looking out.
You will see, resting on the floor, is a self-portrait which I did a few years ago after I had broken my nose and was sporting two black eyes. At the time I just did initial brush strokes of the main features, but I didn’t finish it. When I came back to it I was unhappy with the work and decided to cover it in cadmium red, with the intention of reusing the canvas. But serendipitously, the red has worked rather well and I am now happy with how it looks. I like to think I was ahead of things here, as the recent portrait of King Charles III by Jonathan Yeo – while much better – is on a similar theme!
Diana Lamb 