A day in the life of ....... Richard Pikesley NEAC RWS
After too many days
spent doing paperwork and delivering paintings I can now have a solid spell of
painting. Of course, it’s
raining. There seems to be an
inevitability behind the way the best weather’s always on days when I can’t get
out. Flexibility is the most
precious thing and being able to work
Spent a few hours
painting on a bend on the River Yarty.
It’s a little river which winds and meanders down to flow into the River
Axe just above its estuary. I’m making
a series of paintings of these bends.
I’m intrigued by the way this tiny river can fill my vision across a
really wide angle of view and there’s just something about light on water. The way the ripples reflect sky but let
you see through into the water,
and the colour of the water over pebbles, like tea after rainy days make
an intoxicating subject, but very difficult. After painting through the morning, my concentration’s shot
so it’s back to the Land Rover and a short drive to the main river where a
short spell with a fly rod trying to winkle out some of our little wild
trout. An hour, and a couple of
fish later, and there are cattle lining the banks and my viewpoint low down in
the river. I can’t resist trying
to paint what I’m seeing and I have my little watercolour kit with me, so
perched on a tiny pebble island in mid stream I give it a go. Can’t get much down before they wander
off but I’ve established the germ of an idea and it’s reminded me of similar
previous encounters
My sheep are being
shorn as soon as we get a couple of rainless days to dry out their
fleeces. They look wonderful just
now and I want to make some drawings of them tomorrow. This will involve following them around
the field as they graze so if it’s not too damp I’ll try to make some
watercolours. Everything I need is
in a little canvas bag which I keep ready for use; a tiny box of half pans,
three brushes and a little bottle of water. Paper cut to size in an old cigar
box whose lid doubles up as a drawing board and a bulldog clip to stop it all
blowing away. They’ve got huge
fleeces so they’ll look very different next week when it all comes off.
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