Two sketches from today - both completed in situ with no extra work afterwards: The first, a group of six characters outside a tent, took two and a quarter hours to do, is a rather made up composition of the scene in order to get the elements to work. I was quite happy with it, though I think it lacks a bit of looseness and freedom. The second, a group having a meal at a table, began as a very, very quick pen and ink sketch in my sketchpad - I was limited by visibility and ti

9.30am, 6 April I walk up the sunken trackway from Clunton to the wooden gate. The catch clunks loudly as I open it and enter the woods. A portal to another dimension. A song thrush still sings and, is that a greater-spotted woodpecker I hear? The views disappear into a white mist of rain. It isn’t heavy, but not what I really wanted today. There is a reasonable breeze too, the sort of day which makes deciding what to wear for a day’s walking difficult. I had returned after w

Clunton, Shropshire, 4 April, 9.15pm The spring wind is cool, ering on the side of cold. Clouds still reflect the distant flow of western daylight as a very slight lighter skyline above the western hills. Starlight has a faint presence when their light permeates an overcast sky. The land and hills of the valley are black, their form silhouetted against a fractionally lighter sky. The river mumbles nearby, but other sounds are absent as the wind shrouds the landscape in waves

Sowdley Wood, Clunton, Shropshire, 2 April, 11am Entering the wood at the top of the sunken track, edged by arching hazel and steep banks of loose shale, I realise why woodland in spring is so beautiful. A woodpecker drums in the distance and two greater-spotted woodpeckers fly to a tree above me, chattering in their loud squawking voices before flying off again. Birdsong fills the trees. A pigeon cooing, a chiffchaff ‘chiff-chaffing’, numerous SUBs (Small Unseen Birds) chirp

Clunton, Shropshire, April 1st, 5.30pm. Bright spring sunshine warms the cheeks within a cool breeze as I sit outside our holiday lodge on the banks of the River Clun. Robin singing in alders beside stream though can’t see it : Blue tits chirping nearby : The tumble of water over stones constantly heard in the background : Sheep and young lambs bleating in field on hill : Daffodils nodding in the breeze and forsythia - both brilliant yellow : Spider on decking boards : ‘Pooti

The tea room at Powis Castle last week. I had started to draw the castle from the garden but it was too complicated for the time I had. I had also got cold so went into the cafe to warm up. It was not very busy.

A merry little picture for an old school friend.

Birthday card design for my wife.