Calder Water

Another fantastic day here in Scotland - you would almost believe that summer has finally arrived! Took myself off for another days Plein Air pastelling this time at one of my favourite locations: Mossmulloch, near Strathaven. Very few people pass by, only the occassional cyclist and farm trucks piled high with sheuch! Otherwise it's painting to the sounds of lambs calling for their mothers, larks ascending, and an invisible frog serenading me from the other side of the burn. First painting is of the Calder Water winding it's way down through gentle folds in the landscape:
Pastel on ingres paper, 22x15cm: With clear blue skies above I can respond directly to the reflections in the water with my favourite blues. From the same position I just turned 90degrees to the left and I see the riverbank cut away with pebbles and rocks exposed:

Paste on Ingres paper, 22x15cm: A bit more naturalistic but made using a limited palette of blues, mauves, and green. Further up the burn there is a small tributary where Mallard Duck hide from spying eyes and a farm bridge is constructed from old rusted steel girders and wooden handrails greyed with age and weather. A Buzzard mews above:
Pastel on Ingres paper, 22x15cm: I'm distracted by a huge insect that crawls across my page and gives me the heebie-jeebies! Therefore I paint this fairly realistically with my mind on self preservation rather than creating my other world. Pastel on Ingres paper, 22x15cm: A dark pool where the water slows to an apparent standstill but the wind ripples across the surface reflecting the blue sky above. Last year's docken still stands red, and a fish quietly rises to take a Mayfly.
Cutting this short to rush off to watch the Mighty Glasgow Rangers play Motherwell. Back later to finish!

And here I'm back again happy to report that the Gers won 1-0. An ugly win but another three points on the board!

This last painting is my impression/expression of the river rushing and tumbling between constricting rocks on it's mad dash to meet the River Avon a few miles further down the glen. Here I'm almost looking down vertically on top of it and kept from falling in by two sheep and a lamb hanging onto my braces! (you can tell by now I've had a few glasses of Guinness to help with the narrative!)

The first, second, fourth, and last painting above can all be purchased in my shop at Etsy: http://davidcornelius.etsy.com/