Alex (my wife) and I managed to get away for a few days and stayed in a camp site just outside Ludlow. The weather could have been more helpful but we did have a couple of decent days and on one of them I took my small pochade box and did the above painting.
I chose the small pochade box as it was a 4.5 mile walk there and back so weight was everything. I chose the view as it had strong shadows and a natural composition. I put down a ground of burnt sienna and then got on painting in in the blocks of tone with stronger or weaker mixes of burnt sienna and turps. I then over painted with oil and medium.
We really enjoyed our stay on the Welsh English border. My mother and father lived in Knighton just on the Welsh side of the border and so it brought back a lot of memories travelling through the little villages both sides of Offas Dyke. From our camp site we could see Clee Hill. My mother used to teach there for a time but always had a problem if the road was blocked by traffic as she couldn't do a hill start. (She had never passed her driving test having been given a licence to drive an ambulance during the war). I also remember stopping on Clee Hill on a school trip to see Henry or Richard the something at Ludlow Castle. Several of us found an Inn that would serve us local cider and you can guess the rest!
