Pendle Hill Commission Paint on canvas stage 1 and a final drawing.

Pendle End from Meadows Farm Little Mearley Hall 50x50cm oil on canvas
Stage 1 underpainting Rob Miller Fine Art 
For me this is a good aspect for a painting of Pendle. When I think of Pendle I think of the long walks I took alone from Blackburn to Pendles summit then back along the track that skirts the hillside towards Wiswell and finally the bus stop at Whalley. Fond memories of many curlews, Peewits and Skylarks calling from wild flower meadows. The view has all that Pendle offers, early morning mist or haze clearing of the Big End, a nice wooded copse, strip fields, Hawthorne and sheep. Painted using W&N Titanium white, Ultramarine Blue and Raw Umber. .


Pendle End from Meadows Farm  Little Mearley Hall drawing with
watercolour wash 
Second drawing and wash At the end of the first stage the client liked both watercolours equally but couldn't decide on image 1 or 6.  I made a second exploration. I moved my easel ENE from the A59 Clitheroe bypass by about half a mile. If you look on the OS map there's a path that strikes off from the bypass towards Pendles Big End its a short walk  over a few fields to a place between Meadows Farm and Fields Barn both near the ancient and delightful  Little Mearley Hall. The meadows here are still long ancient strips that slope slightly down with old Hawthorne hedgerows and sheep. Beyond this space the flanks of Downham Moor and Pendle rise steeply. From here you can make out some of the path up Hook Cliff to the top of Downham Moor as well as the steep Burst Clough which falls swiftly down to Moorside and Angram Green Farms. The fields give the painting depth and flatness which emphasises the steepness of the slopes beyond, the copse of ancient beech add a focal point. The quirky changes in Pendles slope can be clearly seen from here.

I think at 50x50cm this will make a good strong and familiar image of Pendle, sheep hedgerows and moors.  All you will need to do is make a coffee and  play the wild call  of the curlew or the skylark to take you there.

Comments

Popular Posts