Painting the hike to Pen Y Fan in Wales, UK

I painted dawn in the Brecon Beacons National Park - capturing the moment just before the sun has risen above the horizon, leaving the land dark and silent. The soft barely-there light on the hills contrasting with the quickly brightening sky was so subtly beautiful.

I visited in September last year and (thanks to my friends' enthusiasm) embarked on the Horseshoe hike to climb Pen Y Fan before sunrise. We got lost in the dark around the abandoned Neaudd Reservoir pumping station and nearly turned back. But we found our way and were rewarded for our perseverance with spectacular views.

These scenes are painted from photos I took just before the challenging climb up to the Graig Fan Ddu ridge. When we got to the top I thought the hard part was over and was declaring victory - 6 hours later we made it back to the car!

I'm planning on two new BIG paintings of the view from the Pen Y Fan peak and will update this post when they're finished!