In search of a new landscape subject I packed my drawing bag and set off on the hike to Hardwick Hall.
The walk, across the busy A617 and through Rowthorne, took a surprisingly brief 50 odd minutes to the park gate. Add another ten for the uphill stretch between there and the hall itself, all of it pleasantly landscaped grassland lined with trees. A better man could tell you what kind, but I'm going to go with Horse Chestnut, based on the stopped clock principle.
(A stopped clock is right twice a day. If I confidently state that every tree I'm asked to identify is a Horse Chestnut, occasionally I'll be right. Similarly, every strange plant is declared to be Scarlet Campion.)
I didn't go into the hall or gardens, partly because I've seen both many times, mainly because it costs about a million pounds these days. Actually, they're both worth a look, and the gardens will only set you back a fiver. The park, sizeable and spacious, is most of what I came for anyway. It offers many opportunities to the astute landscape painter; a variety of land and trees, intimate corners and handsome vistas. I was on the look out for my favourite longhorn cattle too. Skittish and slightly alarming, they add a welcome hint of danger and generally look decorative. Sadly, I never saw a single one today, which was a disappointment. Perhaps they were having their hooves done.
The walk, across the busy A617 and through Rowthorne, took a surprisingly brief 50 odd minutes to the park gate. Add another ten for the uphill stretch between there and the hall itself, all of it pleasantly landscaped grassland lined with trees. A better man could tell you what kind, but I'm going to go with Horse Chestnut, based on the stopped clock principle.
(A stopped clock is right twice a day. If I confidently state that every tree I'm asked to identify is a Horse Chestnut, occasionally I'll be right. Similarly, every strange plant is declared to be Scarlet Campion.)
I didn't go into the hall or gardens, partly because I've seen both many times, mainly because it costs about a million pounds these days. Actually, they're both worth a look, and the gardens will only set you back a fiver. The park, sizeable and spacious, is most of what I came for anyway. It offers many opportunities to the astute landscape painter; a variety of land and trees, intimate corners and handsome vistas. I was on the look out for my favourite longhorn cattle too. Skittish and slightly alarming, they add a welcome hint of danger and generally look decorative. Sadly, I never saw a single one today, which was a disappointment. Perhaps they were having their hooves done.
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| Hardwick Hall |
I spent a while exploring and taking reference shots before I settled to drawing a piece of park land, starting in pencil and finishing in water colour. After that I walked home, this time taking the Rowthorne trail, a former railway spur that serviced the local collieries.
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| Hardwick park |
It's a good thing to get out of the rut you're in, even before you think you need to. I've been painting and drawing the same stretch of local landscape for a while now, and it's time for a change. On the painting front, I've had a good long look at the stuff I've done since I started up again in March, and it's going well. I've picked four of the dozen or so small paintings I've done in that time and declared them halfway good. At any rate, they're going into the pile I'll be sending pictures of to galleries when I'm ready.
