Oct 73 min read

Heavenly Hever

Autumn is well and truly upon us. We can see the misty mornings and the dark nights drawing in. We can see the leaves turning to rich, mellow hues and feel the temperature drop as we head towards the winter months. But despite the impending winter, autumn always feels like a cosy season. It’s a good excuse to pull on a jumper, drink hot chocolate and enjoy a walk in the watery sunshine (or more than likely, the rain!).

I remember talking to a colleague (about a hundred years ago when I was a secondary school teacher) about his astonishment when it came to autumn. He couldn’t believe how the trees turned colour and finally dropped their leaves as they saved their energy for spring. Born in Brazil he had never witnessed autumn in real life, which amazed me. I had never really thought about other countries not having an autumn or in fact a change of seasons throughout the year. We have all probably given a thought to our antipodean cousins down under, having their Christmas dinner on the beach in the heat of summer (still bizarre to my mind) but I had never really considered what happens in the countries which run along the equator. Their seasons tend to change less dramatically as they only really have two; wet or dry.

So it is in celebration of our glorious autumn that we paint a landscape for our next tutorial. We will be working from a photograph taken on a visit to Hever Castle & Gardens in Kent. It’s a beautiful castle, rich in history and perhaps most famously; it was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. The castle and grounds are well worth a visit ~ no matter the season, however in autumn the castle is particularly spectacular as it is absolutely transformed by a blaze of fiery red foliage that creeps over the facade. The extensive grounds are also not to be missed as they too come alive with spectacular autumn colour. https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/

It is from the grounds that our inspiration photograph comes. Wander past the castle towards the ornamental pond and down through the formal Italianate gardens you will find a spectacular loggia and a large lake stretching out before you. In our photo reference you can just see a glimpse of the loggia to the left and the lake through the trees.

The trees will be the main theme of our painting, along with the idea of creating a misty, autumnal atmosphere.

To begin, we will work wet into wet to create a soft misty reflection and the trees in the distance. We will work into wet again to create soft shaping to the Oak tree foliage. Then we will work onto dry adding more form to the foliage, whilst trying to keep the colours muted. We will add structure to the tree, working onto dry whilst we build up the trunk and branches by applying colour in-between the clumps of foliage.

There are some great landscape tips and techniques to get to grips with in this tutorial. To find out more, take a look at the short video below.

If you enjoy painting this seasonal watercolour, don’t forget to browse through the other ‘available tutorials’ as there is lots of autumn inspired tutorials for you to discover!