Dorset trip - Part 2

Here is the second post about my recent painting trip in Dorset with a further 4 paintings (click here to see the first 4 paintings):

DAY 3 - Sunday

Lulworth Cove: We just didn't get enough of it the day before, so the four of us returned for more painting thrills. The "boys" decided to head rather early to avoid the mass of tourists. I played it cool as if I was used to waking up early but I ended up sleeping the whole journey at the back of the car like a baby. It became a bit of a habit actually; I can hardly remember any car journey as I fell asleep every time! We arrived before the hoards of tourists and enjoyed a quiet painting session looking down on Swyre Head:

Swyre Head and Bats Head in the morning, 

Lulworth Cove, Dorset 

7"x10"   oil on board

Tim, David P. and I "living life on the edge" (literally):

Enjoying the peace and quiet before the coaches of tourists invade the place:

I thought it would be a wise choice to go for a small panel to start with and save my bigger formats for when I'm properly woken up:

Detail

After this nice little warm up we decided to have a try at the Durdle Door which was just 45 degrees to our left so no need to move, just turn around a little and start painting again. The water had beautiful reflections and the sun was slowly coming out behind the rocks...

Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Dorset   12"x10"   oil on board

At this stage we were surrounded by tourists talking with excitement and taking photographs. I thought our moment of fame had come but I soon realised they were trying to get a good snap at the views we were somehow obstructing... It was fun listening to some of the comments. I remember hearing a group of young schoolboys rating our paintings and saying out lout which one is good and which one is not! I'm glad I couldn't see them pointing at the paintings...

The painting after 20 minutes

Detail of the finished painting

After finishing this second painting, we gave ourselves the luxury of a 5 minutes break to swallow our sandwich and then we were off looking for the next spot! The sun was properly out by then and we all found inspiration on the other side of the Cove, looking towards the beach.

Lulworth Cove

I decided to go for a long format to fit most of the coast:

Lulworth Cove from Durdle Door in the afternoon, Dorset
16"x9"   oil on board

Detail

Painting experiences in plein air don't get much better than this!

I reached this perfect view after climbing up on the hills. That's me below, enjoying nature and getting a break from the crowd:

David and Tim kindly took these pictures of me from the opposite hill where they set up to paint:

Tim (left, in green) and David P.

It does look like we got into an argument and went separate ways but I promised it wasn't the case :-) We just found inspiration at different spots... Meanwhile the other David (below) was getting some attention from the tourists as he stayed on the main passage:

After this third painting, I thought we would finally get a break, but before I could say the word "break", the guys were already starting their fourth painting back at the top. I surely didn't want to look like the "poor weak lady" of the group so I gathered the energy I had left and produced the quick study below. I started last, somehow finished first, and ended up being quite happy with it:

Lulworth Cove, evening, Dorset   10"x8"   oil on board

You might notice the fact I painted the same view the day before. Click here to have a look at my previous post.

The painting towards the end

David P. and Tim - unstoppable painting machines!

detail

Check this blog in the next few days for the story about my last 4 paintings of the trip....

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To be continued...