Work in Progress IV

By Loch Garten

Another image from my visit to the Cairngorms earlier this year. The day was overcast so the challenge here is to create a colour palette that reflects the soft and subtle hues of the forest without creating a dull painting.

This is the initial coloured pencil sketch done while sitting on the shores of the loch. At first glance the tree trunks appear uniformly grey. In reality though they contain hints of pink, green and soft purple, reflecting the heather on the forest floor.

From sketch to canvas

Creating depth

This painting has changed substantially since I last posted. A combination of pre-Christmas rushing about and technology melt down has meant that I haven’t kept track of progress quite so thoroughly as usual. The piece is taking shape though and starting to resemble the image in my mind’s eye. I have used varying mixes of Payne’s Grey and Cadmium yellow for the greens, and Ultramarine and Purple Madder for the greys, blues and pinks. I’ve almost finished with the background and have started to think about how I will handle the heathers and grasses on the floor of the forest. This has been an enjoyable painting to work on: the forest theme is very calming so I plan to create a third in the series before leaving Cairngorm.

The finished piece

The completed work and my final painting of the decade. I am reasonably pleased with how it has turned though in truth l’m rarely ever satisfied: I always think I can do better. I’ll come back to this theme in 2020, but for now l’m planning a series of watercolours, the subject of which is closer to home. Watch this space.