Spring Shadows and Swallows

Image Size 50 x 70cm

Oil on Canvas

SOLD

Spring Shadows and Swallows painted in 2016 and was inspired by an April sunrise in Warnham Deer Park. The sun had just risen and was streaming through the new leaves on the oak trees and horse chestnuts behind. The sun was just penetrating the firs in Lake Wood. The oaks are in open parkland, the home of the famous Warnham red deer herd.

The swallows were added to create movement through the painting and to break up the deep shadows cast by the oak trees. The local swallows were just returning from Africa in late April.  Alison is very fond of hirundines, therefore swallows made a perfect subject for the painting. Swallows nest locally and are seen across the deer park from spring until autumn. The swallows swoop high and low catching insects disturbed by the deer, often skimming low above the grass.  They often put on quite a show, for those who notice, as you walk across the park. The perfect spring morning.

The combination of greens, blues and purples was a challenge but with a fairly limited palette it was possible to balance the painting with careful colour placement. There is a huge amount of colour blending and gradation to create the impression of sunlight within the woodland and through the trees. The long, deep shadows of the oaks were very dark but the addition of the swallows lifted the area. The addition of more colour to the shadows also helped create movement and prevent the shadows dominating the painting.

Contact Alison about this painting