Lars Stenberg

A walk across the North of England – Day 12

Perfect weather today, so I abandon my usual garden gnome look of cagoul and pointy beany for something more summery. We walk to Grasmere via Deepdale. Luxury tonight at Lancrigg, a house once bought by Wordsworth for his sister’s friend. We get poetic on an evening stroll around the grounds.

I’ve been asked if I made the paintings while I was walking. The answer is no, not exactly. I can’t carry all the materials on a through hike, so I take my iPad with ProCreate and sketch as I go (also my iPhone using ProCreate Pocket). The paintings are then made in the studio later and are a combination of memory, sketches and photos. I’m interested in how I felt when I was walking, and how I remember being in the landscape, so plein air is just one tool to get towards the finished work. The first day’s sketch of Whitby in the evening was on the iPad and there are a couple more to come but for now here’s a photo of me sketching on the phone, and the sketch itself. Three minutes to “get it down”. Not as quick as a photo, but priceless in terms of the editing that goes on between eye, brain and hand.