South Pennine Moorland Paintings

I'm sitting looking out my window at home and the colours outside are exactly the same as a painting I just completed, even though I'm seeing trees on the valley floor rather than the high moorland in my picture.

Distant Bright Water, oil pastel on 640 gsm watercolour paper, 35 cm x 60 cm.

When you're up on High Brown Knoll, (one of my favourite local haunts) if the weather is kind you can see right across to three distant reservoirs in the west, Widdop on the right and the two Gorples on the left.  The space in-between the hills acts as a cauldron making turbulent skies which are normally far more interesting to paint than placid blue

Here's another new moorland painting I finished recently, looking south east from High Brown Knoll with brilliant light breaking through chunks of heavy cloud and turning the moor grass gold.

Shifting Light From High Brown Knoll, oil pastel on 640 gsm watercolour paper, 35 cm x 60 cm.

I use Sennelier oil pastels, they are very high quality and are made from proper artists pigments. The feel of them is extremely buttery and some artists don't like this softness. For me it works and the coldness of my studio is for once an advantage. These oil pastels are extremely versatile, you can 'melt' them with turps to make glazes or apply them in very thick in layers.