The blue carrot shed

The blue carrot shed

The third day of filming in Cornwall was a beauty, and we found ourselves in this south facing cutting garden. It was very hot but I was so happy to be there surrounded by such fantastic subject material. In part my choice of viewpoint was influenced as to where we could find space for three people to stand with three camera tripods. But had that not been the case, it would have been very hard to resist this little blue shed with the pink roses in front!

Again I was working with a little pochade box and an 8" x 10" board. I used to really struggle to paint small sizes outdoors and found that I had a tendency to tighten up and get a bit fiddly. I decided long ago that 8" x 10" was as small as I was happy to go.

I think I've overcome that now as I was very comfortable with the 8" x 10" format. The trick is to keep using a good sized brush and not feel you have to go tiny. Plus I had to make extra choices regarding selection and simplification. There are areas I would have worked more information into had I been using a larger canvas.

Detail

Huge thanks to Susanne of The Blue Carrot for allowing me to visit and paint in her beautiful space. If you are on Instagram look up @the_blue_carrot for beautiful images of flowers and weddings!

And while you're on Instagram, did you know I'm there too? I put more on Instagram than I do on Facebook or twitter, I find it's the perfect place for sharing a quick snap of something exciting or beautiful - without the need to add text! I'm there as @haideejosummers