Tuesday 26 April 2011

Glaslyn




Longer evenings and warmer temperatures now, means painting for longer and in new areas that have been inaccessible all winter. Plynlimon, our highest mountain in Mid Wales has taken much of my attention recently. Not so much a classic mountain with any discernable summit but a high sprawling plateau of boggy wilderness. A desert (easy to get lost on) in the centre of Wales, only one teeming with life, subtle character and a variety of discoveries on closer inspection. To the North West is Glaslyn, a lake cut off by steep rocky gorges on three sides. This gives it the strange appearance of floating, especially when it reflects a clear blue sky. There is enough heather here to make the area one of the few good places I know to see red grouse in Mid Wales as well as Hen Harrier. On this day a Peregrine was busy seeing off any buzzards or kites that dared fly through the gorge.


Above, an A1 sketch made at a later date, same conditions of clear blue sky and lengthening afternoon shadows. Preparation for a more rendered studio piece of the same size.

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