Close To Home - Wimblington

6 Church Street, Wimblington © Anita Davies

This is my third plein air sketch for the Close to Home project. A beautiful house located near the church in Wimblington, completing one sketch for each village so far.

I have sketched many more since this one but have yet to scan them. The project is going well and I am really enjoying it.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse here in the Fens so I have had to adjust here and there; sketching houses easily visible from the truck and creating the ink sketch only...returning to add watercolour when the sun is out because it creates wonderful shadows that enhance the architecture of these homes. Creating the ink sketch during the dull weather means I can make the most of each day and stay on target for my average of three homes per week. I figure the house won't change in structure so I can get the basics down and wait for better light.

I'm also getting used to the format. It takes some getting used to, trying to put a massive house into a 6x8" space but I have an 8x10" mount that I use as a guide which helps enormously.

I now have three Arches blocks on the go for the project. I started with one and soon found that this restricted me to sketching just one house at a time while I was on location (I don't like to cut them from the block until I've had a little time to view them properly) I moved on to two blocks, which worked very well until the rain set in again and I resorted to completing the ink sketch and returning to add watercolour in better weather. So, now I have three and that works perfectly.

Of course, the beauty of the whole experience is that it all takes place within an approx. 4 mile radius of my home which has made it both enjoyable and very flexible.