Lane near Midland Uchaf Letterston

The painting above is of the lane near where we stayed in Letterston last week. To be truthful there weren’t that many subjects to paint within walking distance other than trees. There was the source of the Western Cleddau but it was in a wet dank area with little light. I didn’t fancy carrying my materials too far in the cold weather.




One of my watercolour favourite artists is John Sell Cotman. He painted very simply but rarely on sight. He would sketch and then undertake the painting at home or wherever he was staying. He was a very accurate draughtsman something which is easy to evaluate when comparing his paintings with subjects still in existence. His technique changes after an initially dirty/muddy style to one of transparent flat washes with crisp edges. These are the paintings I admire. He rarely if ever uses wet into wet technique.



For my own part I tend to start with a wet into wet technique and gradually use more washes onto dry paper. Today we had a good walk around the Llansteffan and Wharley Point. I did a quick watercolour of Lord Park Farm with the Castle in the background when I got home.