Rivington

Lever Park Study 1, originally uploaded by David Pott.

Just a quick colour study - perhaps I’ll work it up into a bigger painting.

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.

Rivington Sunset, originally uploaded by David Pott.

Perfect sunsets always catch you out, happening when you least expect them. I’d taken a walk with my daughters without my camera. Of course the sunset was extra special. Luckily, one of my daughters had brought her small camera and I was able to take some images, of which this is my favourite. Not the most dramatic, but probably the most serene of the lot.

Rivington Sunset

Originally uploaded by David Pott

A fine sunset on Saturday. Walking through the woods with my daughter, dodging the monster size slugs that are perhaps the only creatures to have enjoyed the wet summer we have been enjoying. The clouds presaged the arrival of sudden shows, which sent us scampering home.

I saw these unusual cloud effects over Rivington last month. Apparently the faint rainbow effect is caused by the sun passing through the ice particles in high cirrus clouds. A more technical term for this phenomena is ‘parhelia’ - so called because they form on each side of the sun. Presumably this sun dog had a ‘twin’ on the other side of the sun, but on the day cloud cover prevented it being seen.

There’s an even more spectacular version of this effect on Flikr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinspace/159715531/in/set-1129312/ 

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]

If you regularly drive along the M61 you’ll have seen the Rivington Pike on the crest of the moors, overlooking Bolton and Horwich. There has been a structure on the site for hundreds of years. Originally the pike formed part of a nationwide network of beacons that were lit at times of national danger. According to some sources the beacon on the pike was lit in 1588 when the Spanish Armada threatened Queen Elizabeth I’s fragile reign. More recently, beacon fires were lit on the pike for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981.

The stone building on the site today was built in 1733 by John Andrews. It was a pragmatic gesture to demonstrate his ownership of the land surrounding the pike. The tower is now bricked up and access is impossible, but the original structure had a door and a fireplace, and was perhaps used as a shooting lodge.