Blencathra- curing the artist’s block. The recent trip I had to Blencathra really cured the artists block which I had for completing the sketches of Blencathra for The Wainwrights in Colour project. Soon there will be a new blog post about it on the Andy Beck Artists site but in the meantime I have put together this short film about my task in completing this, the king of the northern fells- Blencathra. Blencathra- curing the artist’s block.
The Wainwrights in Colour
Inspired by the work of Master Fellwalker and artist Alfred Wainwright, Andy spent over ten years completing the major project The Wainwrights in Colour. This meant producing a watercolour sketch of every illustration drawn by A.W. in his seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. Every single location of the illustrations has been meticulously researched so that Andy’s references are taken from the exact location where A.W. stood to take his own black and white photographs.
This was a unique undertaking. Whilst many others have taken a few comparison photographs of AW’s illustrations Andy went out and not only obtained all 1500 images but then went on to paint them as watercolour sketches.
The Wainwright Project
As a keen hill-walker the fells of the Lake district is one of Andy’s favourite places and being so close to hand he is able to visit the area even on short day trips. These trips have been used to gather the required photographs for the project as well as ideas for other Lake District paintings. Due to the number of illustrations, more than one route on each of the 214 fells has to be undertaken and of course the weather conditions have to be favourable to allow the scene that A.W. depicted in his sketches to be viewed by Andy.
“It has never been my intention for the project to be seen as copying the work of A.W., an impossible task, more as a matter of interest as how his sketches compare to today’s scenes. Standing on the exact spot where he stood every time is not only a sense of achievement to me but also a feeling of closeness to the man and his work.”
The uniqueness of this project has meant that it has been featured in the media both locally and nationally. Check out The Wainwrights in Colour- as seen on the BBC– Click here.
