Summer Pen Y Ghent

Pen-y-Ghent is an iconic hill in the dales, its shape is discernible to all those who know the region, and especially those who have walked up its slopes. The translation of the Gaelic is Hill of the Winds, and is aptly named as it never ceased to blow atop its summit. Being likened at various angles to the back of a whale, an upturned pie, and even a baboon's head; the hill is certainly a focal point for all images of the upper stretches of the Ribble. There are really two hills in one, the main, highest hill is Pen-y-Ghent itself which doglegs away from the river with the smaller, less frequented Plover Hill on the massif's northern slope. A gritstone monolith overshadowing the softer shales and limestones of the Yoredale series, is a remenant of the ice ages which ravaged this part of yorkshire thousands of years ago. Along with its sisters, Ingleborough and Whernside make up the Yorkshire three peaks, this would be the baby of the three, not the highest, but arguably the prettiest.

I painted a pochade in a morning when it stopped raining long enough for me to rush out of the house and complete a sketch in about an hour and a half. The lane is one which leads from Crooks Farm to the main B6479 road, and is typical of the lanes herabouts. South is to the right in the picture and it is interesting to note the fauna along the north side of the path (facing south) is meadowsweet, cow parsley, buttercups and hogweed. The other side of the path is dominated by grasses - these sort of things I onnly note when I am painting the picture.

I liked the scene immensly and wanted it more refined and certainly on a larger scale. I used a 24 x 18" canvas for the finished painting and rather than getting it done in a day spent about a week on the process. Using the Artisan water mixable oils, I have found that to get them to dry so that overpainting is reasonably workable takes about a day and a half. I wasn't aware of the final composition as I was going along and the character (my wife) was chucked in on a whim without any forethought for balance - and yes I am aware I have broke one of the cardinal sins of composition - in that I have a subject matter dead center, this certainly was not my aim although it is growing on me.

And a photo I took while painting the pochade...