(I've added an update at the end of this original post)

I took a lot of photos of the newly-formed tidal estuary at Budleigh Salterton recently, with a view to combining the 'best bits' into a single painting. Today I created some quick monochrome studies of my four favourite photos, just for a bit of practice and to get an idea of which aspects will work best. I used Paynes Grey on a 14"x10" block of Saunders Waterford rough (the warmer tone at the top is just due to the lighting when I took the photo!). I really enjoyed just using one 'colour', and focusing on getting the tone right without worrying about mixing the right colours.

I can't decide if I want the tree towards the left, or the right - opinions welcome!

Update:

So I went with bottom-right to do a bigger, colour version. I started off intending to use a very limited palette of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, but it just looked very dreary, so I went back in with a glaze of (I think!) Indian Yellow and Light Red on the hills to warm them up, and some on the reeds too.

Saunders Waterford rough (block), A4

I still wanted to have another go, so I did a few more 'minis' (without referring to the photos, only the studies), starting with another Paynes Grey monochrome to play with the composition (looks more like sepia, but that's just bad photography!):

Then a couple more with a limited palette, but I decided to move the tree back again! I really like the distant tree-covered hills in the second one, and the colour in the mid-ground trees, but I didn't vary the sizes of the trees enough so they're a bit too regular. I got a cool effect at the boundary between the tree line and the reeds where the dark paint bled downwards, and the clear water bled upwards creating a branch-like effect. One of those magic watercolour moments, which I didn't manage to recreate in the second version! Maybe I'll have one more go... 😉