Horwich

Rivington Sunset

Originally uploaded by David Pott

Today has been a showery and warm day with big, dramatic clouds scudding across a very clear blue sky and occasionally dropping heavy showers on the parts of Lancashire beneath them. The clouds themselves are towering pillows of whiteness underlined by dark grey bands that produce the rain. When the rain falls from beneath the clouds they trail dirty veils of water behind them.

With the youngest child in bed, and the rest of the family playing computer games on the Wii, I packed my sketching equipment and headed up towards the high moorland at the back of Horwich, seeking out the dramatic views that I felt would be produced by the weather.

I wasn’t dissappointed. Anvil shaped thunderclouds made slow but majestic progress from Snowdonia, past the Wirral and alond the Sefton and Fylde coasts where they met the setting sun, silhouetted with the outline of Blackpool Tower below.

I came home with two or three quick sketches, countless photos (like the one at above) and a sense of marvel that nature can create so many rich and contrasting hues in a single sunset.

Hopefully I’ll be able to paint several oil paintings from the sketches, small watercolours and photos I took tonight. Sadly I don’t think any of them will match the original version!

Winter Hill Clouds

I’ve been told many times that, on a clear day, you can see the Isle of Man from the top of Winter Hill. I had begun to wonder if that wasn’t just an urban myth, passed from generation to generation of ramblers.

Now along comes www.viewfinderpanoramas.org - a useful site that contains computer generated panoramas  of views from many mountains around the world, with a special bias towards UK panoramas

Here’s the panorama it generated of the view from Winter Hill. And yes, you can theoretically see the Isle of Man in perfect conditions.

If you’ve ever seen the Isle of Man from Winter Hill, will you let me know? Better still if you can send me a photo!

Sometimes, I create a painting that just isn’t quite right. Sometimes I know straightaway why a painting isn’t right, sometimes it takes months before I realise, sometimes I never find out! Here’s a painting that I finished earlier this year but never felt was quite finished:

Its been in my studio since I finished it and last week it caught my eye. And as I looked at it I just knew extact what was wrong with it. So I repainted the foreground in a warmer, darker shade. Now the sense of distance between the foreground and the reservoir is just right and I’m finally happy with the painting. Here’s the new version:

Now the painting has a visual impact and integrity, and, importantly, it accurately reflects the the original mood of the painting. It’s my original vision of the real, original scene. And that’s the most important thing for an artist. I hope you like it too.

On a late evening walk yesterday I noticed a large brown bird of prey, flying 2 or 3 meters above the West Pennine Moors. It flew irregularly, and seemed to be looking in amonst the peaty gullies and brown streams. As it came closer I could see that it was a Tawny Owl, presumably looking for small mammals and fros that are its prey. Normally moorland isn’t one of their commonest habitats, but I realised that woodland and farmland were nearby, so perhaps I shouldn’t be suprised to see one. I also managed to shoot this video, which show how the owl was flying, but not much detail of the bird itself.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCQaSphES7c]