'By mid-October the fullness of summer will have given way to the fulfilment of autumn, and if we are observant we shall have noticed a gradual changing in the landscape,' said Edward Wesson in 1962.

'Where the crops had stood high we shall see birds wheeling over the newly ploughed furrows, and the trees at the corner of the field will seem taller as they stand out against the sky. In the distance, too, the hills, with their wooded slopes, will be changing for where a tree here and there has shed its foliage, chinks of distant sky will show, and the browns of autumn will mingle with the grey-blues of the distance, often becoming, in the late afternoon light, a delicate shade of purple.

'A wonderful time for colour and an opportunity none of us should miss.

'And so, into November, and perhaps, the sudden realisation that autumn has come and gone! Or so it may seem. However, Nature has her compensations for, although we must expect some foggy, damp weather at this time of the year, there is often a week or so when we are blessed with some beautiful days which really show off the autumn in its final glory.

'It always seems to me, when this happens, as if Nature were pointing out to us that although the days are getting shorter there is still much to be seen and enjoyed. I believe she goes on doing this right through the winter, but I shall hope to prove this in my next article.

'Meanwhile, as many dream of roaring firesides and muffins for tea, we should still be seeing the slanting rays of a mellow sun on an old wall or the shaft of yellow flame on the reeds and rushes as they die back into their ponds.'

Elms and Willows

'Mention of so much colour reminds me that I have not yet described the palette I use although you may perhaps have gathered, from my previous articles, that it is a limited one.

'I believe in a limited palette mainly, I suppose, because it makes me mix the colours I see instead of taking them straight from the tube. And having to mix them I must observe more keenly.

'To take an example, suppose I am observing a tree where generally one expects to find a green. I have to ask myself if it is a warm or cold green, and, in order to mix it, do I need more brown or yellow than blue or vice versa? The mental exercise involved will enable me to understand better the things I observe and the reasons for the colours I see in them.

'There is, of course, another very good reason for the use of a limited palette. Unwittingly our work will be more distinguished, as it will have a restrained and refined air about it and it will be pleasing to look upon. The last thing we want to give our admirers is visual indigestion and this is very easily done if we present them with too many colours at the same time.

'For all practical purposes my palette consists of the following colours: ultramarine, cobalt, burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, lemon yellow, vermilion and alizarin crimson. Add to these eight colours ivory black of Payne’s grey and you will have all you should need for most landscapes.

'In suggesting this range for a general palette I do not want to infer any hard and fast rule. Each of us will have his own particular fancies and I offer you mine only as a suggestion.

'You will have noticed that I give two blues, two browns, two reds, etc., and I would offer the further suggestion of using only one of each. I often try this merely as an exercise and am surprised at the range of colour which can be obtained. I strongly recommend this sort of experiment, as I am sure all students will learn much from it about colours and the way in which they mix.

'I cannot underline too strongly the need to keep on experimenting, for without this we can so easily turn out work which would be better done with a rubber stamp! How often we see work which always looks the same, the same subject treated in exactly the same way. This comes about when we decide we are satisfied with our methods and are quite content to sit back and relax. We have ceased to think clearly and cannot see what we are looking at, and when we allow this to happen any merit which our work has contained will gradually disappear.

'You may say that my theories about simplification and limitation of medium will tend to encourage this attitude and I admit this is a danger to be guarded against. But then I have always thought watercolour to be full of dangers. I do not feel able to give the correct answer to this problem. It is a little like trying to define right and wrong. All I know is that I am continually learning a little more about what is right and that in my heart of hearts I know when my work is too slick – and that is wrong.

On the Avon near Ringwood

'For this month’s illustration in colour I have taken a sketch of the River Avon in the New Forest on a fine afternoon towards the end of October.

'Under a blue sky, broken by some light cloud, the autumn colours were just about at their best.

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'Touches of gold in the foreground gave way to rich browns in the middle distance and even the distant hills were pale reflections of these browns instead of the grey-blues we would normally expect. And through this peaceful scene the river wound its way towards me, reflecting the clear blue of the sky, its banks supported by quite deep reflections.

'The method of execution was much the same as that described in previous articles, so I may hope to be excused a detailed description in this case. Rather, I would like us to consider it from the point of view of the simplification theory mentioned in my last article.

'Since the sky was a very simple one, broken only by rather vague cloud shapes, we need not consider this but will come straight down to the distant hills and the bank of trees beyond the water meadows.

'Notice that no detail has been attempted in these passages. Many of the trees had lost much of their leaves and, if you had felt inclined, you could have found quite a lot of detail in them. However, I felt their warm colour was more important and by treating them as a mass I hoped to convey both the colour and a sense of distance beyond the meadows.

'Warm greys, into which some burnt sienna was worked, and a few accents of burnt umber, just before the passage dried out, gave me the rounded shapes which these trees suggested to me. If I have conveyed these shapes by this simple process then you will see what I mean by simplification within the limits of the medium.

'The middle distance was dealt with in the same way, but note the slight statements that indicate the structure of the taller tree, which help to bring this group into its correct position. Notice also how the dark mass away to the left of this group helps to bring up the brighter colours in the tree in the foreground.

'In direct contrast to these softly moulded shapes are the rushes and grasses in the foreground. Suggestions of these shapes had been left white until the final stages in order that I could decide how much, or rather, how little, work was needed in them. I needed to have these clean and crisp, as they would be invaluable in conveying a sense of recession. Similarly the dark reflections under the banks had to be strong in line and somewhat spiky in nature in order to set back the rather vague shapes in the meadows.'

The Mole near Leatherhead

In The Mole near Leatherhead, we see an example of early autumn on a still, very quiet day, which I have tried to convey with simple masses.

Similarly, with Elms and Willows, the simple flow of colour helps to suggest the gentle movement of the river, whilst the lack of too much detail in the trees keeps the eye on the water which, in this case, is the centre of interest.'

Autumn Harbour

'Autumn Harbour was painted in early November, fairly early in the day. The sun is getting lower in the sky at this time of the year, with the result that the lights seem stronger and the shadows longer. The peaceful air is strengthened by the lack of figures and activity, and a simple treatment keeps all these elements towards the complete calm that I felt in this subject.

'Next month I hope we shall venture into the winter – to me the most fascinating of all the seasons.'


Click here to see Edward Wesson's watercolour through the seasons: Spring

Click here to see Edward Wesson's watercolour through the seasons: Summer

Click here to see Edwards Wesson's watercolour through the seasons: Winter


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