A few exercises in watercolour plus some acrylic ink for some dark hair. I must to stop before I overwork them and lose the freshness of the watercolour.

I have been out visiting a sick friend today so I haven’t had time to paint. I painted a watercolour last week that didn’t really work as a whole but there are sections I am happy with so here is one of them. I don’t deliberately do abstract work so this is a first.

Today’s portrait is my eldest grandson Emmet sat on his rocking horse. I am pleased with the light but I lost some of the likeness towards the end, not sure how! The horse will probably recognise itself.

Last week they were re surfacing part of the A35 in Bournemouth. Theses road rollers were parked in a side road overnight so I walked past them every morning when out walking the dogs. I painted this from a photo as I can’t make the dogs wait while I sketch on site, at least not by the roadside.

This was done using some photos I took on the beach yesterday. I wanted to explore the shapes the joggers made and it’s easier to do it from a photo than from life. The fountain I used had water soluble ink which darkens the colours as it runs.

I cycled down to the beach this morning and spent an hour sat on the prom sketching the joggers, walkers and cyclists enjoying a mild sunny morning. I sketched in pen and added watercolour when I couldn’t fit any more figures in. It’s difficult to get the sense of movement in joggers even though they are past and gone in a flash.

Kimmeridge is one of my favourite places on Dorset’s Jurassic coast. This is from a photo I took last month when I was painting there with some of the art group. The tower on the headland is Clavell tower which had to be moved a few years ago when it was in danger of falling over the cliff. It featured in Agatha Christie’s novel “The Black Tower” which like lots of her stories was set in Dorset.

Nuala with two of her training buddies Bramble and Lexie. We haven’t been able to do much training this year and I don’t expect we will do any until Easter at the earliest. I do train her at home with Fletcher but it’s not the same as being in a field with lots of other dogs.