June and July at Markshall

Just catching up here with news of my Twelve Months on an Essex Country Estate painting project!

My June visit was rather brief, as I went in the afternoon, and the gardens and arboretum close at 4.00pm. However, I had already decided that this month I wanted to paint a view which included the lake, so I walked straight there. The lake was looking very green in the sunshine, and surrounded by lots of very green vegetation. I chose a view where one of the brick weirs crosses the lake as the warmer tones of the brickwork contrast well with all the greens. I found a bench to sit on by the lake to make my sketch.

And here is the finished painting.

June, Weir

When I’d finished sketching I walked round the walled garden to find my Pickings and Flowerings subjects of  the month. The pickings turned out to be the large leaves from a Magnolia Grandiflora, already dropped and brown due to the drought we have had for weeks.

And for the Flowerings I chose the Dyer’s Camomile – a plant I have not seen before. They had some plants for sale in the reception area, so now I have Dyer’s Camomile flowering in my own garden!

And here is the little painting I did of it . . .

When I made my July visit the gardens and arboretum seemed very busy with families enjoying the sun, so I set out on one of the woodland walks to the south of the gardens, and branched off along a track –  and found a field of Chicory. The pale violet blue flowers made a beautiful contrast to the pale yellow of the wheat field beyond, and the greens of the hedgerow trees.

This is the painting I made of the field.

My Flowerings picture for July will be the Chicory, although I haven’t yet finished that, and my Pickings were various grasses and an ear of wheat that I picked as I walked round the field.

This little drawing is in Pitt Pastel Pencils and is 23cm square, whereas the main painting July, Chicory is 40cm square in acrylic on canvas board.