I managed to catch this scene at Castlethorpe, just a few miles up the road from home in Stony Stratford. The sheep were very obliging and created nice shapes with the light coming from an angle behind. It was the field of buttercups that really grabbed my attention though. The yellow was so intense and I had to calm it down a bit. I still wonder if I could have taken it down a notch or two but it’s quite nice to have a punchier colour statement for a change. I don’t normally go for subjects with really wild colours but spring yellows are very uplifting. I made the most of the ‘L’ shape formed by the tree shadow and tried to place the sheep so they didn’t look too arranged. It was nice to see them lounging around in the shade and this provided a variety of poses to make use of (I didn’t want them all munching the grass!)

 

Painted a few weeks back, I was on the hunt for capturing a small slice of the essence of (late) Spring. Despite the tranquillity depicted, I was actually backed up to a busy road and the air was full of heavy bass from a music concert somewhere in Milton Keynes!

 

‘Buttercup meadow, Castlethorpe‘, 10x14in – oil on board
Another rural scene, this time by a canal at Braunston. I was lucky to find this barge parked up with some nice shadows across the footpath. Just an hour or so on this one before the light had changed and the boats had started to move.
‘Barge at Braunston’, 8x10in – oil on board