Here I am again harping on about the advantages of sketching in front of your subject over taking a photograph.
Well I make no apologies, these two images illustrate the point perfectly. In the photograph the intense light has reduced the headlands and rocks on the beach to silhouettes. The photograph was taken with a small digital camera and unless you are very familiar with all the functions of your camera this is the most likely result you will get.
Sketch Marloes Beach
Luckily I had time to sit and sketch the scene as well as take the photograph and as you can see the eye can discern much more detail than a camera. I moved the rocks around a little to lead the eye along the shoreline and sketched the figures on the side of the sketch so that I could place them in the most advantageous position in the resulting painting.
Pembrokeshire is my favourite area of the UK for sketching. There is so much variety of unspoilt coastal and rural scenery that there is always something exciting to sketch whatever the season or the weather. One of our most popular courses takes place in St David’s at the Warpool Court Hotel overlooking St Non’s Bay. The good news is that due to the economic climate we have negotiated a considerable reduction in the price of the course this year. You can find details here. Do come and join us, you can paint in watercolour or pastel as both David and I will be tutoring this course.
If you travel down to St David’s and explore the countryside below Carn Llidi you will find this lovely old farm called Treleddyd Fawr. However you cannot see it the way I have painted it. I have used a lot of artistic licence with this one.
I like to paint buildings so that they are part of the landscape rather than dominating it and this view of the building is mostly obscured from this distance. To see the view like this I would have had to cut down a mass of overgrown hedgerows, several small trees and demolish a stone wall. I would also have had to hover about 100 feet up in the air to get the crag in this position.
I sketched the building from several angles from close quarters and the roof and chimneys from a 100 yards back (this being all I could see from that distance). I then drew a lot of thumbnail sketches to work out the positions, angles and perspective until I was happy with the composition.
Making the landscape suit your ideas is what makes painting so exciting, so don’t be reluctant to change things to how you would like them to be.
This painting is from my new book Painting with Pastels, signed copies are available from the website with a DVD of the same name is also available. Save £5 on the book/dvd offer