Land and Sky and Sky at Night

I've had this landscape forming in my mind for a while now.  I wanted to do something quite simple in composition but very gestural and painterly.  I surrounded myself with sketches and a couple of photographs from recent journeys through Somerset and Dorset and adopted a relatively automatic approach.  I'm happy with the softness and the apparent light that has played out on the land against the mark making and texture in the sky. It's quite a gentle piece to look at but absorbing in the mark making.

This accompanying piece is an outcome from the work above.  I used a canvas board as a palette and when I reached the end of the main work I started to mix and move around the paint that I had left on here. As a composition formed I was able to sew in a couple of features I 'd been working on like the shape of the hill line and the silhouette of the trees.  It has a very dusky feel to it and I am reminded of the sort of ethereal images of skies at night and shooting stars.