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