a few more captured moments of sunlight in ancient churches, digital photos that will hopefully be a springboard for more mixed-media imagery for my proposed series ‘elusive light’.
'elusive light series', digital photo, © Mari French 2010
'elusive light series', digital photo, © Mari French 2010
'elusive light series', digital photo, © Mari French 2010
'elusive light series', digital photo, © Mari French 2010'elusive light series', digital photo, © Mari French 2010
A few recent (rough) on-the-spot sketches from my second winter in Harpley, Norfolk. From snow to thaw… I love the way the snow is held in the furrows, and the etched patterns left by the tractors. The soil in these parts is a reddish-brown in most places.
It was usually so cold I’d have to sketch inside the car (with the window open to help retain the atmosphere and keep the colours true – car windows tend to have a colour caste). The ‘Harpley old mill’ sketch though was done from memory shortly after returning home from a walk in the snow, and is of the disused windmill (no longer with sails) on the hill above the village.
Though I use acrylics/mixed media in the studio, I love working with watercolours wet-in-wet for my outdoor sketches (often coupled with a water-soluble pencil or drafting pen). It’s more immediate and I get very excited by the unpredictable results of the colours bleeding into one another causing ‘blooms’ and ‘backruns’, which can be used to represent trees or hedges or clouds.
A good colour mix for winter skies like these is burnt sienna or raw umber plus french ultramarine. I usually try to note down weather conditions or colours or other things from the scene that will help jog my memory back in the studio. I often see wildlife at close quarters on these sketching trips – hares, pheasants, stoat, barn owls – perhaps because I’m sitting so still and quiet, usually on peaceful rural roads.
(By the way, if you click on the pictures, you’ll get a larger image to view.)
Hedge in winter, misty day, acrylic ink/watercolour © Mari French 2010
From my sketchbook - winter, Harpley. © Mari French
undercroft series, mixed-media on paper, © Mari French 2010
Imagery from a series I’m working on which was first inspired by a visit this summer to the ancient ruins of the guildhall in Blakeney, north Norfolk. The undercroft of this building is largely intact and what caught my attention was the play of light from the bright sunlit entrance on the walls and among the pillars in the darkness of the place.
My digital camera picks up available light pretty well but because of the low light and camera shake, resulted in some interesting effects. I don’t normally use photographs in my artwork but love the painterly quality of the images so in this case I’m making an exception, and they are going to be part of the artwork series.
undercroft series, mixed media on panel © Mari French 2010
undercroft series, digital photograph © Mari French 2010
Mari French RI : contemporary artworks 