Cattle by Sherborne Brook

Oil on Board, 10 x 22 inches

I decided on a panoramic shape for this painting, focusing in on the expanse of trees and cattle by the Sherborne Brook in the Cotswolds.  The composition is a < shape, formed by the sloping far bank and field, and the foreground meadow following the river direction.  The composition would have been a little less appealing had the line of cattle not been there, but they help push the eye back and stop it flying straight out of the picture.

I'm always struggling with not putting too much detail in my paintings and here, if you click on the picture to enlarge it, I've tried to describe the cattle with minimum fuss, with just a few blobs of light and dark shapes.  

The painting is very green, but I had to observe the rich tapestry of subtle shades, especially in the two big Oaks dominating the far bank.  The left one was a more yellow ochrey colour compared to its close neighbour which had a more bluish-green hue.  It's painting what you see, ie., the subtle shifts of colour, albeit close-toned, that present in front of you that make a painting convincing, whether you paint loosely or in a more tight manner like me.