Flowerings
I was a bit late finishing both my February and March Flowerings paintings for my Markshall project. But now they are both finished and on the Small Paintings & Drawings page.
For February I painted a beautifully scented Daphne Bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’. It was growing in the area of trees and shrubs to the right hand side of the lake. This was painted in gouache on Saunders watercolour paper, with some details added in Caran D’Ache Neocolour II water soluble wax crayons.
February Flowerings
For my March Flowerings I had to choose daffodils as they were everywhere around the gardens! I walked up to Robin’s Grove, where I painted the snowdrops in February. The snowdrops had all gone, of course, but in their place the Grove was filled with primroses and daffodils.
This painting is in Unison soft pastel on Clairefontaine Pastelmat. Like all the Flowerings paintings it is 9 inches (about 23cm) square.
March Flowerings
I shall be making my April visit quite soon and I’m wondering what will be flowering this month . . .
March visit to Markshall
Yesterday, on the Spring Equinox, I made my third visit to Markshall for my Twelve Months on an Essex Country Estate painting project. It was the most beautiful day, the warmest so far this year by a long way, with clear blue skies.
I decided to take one of the Woodland Walks rather than go into the garden, and followed the Blue Trail to Crowlands Wood – for those of you familiar with the grounds.
Part of the track runs along between the wooded area and the edge of the fields and I found a good place to sit on the grassy edge of the track facing into the trees, with a large coppiced hazel covered in rusty coloured catkins in the foreground.
I liked the intricacies of all the trunks and branches and thought it would be a real challenge to paint!
It was very quiet and peaceful sitting in the sun sketching with my Caran D’Ache Neocolour wax pastels, and only two walkers came passed – one of whom said, ‘Are you drawing anything nice?’ . . .
There were lots of pheasant crowing near and far, and several times I heard the laughing call of green woodpeckers. The silky silver buds of the pussy willow are just opening, but the blackthorn in the wood was still in quite tight bud, hardly showing white at all, although I have seen it elsewhere in full flower. I picked a little twig of each to draw for this month’s Pickings.
Here are a few photos from the woods.
Once I had finished sketching I left all my gear in the car and walked round the gardens. Robin’s Grove, where I painted the snowdrops last month is now full of daffodils and primroses.
In fact there were daffodils all over the gardens, in the grass, under the trees, wherever I looked – so daffodils are going to be the subject of my Flowerings painting this month.
One more photo – beautiful reflections in the lake . . .
My last month’s Flowerings painting, which I was rather late finishing, is now on the Small Paintings and Drawings page, and there is another new pastel painting, called Into the Wood, on the Gallery 2025 page.
February Visit to Markshall
I made my second visit to Markshall on 6th February, on a bright morning with hazy sunshine and quite a bit of blue sky.
I knew exactly which part of the grounds I wanted to feature in my second painting! On my previous visit one of the women on the entrance desk told me to watch out for all the snowdrops in the woodland at the far end of the lakes.
I walked straight up to this wood – just stopping to feed the huge carp in the lake on my way – and I was delighted to see how thickly the snowdrops bloomed under the sparse tree cover. Can you see the pheasants feeding on the spilt bird seed in the photo?
I sat on my little stool beside the path, and made a sketch of the view I wanted to capture using watercolour and Caran D’Ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons.
While I was painting a tree creeper was working its way slowly round the trunk of a large tree, poking under the loose bark with its sharp curved beak. And at one point a peacock wandered past . . . .
Although it was warmer than my January visit – the lake was no longer frozen – I still got cold sitting still, and set off to walk through the woods to warm up.
I picked up bits to draw from under the trees – a huge leaf from a turkey oak, a clutch of needles from a larch tree, and some pine cones – which I drew with pastel pencils when I got home.
February Pickings
This week I have been working on my February painting of the snowdrops under the big trees. I finished it yesterday, and you can find all the details on my 2025 Gallery page.
Essex Country Estate: February