March Shimmer

Oil on Board, 10 x 14 inches

Back in the saddle painting again, and it's great to have a brush in my hand once more. I actually painted this one as a demonstration piece for the Tamworth Art Group a couple of weeks ago, finishing it off in the studio yesterday.

The bridge is over the River Welland at Duddington in Rutland, a stretch of river that owes me nothing, having painted it in all weathers, moods and seasons. 

I deliberately toned down the sky a little in order to reserve the pure Titanium White sparkles on the water. The back end of Winter/early Spring everything looks a little tired just before the growth of new shoots appears, but there is a surprising amount of colour still, with the gorgeous blues of distant trees and the warm accents of last year's dead reeds. The key is to observe the progessively lighter and bluer tones of trees as they recede into the distance - getting those tones right will give your own painting depth too.