A Beautiful Country Church

There is something special about a small country town. On approaching one already sees the church spire dominating the skyline. Small towns, large churches! Here on the West Coast it seems as if there have always been seats for every citizen of the the town. I was astounded to see the Dutch Reformed Church in Hopefield up close, never having seen a church where the colour black was so successfully integrated into the structure!

So how does one paint a 19th Century building with all its filigree, turrets and detail? As I have done at Malmesbury before, I decided to find an interesting section to paint. The painting was done in a single three-hour session using the wet-in-wet oil technique. I used an angled brush (shader) throughout, using the sides and the edge.