Description
Observatory Tower
oil on wood
84 x 59cm
The Observatory Tower depicted on the horizon of this painting is in the grounds of the Gunton Estate in Norfolk.
Erected on Pheasant Hill, one mile north-east of the house, this gault brick tower house was built for Edward, third Baron Suffield, in 1830.The architect is unknown.
I painted the view after a stay at the Gunton Arms January 2020, when we took a walk across the grounds towards the north, a direction we hadn’t explored before. The dusk was setting in and bathed everything in a pink light with dark, inky pines lining the path.
I used a slight tilt upwards of the land with a high horizon in order to include more detail and give a map like feel to the composition. I have been painting other work from drone photos and have enjoyed using the bird’s eye view and this is seeping into my other work. The map isn’t an exact representation of reality, I have moved a few trees, bringing one to the close foreground.
Painted using a four colour palette which has dominated my work for the last five years, on a braced birch wood panel.
