Haystacks from Buttermere

Oil on Canvas, 19.5 x 27.5 inches

I'm doing a few bigger paintings now for my exhibition in Devon, and here's one from the Lakes, with an iconic view of Haystacks, that lovely ridge of peaks so loved by A.W.Wainwright, the great fell walker and chronicler.  I took three more photos of the stages for your interest...is there anybody out there? 

 

First stage: I scrubbed in the composition with approximate tones, using thinned Alkyd Oil paint (with White Spirit). No Titanium White was added at this early stage, so the paint dries quickly.

 

Stage Two: Now I worked the mountain backdrop and the sky together, using standard oil mixed with Alkyds.

Stage Three: Continuing down the picture, I worked up the stand of Pines and the banks and trees on the left, giving more definition, then quickly painted in the water - always the quickest part of any painting - still water that is.  Then in the final stage (top), I continued to sharpen up all over and painted in the foreground Gorse bushes and grasses and when the water was just dry enough (water - dry, ha ha!), I pulled in a drybrush of light colour across it with a big hog brush to simulate wind disturbance, which helps to break up the water and not let it look too mirror-like and twee.