Lindy Whitton Studio

Postcard No 29: Life by the River

Like a lot of artists I’m often looking for the “perfect” subject and today I happened to find it when I looked up from eating breakfast. I grabbed what I had to hand which was a little tine of travel watercolours and a sketchbook that were sitting on the table and whipped off a quick sketch.

Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time and as I looked up I saw two black swans take off from the river and fly low and slow for a good few minutes while I watched in admiration.

They make flying look effortlessly elegant with their elongated necks creating a beautiful horizontal plane echoing the water surface.

This was a quick one with black, a touch of red for their beaks and ultramarine blue for the water.

I often keep the watercolour tin sitting around in the living room because it’s such a quick medium to catch fleeting scenes …and fleeting scenes happen a lot living by the river!