Canal Gardens

I was brought up close to Roundhay so this is a place that means a lot to me. There are some things you paint and know they are a one off and others that you know you’ll paint again and again throughout your painting career. And Canal Gardens in Roundhay Park will be one of mine most often visited.

There was a lot about this painting I liked. The building works better than I had hoped, the fountain on the water is great and after many attempts I got the brick work to be the colour I remembered from my childhood. Not necessarily the actual colour but that’s me developing as a painter and painting what I want to see rather than copying from a photograph.

The flowers were great fun and again a lot of this was from other sources and imagination as my source photo was in the autumn and I wanted to paint it like I remembered on a Summer day. I was particularly pleased with the flowers on the left and the depth of the flower beds and shadowing.

What didn’t work well in this painting is the Willow tree. It is much too flat. There isn’t enough depth to it. It’s also a bit solid and there would be more see through areas on this kind of tree. Sadly the tree spoils this one a bit for me. That said the painting may have its flaws but it is still one of the pieces I most enjoyed painting so that’s a different kind of win!

Roanna Carleton Taylor