John Constable documentary - view online

For those who like John Constable's work there is an excellent documentary by Andrew Graham Dixon about the painter currently available to download from BBC Two iPlayer Secret Lives of the Artists - 1. Constable in Love

John Constable's painting The Haywain embodies pretty and cosy England, adorning many a tea towel and postcard. But behind the image of rural calm lies a passionate artist whose pictures hide an erotic undercurrent - a story of forbidden love to rival even Shakespeare's ill-fated lovers. Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals the true story of Constable and an untold love story sublimated on canvas.

I've watched it through once and can highly recommend it.  I'll be watching it again before it expires in six days time.

"Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden," by John Constable.
oil on canvas, 13.63" X 17.32"

Ostensibly about the love story between Constable and his wife Maria Bricknell, it also tells us a lot about how Andrew Graham Dixon and other art historians see the role and impact of emotion and personal relationships on his landscape paintings and career.  It also tells us about his relationships with others in his Circle such as John Fisher, the Bishop of Salisbury, who commissioned the painting below and who is included with his wife behind the fence and under the shade of the trees.

You can also view clips via Andrew Graham Dixon's website where Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the life of Constable, his painting and love life.

• Constable in Love 1-7  (view clip)
• Constable in Love 2-7  (view clip)
• Constable in Love 3-7 (view clip)
• Constable in Love 4-7 (view clip)
• Constable in Love 5-7 (view clip)
• Constable in Love 6-7 (view clip)
• Constable in Love 7-7 (view clip)

How to draw and paint trees

Autumn Forest in oil pastels by Martin Stankewitz (How to draw a tree)

The trees are fabulous at the moment - and we should all be out making the most of them as landscape motifs!

For those who need some help in how to approach this, here are some links to very experienced artists and bloggers who have been writing about and drawing trees this year.

Stapleton Kearns - http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com/

In the earlier part of 2010, Stapleton was writing about tree anatomy and how to look at trees - to understand their structure - and how to paint trees

• Branch control - about the need to simplify trees to paint them well.  The number of branches need to be controlled.
• Habits of branching - considers the different ways and angles in which trees throw out their branches
• Telescoping branches - considers how branches join, taper and create angularity in their form 
• Trees and balance - looks at how a mental plumb line helps you to see where the weight is in the form of the tree - and considers how the different parts of a tree (trunk, branches and foliage) achieve an overall balance
• Hidden bounding lines for drawing the forms of trees - about finding big shapes, critical lines and establishing relationships between trees and between trrees and the landscape
• Design problems in the placement of trees - how the four most important lines (the edges of the picture plane) relate to trees - and common mistakes to avoid
• Perspective in the masses of trees - emphasises how trees have perspective too
• Color and light in different parts of a tree - talks about how the light at different times of the day affects how you see and best picture trees
• Transparent branches against the sky - studies the approaches of different artists (Constable, Corot) to painting branches against the sky

He also has some tips for drawing and painting sky holes - those bits of trees that the birdies fly through - and various other aspects of drawing and painting trees

• Skyholes part 1 - about trying to find some order and relationships within the grouping of sky holes
• Sky holes 2 - about what colour to paint the sky holes so they don't jump out
• Sky holes 3 - studies sky holes in paintings by master landscape painters

How to draw a tree - http://www.draw-a-tree.com

This is Martin Stankewitz's blog - his emphasis is much more on drawing trees.  His recent posts have included:

• Drawing with oil pastels – autumn forest - demonstrates the use of oil pastels for vibrant colour in the company of wild boars
• How to draw simple leaves includes a tutorial “How to draw leaves” which explains how to draw simple leaves in various positions.
• Lost in wrinkles of bark – draw a tree trunk - illustrates just how much there is to draw in a tree

Pastel Pointers -  http://pastelpointersblog.artistsnetwork.com

Richard McKinley also has some tips for

• sky holes when working in pastels - see Pastel Tips for Sky Holes
• what to do When the Light Comes Through the Trees

and finally....

Here's a link to a newspaper article about Stourhead - one of the classic tree landscapes in the UK - which is always renowned for its autumn leaves

Sketching Constable's Cornfield

After Constable's 'The Cornfield' (1826)

 9" x 6", pen and sepia ink in large Moleskine Sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I spent yesterday evening (see Museums at Night starts tonight!) in the National Gallery in London sketching John Constable's The Cornfield in pen and sepia ink.

The title seems first to have been used by the subscribers who presented the picture to the National Gallery. Constable referred to it familiarly as 'The Drinking Boy'. It probably shows a lane leading from East Bergholt towards Dedham; the distant church could be an invention.

The painting was exhibited several times during Constable's lifetime, first at the Royal Academy in 1826.

It's interesting that even though it's supposed to be of Fen Lane near his home, he's used artistic licence and introduced a church into the background.  fen Lane is now called Flatford Lane.

