Berkhamsted Castle

Painting from my demo to the Berkhamsted Art Society. It was a pleasure to meet so many local artists and share my love for watercolour with the group. For my live demonstration, I chose to paint the historic ruins of Berkhamsted Castle. It is such a peaceful spot and the old stone walls look great against the soft sky.

The main focus of this painting was the water in the castle moat. I really wanted to capture the calm reflections of the clouds and the green banks. When I paint water, I try to keep my brush strokes very loose and quick. This helps to show the movement of the light on the surface. I think the blue of the sky looks lovely where it meets the darker shadows of the trees in the water.

For the colours in this piece, I used a lot of Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue for the sky and its reflection. To get those rich greens on the grass banks, I mixed some Yellow Ochre with Viridian Green. The ruins themselves were painted with soft greys and some Burnt Sienna to show the old textures of the stone. I also used a little bit of white paint at the very end to catch the bright highlights on the water.

This original painting is now for sale. If you would like to own this piece or if you have any questions about it, please do contact me for more information. I always enjoy hearing from fellow painters.