Sharp Edge, Blencathra in winter.

There was not much doubt in my mind about including this iconic ridge in this series of work. Sharp Edge is not particularly long but it makes up for that in its excitement. The narrow crest is not for the faint-hearted especially in times of high wind and rain. The rock surface of the crest is now highly polished with wear and an awkward step has to be overcome in the traverse.

"I was wanting an overall view of the ridge and knew that the adjacent fell of Bannerdale Crags would offer the best location. So it was on Christmas Day 2009 we headed off on our walk to capture the scene under a fresh cover of snow. The conditions were perfect with a low sun casting strong shadows and the snow just deep enough to leave some of the rocks exposed."

Here are the initial sketches for the final composition and a link to that day of walking. 25/12/09

I am continuing to work on this painting idea and progress will be added to this page on a regular basis.

Notes on the "Classics" series. All paintings will be produced in watercolour and will measure approximately 405mm high by 508mm wide for the landscape versions and 508mm high by 390mm for the portrait styled scenes (as above).  It is my intention to produce a high quality (giclee) print from each image in this set but only to an edition of 75 and to the exact size of the original. The images will not be available in any other format. If you are interested in any of these images then please do contact me via the link on the home page.

All images copyright © Andy Beck