January 2018

1/1/18
Jan 1st was a very blustery, bright day in Penrose. I decided to enter via Degibna Lane which I almost regretted as it was quite badly flooded due to heavy rainfall for the previous week. I had to make sure no cars were coming when I squeezed past the gigantic puddles!
This sketch on the right is of the lovely farm buildings at Degibna. They are very atmospheric and I love that they are well used and patched up as any useful building should be. I definitely want to do a studio piece from this sketch but I'm pondering whether to do a painting or a drawing and wether to use colour or monochrome...

7/1/18
A very cold and bright day today. The coldest day of this winter so far! There was just a hint of frost in the shadows which is most unusual for us in South-West Cornwall! It was also incredibly muddy; ankle deep in places! That didn't stop plenty of walkers taking to the paths of Penrose in the lovely winter sunshine.

I managed this sketch of the path leading to Higher Penrose Farm. I managed to find a spot out of the biting wind but made it a quick sketch nevertheless, as the temperature was about 4 degrees and it wasn't long before my fingers went numb!

This is a large acrylic painting on board of the same subject. I wanted to capture that blinding light and all the different textures and surfaces.

This large charcoal and pastel drawing was completed from a sketch in my sketchbook and photographs and depicts the farm buildings on the Degibna side of the estate. Please click on the image to see more details.

25/1/18
A break in the rain, finally!
After extensive rain the Cober River has expanded massively and has flooded some of the lovely paths that run alongside it so today I had to stick to the main tarmac path onto the estate from Helston.
I was really struck by how the trees looked with their twisted trunks and lacy branches. I would really like to do a painting or drawing based on the beautiful winter trees on the Penrose Estate...