Going out late on a winter’s afternoon, ready to paint a sky with a little drama to it usually means having some sort of plan beforehand, so that no time is wasted driving around looking for something that attracts me and as little time as possible wasted pacing up and down, studying the view from all angles before committing myself!

This view was painted from the edge of a small copse overlooking a farm. Looking towards the West the lavender grey and butter yellow distant clouds were framed nicely by the haystack and the small cottage. In conditions such as these, the picture can be split into two or three tonal blocks i.e. sky, background, foreground. I find this helps a great deal in simplifying the painting process, keeping distracting detail to the bare minimum and helping to make a strong composition. Or that’s the way it should work.

In this instance, I was enjoying the moment far too much for the good of the picture and started fiddling with foreground leaves, twigs and undergrowth. Hardly any of it was essential for the overall mood I was trying to convey, but I simply got carried away.

Lesson learned for next time, then.