Winter Towy Valley

Here is the painting of Towy Valley in Winter I was painting last week.

This morning we had to be away early so I was out with the dog at 5.30am. The stars were still out and the moon was bright in the sky. The dawn chorus was wonderful. I was interested to remind myself of the effect of the moon on still water. Walking around the reservoir gave me that opportunity. Reflections are fascinating and don't always conform to a formula. Some things are a constant but the values of reflected subjects don't always change as you would expect. Darker values can generally be reflected slightly lighter and vice versa but not always. Shapes will always be mirrored in the same vertical plane.

I was asked yesterday for advice on painting detail in still life. The way I paint patterns etc is by getting the larger parts represented accurately and giving the impression of the smaller detail. I don't paint the smaller detail but overall it gives that impression. Easy to say not necessary easy to do.