I like sketching large paintings in art galleries and museums in monochrome.  It means you look at it more closely while trying to detect the design of the tonal values.  I also don't try to be precise when I sketch.  Most of this is done with scribble hatching - although I start to work smaller and smaller areas as I progress.

It's also fascinating trying to sketch the paintings of artists who themselves frequently used a sketchbook as a start to creating their paintings of landscapes.  I've seen Constables sketchbooks and they're tiny but very effective!

It seems likely that the painting in the National gallery was painted from sketchbooks and an initial start on site.

I think this painting in the Tate is the same view the other way on.  Its caption is as follows

Constable and his wife Maria took a long holiday in Suffolk in 1817. This was to be the last time he painted directly in oils in the vicinity of East Bergholt. Constable began several canvases outdoors without finishing them, perhaps in order to secure as much fresh material as possible in the time. Some parts of this canvas are painted to a fair degree of finish, whilst others are left in a more sketchy state.

Fen Lane, East Bergholt

John Constable

Tate Britain

I think I might try and locate the original site for both these paintings. There's a good guide to walks around Flatford and East Bergholt including one which identifies Fen lane on the AA website - see Constable Country at Flatford Mill.

The bend appears to be round about #3 on the map!

Visiting Constable Country

In 2006 there was an exhibition of Constable - The Great Landscapes at Tate Britain which featured the "six footer" canvases that John Constable produced of the views around and about the River Stour and other places in the UK.

The Tate Britain exhibition briefing indicates that his move to larger canvases was part of a strategy to become noticed by the Royal Academy of Arts and to paint on a scale equivalent to the classical landscape artists.

The exhibition was particularly interesting as it showed how his paintings were produced and we saw the different stages from tiny sketchbooks to full-scale preliminary oil sketches for some of them. The Tate site says

These large sketches, with their free and vigorous brushwork were unprecedented at the time and they continue to fascinate artists, scholars and the general public. It has been said that it is this practice more than any other aspect of Constable's work which establishes him as an avant-garde painter, resolved to re-think the demands of his art and to address them in an entirely new way. The exhibition re-unites the full-scale sketches with their corresponding finished pictures in order to explore their role in Constable's working practice

You can see more of Constable's paintings on the Art Renewal website - John Constable

It's well worth visiting Constable Country and especially Flatford and the River Stour as much of it is very recognisable from Constable's paintings.

The last time I visited the National Trust's Bridge Cottage museum at Flatford Mill had an exhibition of reproductions of the six foot canvases of working life on the River Stour that his finished paintings were produced from in his studio.

That exhibition also shows where each painting was done and also displayed reproductions of some of the small sketches that he did for each painting.

Below you can see some of my photographs of the painting of the boatyard "Boat-Building" and what it looks like today

(Left) A reproduction of Boat-building near Flatford Mill (1815) by John Constable (1776-1837); Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 61.6 cm
(Right: Dry Dock photographed by me 2nd October 2005
all photos copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This portrays the construction of a barge at a dry-dock owned by Constable's father. It is based on a tiny pencil drawing in a sketchbook at the V&A. Constable painted the landscape entirely in the open air. His biographer praised its 'atmospheric truth', such that 'the tremulous vibration of the heated air near the ground seems visible'.
Narrative by Victoria and Albert Museum

This is the mill pond next to Willy Lott's cottage made famous in The Hay Wain (for further details see here)

all photos copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Walking and Cycling in Constable Country

To my mind you can' beat visiting the places where great landscape art was produced to really get a full appreciation of the landscape that the artist was painting - and how well they captured the sense of place in their work.

The National Trust has created a Constable Country walk

One of the best ways to experience the countryside that John Constable knew and loved is to walk around the picturesque Stour Valley.

By following in the footsteps of Constable you’ll have a better appreciation of the trees, rivers, sounds and light captured on canvass by one of the greatest British painters of all time.

To help guide you, we’ve added a special downloadable Constable Walk on the website, featuring a walk from Manningtree Station to Flatford. Manningtree Station is on the London Liverpool Street – Ipswich/Norwich line.

• Download the Constable Walk
  (PDF/920KB)

The 60-mile Painters Trail cycle route is another great way to experience the areas of Suffolk and Essex made famous by painters such as Constable. There are also bus routes across the county to the Stour Valley.

National Trust - Constable Country Walk

While Suffolk County Council has set up the Suffolk Painters Trail Cycle Route

Painter's Trail

If you enjoy painting, you may be interested in the Painter's Trail, which is a 69 mile long cycle route through the picturesque and historic Dedham Vale, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Trail pack at £3.50 includes a map of the route and essential information on places to see, where to stay, and a painter's fact file.

To obtain a pack, contact the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project, telephone: 01473 264263.
Suffolk County Council Cycle Routes

Have you visited the places where great landscape art was produced?

Have you made a point of visiting the places frequented by great landscape artists? If so, who's the artist and where did you go?

If you produce a blog post about your visit, let me know and I'll reference it on this blog.