In the first of a series of three articles, Andrew Field shows how to develop ideas in your sketchbooks for painting later in oils
At the time of writing this article I had received the fantastic but somewhat daunting news that I would be having my third solo exhibition in Burford at Nova Fine Art in February 2024. I decided that for this new series of oil paintings I would focus on the Windrush Valley, which is an area of natural beauty in the Cotswolds, surrounding the historic market town of Burford. The river Windrush runs through Burford and this would become a large part of my focus as I have a life-long passion for rivers, since I started fishing at the tender age of six.
In preparation for the exhibition I visited the area and took photographs, starting with the breathtaking views between Stow-on-the-Wold and Burford. The variable light and changing weather of the winter seasons with the sun low in the sky and pockets of storm clouds created atmosphere and tension, that I love to convey through my work. I drove to a variety of locations throughout the day, soaking up the landscape and taking loads of photographs, such as looking towards St John The Baptist Church in Burford or the River Windrush passing by The Swan Inn at Swinbrook. To get a sense of place you really need to immerse yourself in the environment as a landscape painter. Ideally, I would have loved to spend another day sketching and painting but I needed to return home, to continue with my preparations back in the studio.
Sketchbooks
I always use sketchbooks for studies in preparation for oil paintings back in the studio and I enjoy looking back through them to remind me of different times in my career when I was focusing on specific landscapes. When I lived in Abu Dhabi, I would always make watercolour sketches to get my eye in and to work out the composition before starting my painting, working plein air on ¼ Imperial size Two Rivers watercolour paper. When I was a wildcard artist for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year in 2021, I took a sketchbook and I drew the composition that I intended to paint, to allow me to really absorb my surroundings. I find that drawing helps to make me aware of the structural bones of the composition. To simplify the process, I use a basic kit consisting of a B pencil, charcoal, pens of various sorts including dip pens, cartridge pens, ballpoint pens, and so on, paper, paints, brushes and bulldog clips. I sometimes prefer to use a drawing board as opposed to a sketchbook as you can determine the type of paper that you u
