I've been preparing for a workshop with the Orston art group. Was undecided what to do with these very keen painters with whom I used to work regularly. Finally picked an Autumn Woodland scene that I saw a few years ago in the New Forest, which confusingly is one of the most ancient managed forests in Britain. It is still kept as a managed tract of beautiful natural mixed woodland with wild ponies and other wildlife wandering through it.
I remember this year there had been flooding and there is evidence in the photo of the river having been a torrent with broken trees and debris lying about.
Quite a complex subject, especially for a watercolour flower specialist like me (!), but with lots of interest. I tried to get a sense of distance and depth and a feeling of the light shining through the canopy of leaves from above. The water is tricky and it's easy to overwork, as I think I may have done in this version. Beware!
I have uploaded the different stages of the painting plus the reference photo, mainly for the group to be able to look at and print off if they want to.
(If anybody else wants to have a go at painting this, that's fine with me. But to avoid confusion, it would be good to credit me, Ann Mortimer in the final painting. Thanks! That goes for any step by step in this blog.)
Scroll down to see the demo.