Evening Walk Gills Lap, Ashdown Forest

It seemed almost a criminal offence not to take advantage of the stunning late September sun that has been warming most parts of the UK with summer-like temperatures. With most of the heather gone on Ashdown, and the bracken starting to turn into many different hues of sienna and umber, I took a quick walk along Gill's Lap, frequented many years earlier by Winnie the Pooh and his friends. I didn't set out to make any significant photos and only had a small Canon compact to hand, but the warmth of the evening sun and the early autumn colours almost made it impossible to take a poor picture.

An Imaginary Sketch

This quick watercolour was painted from the imagination and is of nowhere in particular. It is an interesting exercise to create a scene in the mind and then try to get it down on paper. It certainly helps you to build a creative mind-set, which you can then use to approach real life subjects and give your paintings a little something extra. Knowing where to stop is important though - this scene for example may have lacked a sense of realism had I decided to include a Boeing 737 parked up in the estuary in place of the two boats! I guess this comment will not impress the surrealists among you.

The Old Water Mill

This delightful old water mill sits in the grounds of my parents-in-law's property in France. Their house is a conversion of three small cottages, once used by the mill's workers, into one. The mill itself sits just below a weir in the river, La Blourde, which runs along the foot of the property. I painted this a couple of years back and was very pleased with the result - the shapes of the winter trees reflecting in the pond make for a strong composition.

Ashdown Forest, Spring 2011

Heading back to the car to take advantage of some tea and cakes at the little cafe in Wych Cross!

Nutley windmill.

Lengthening shadows, taken from inside Camp Hill Clump, looking toward King's Standing.

Winter Trees

These shots were taken on a drive to Tunbridge Wells when I couldn't help noticing that the winter sun seemed to be unusually strong, just 15 minutes before it set. I can't quite make my mind up with the middle picture - I'm not sure the sign post contributes anything to the picture. I think there may be a better composition, but I loved the highlights and shadows on the large oak giving it a wonderful 3D quality.

The third picture shows a curious area of land where there has been extensive clearance of rhododendrons in order to promote a more stable ecosystem. I liked the combination of the straight, white birch trunks and the dark, random shapes of the ash trees.

Olly