Northumberland at the end of April and beginning of May was windy and cold but we did at least get some periods of sunshine in between the rain.
I found the the conditions challenging for painting and sketching; when the weather was acceptable for walking it was usually too wet (or likely to be) and all week there was a very significant wind chill. With the right gear it is easy to keep warm when walking but I didn’t fancy the layering up I’d need for en plein air painting. I can cope with the wind (tie down the easel) and the cold (put on layers) but the two together doubles the challenge. In the end I was more interested in walking – the beaches are just fantastic.
We did have one rained out day so I completed a 2 hour watercolour of Embleton Bay – it is called “Dunstanburgh in the Distance” – you can just make it out on the horizon. The view is from the path from Newton Point, as we headed for lunch at “The Ship” at Low-Newton-by-the-Sea. We walked along the beach from Beadnell.
This is a 14×10 watercolour on 300gsm rough paper.
Here are a couple of notebook sketches – Castles of course!
An finally, since getting back a bit of catching up…
