Back from England! (Patreon)

Back from two fantastic weeks of holidaying in the South of England with the family. We went up Tintagel, Helman Tor and Glastonbury Tor, to the Doctor Who experience in Cardiff, walked to St Michael's Mount off the Cornwall coast even though the walkway was already flooded, found 400 million years old ammonites and other fossils in Lyme Regis, became English heritage members and saw more castles and battlefields and Roman palaces than you can shake a stick at. And had a hoot-hoot at Paultons Park. The English are weird. They don't realise that theme parks are great even if you're older than ten; they may shave in the bathroom but not dry their hair there, they can choose between freezing or boiling their fingers when they wash their hands but nothing in between, but they just do the greatest museums and historical experiences on earth. 

The children had a blast of a time and I took almost a thousand photos. XD And I wished, at times, that I had a smartphone, so I could have shared some stuff with you before being back home. I took photos that looked like straight out of an Alan Lee painting. I'm sure he's been to St Nectan's Glen. 

I managed to do watercolour sketches in some places, mostly in the evenings - referenced from the photos I'd taken during the day. The one above is my favourite - a grey and rainy day in Bodmin Moor, on Helman Tor. The wind is so strong that the treetops grow sideways. We were almost alone up there - on of the most magical places I've seen.

My first sketch, plein air, at Lyme Regis. I hadn't used my watercolour brushes in... a year?, and the water was slightly gooey, resulting in odd effects. My sketchbook will probably rot away in about a week. 

This little fellow alighted right next to us while we sat at Chalice Well in Glastonbury. Unfortunately, my Moleskine turned out NOT to be a watercolour sketchbook after all, so the colours are all runny. 

More in the next post! 

So glad I can post multiple pictures on Patreon now!!