How did the idea come about?

Has anything like this been done before?

Do you take photographs or sketch on location?

How close are the views to A.W's?

What does the Wainwright family think?

Who will benefit?

How can we purchase a painting?

Will there be prints or a book of the work?

How did the idea come about?  In many years of walking the Lake District fells I, like many others, have used Wainwright's Pictorial Guides as a reference for routes and points of interest. Whilst referring to the books I would often compare A.W's illustrations to the view before me. From that I considered that it would be interesting to produce sketches in watercolour of some of the scenes. My first thoughts along these lines was about three or four years ago.

Has anything like this been done before? As far as I know no-one has undertaken such a challenge along these lines. Currently the Wainwright guides are being revised by Chris Jesty but he is working on updating information on routes etc. My project involves many hours of research and time in the field though not on the scale of Chris's work. A photographer could produce a collection of images but in my view they would not have the same type of artistic integrity.

Do you take photographs or sketch on location? It would be nice to be able to sketch every view on location but it is practically impossible for many reasons. Firstly time, would take many years to get to the right location in the right weather conditions to produce the work. Secondly is the major fact that A.W. relied totally on photographs. This means that the majority of his views were taken from a standing position. (See the next question.)

How close are the views to A.W's? When I began this idea I really only stood near to where he stood for his view. As time has gone on I am now ensuring that I obtain my references from the exact location where he stood. This means that some of my earlier photographs have been inaccurate and have had to be retaken. Using the guide books I line up features such as cairns, ridges and distant summits precisely. Taking into account that A.W. was several inches taller than me I sometimes have to stand on tip-toes to achieve the correct result. I am now able to even judge when he knelt or bent down to take his photographs. Below is an example of hope the work is produced. I have shown one of my photographs taken from the exact spot where A.W. stood for his reference photograph for the Summit of Rannerdale Knotts. I have include a simple illustration showing the differences in the view in the intervening years. Due to copyright laws I am unable to show A.W's drawing but it can be seen in Book Six of the Pictorial Guides- Rannerdale Knotts 3, The Main Summit. I assume that A.W's inaccuracy in the shape of the foreground rock was due to the poor definition in his black and white photograph.

What does the Wainwright family think? In the past few months I have been in contact with Wainwright's family to ensure that the project and the "Wainwrights" title does not misrepresent the family name. One of A.W's step-daughters has even paid a visit to the gallery to view the work.

Who will benefit? Obviously as a professional artist this is my income, however I do plan to donate some of the proceeds to at least one charity. I have decided that 5% of all sales will be divided between Kapellan, The Wainwright Shelter of Animal Rescue Cumbria, a charity very close to A.W.'s heart. as well as Fix The Fells, an organisation which works on the upkeep and repair of footpaths on the Lakeland Fells.

Where and when is the exhibition?  The exhibition has now ended. the 18 unsold works will shortly be on display at the gallery. Catalogues are still available if you are interested in the works.

Will there be prints or a book of the work? There are no plans to produce prints on any of these sketches. However, I am currently working on images of some of the favourite Lakeland Fells known as The "Classics" Series which will available at a later date. Due to the many enquiries that I have now received about the possibilities of a book, I have recently been laying the plans for production of a quality "coffee table" book on the project. This book is potentially going to be not only published but also printed in Cumbria. It will be of approximately 290 pages, all in full colour. There will be a special Limited Edition of the book of 214 copies, each of these will include an original sketch within the book of one of the 214 fells. Due to time constraints the book will not be available during the exhibition. However we will have on display a "mock-up" of the book and we will be taking orders for copies. The book is likely to be available in early 2010. if you would like information on the book then do complete the feedback form.