This painting by Anthony Mashman, was chosen for our Spring Exhibition poster. Sadly, the exhibition was postponed. It is such a lovely image, we have decided to use it for our next exhibition poster as well. Anthony was kind enough to share a bit of his process with us.

I was walking in Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire with my family one Spring afternoon. The National Trust Park is known for its rhododendrons and while strolling along we came upon some scenes that excited me visually. This watercolour is one of those views. I used a photograph I took, to help me with the painting during lockdown.

I like to keep parts of the paper white while painting and masking fluid can be helpful for this. Chinese landscape artists like Lian Quan Zhen are known for this technique. I like to include a focal point and I will change the composition where needed for maximum effect. The paint colours I used for this watercolour included transparent colours like sap green, indian yellow, indigo, moonglow and semi- transparent cobalt violet, sepia and green apatite genuine.

Scenes bathed in sunlight and shade inspire me and I am very interested in depicting these light qualities in my paintings. I aim to capture the wonders of our natural world, and hope my work resonates with the viewer and is uplifting.

I have developed a routine that helps me with my painting and other work during this time of lockdown. I do look forward to getting out to paint landscapes “en plein air” when it is safe to do so. I wish you well with all that you do and hope it will not be too long until we can all go about our lives without all these restrictions.