I ventured to Nature In Art to see artist in residence Claudia Hahn who is an amazing animal painter. She uses all sorts of medium alongside gold leaf and bronze pigments and travelled in India on an elephant to capture pictures of tigers for reference. I can usually resist a purchase but this time I could not walk away without taking home the print below of “Grumpy Old man”. See this Tiger print below (still in cellophane hence the highlights!). Find out more about Claudia here.
A sheep from the Trossach’s which does not actually belong to Penny but does wander around her garden and Cottage Holiday Let as it is open to the farmer’s field.
Having mainly focused on birds this year with my painting I fancied engaging more directly with my subject matter by trying out some bird watching.
Symonds Yat in Gloucestershire is known to have a successful breeding pair of Peregrine falcons.
The first reward for me was not seeing a Peregrine but instead two Nuthatches up close and snapping some half decent photos.
Luckily for me some time later I happened to have in sight the take-off point from which one of the Peregrine Falcons took to the wing and soared out across the Wye Valley below us. There was a nice atmosphere between the regular birdwatchers who enthusiastically share information. It was nice to get there early before the throng of tourists and walkers poured in nearer to lunchtime, and needless to say that is when I snuck away.
Peregrine photo below is courtesy of Pixabay images.
When it has made it to the bin? Hopefully not.
I have ready many tips on this and this one sums it up in a great way for me.
Artist Bryan Evans states in The Artist that
“…a painting is finished when it’s not as good as it just was, and is unlikely to get any better.”
Easy to say;, but hard to (cockadoodle) do!
Diane Young Artist 