Two images today, firstly a sketch from Hayling Island, where I went with Liz for a weekends rest about two weeks ago.

It was rather cold, so lengthy outdoor work was not practical, therefore a five minuet pencil sketch was appropriate, followed by an ink work up later in the hotel bar of the hotel over a relaxing drink. The moral behind that is; cold and inclement weather are not stoppers to your art adventures.

Then secondly a Christmas greeting to you all. We all need encouragment and followers of my blog greatly encourage me; so thank you. And quickly from an arty point of view, have you ever tried monochromic painting, that is painting with only one colour (in this case two), it is good fun, why not try it over Christmas.

I am now shutting down for two weeks, so in the mean time have a wonderful,  blessed Christmas.

Charles.

Yesterday was super, one of those rare days when we were both free, so off we went to London. After a little business work we ended in Covent Garden, a place we both love. We went to Gudrums a Swedish clothing retailer which produces stunning designs, which also look good on Liz. So her Christmas present was easy to choose.

For various reasons this was my first trip into London for several months, so a sketch was a must. The above is of the junction of Garrick Street, Cranbourne Street and St Martins Lane. There was no chance of Liz hanging around in the cold for me to enjoy my art, so a photo had to do and then to work it up later.

I would always say that working in the open air, whilst looking at the subject is always the best by far, but sometimes that just is not possible. On those occasions, such as when your wife says no!working from a photo is acceptable. A word of caution; if the work is going to be sold or displayed, to copy another persons photo is plagiary and not then permissible as original and your work. The simple answer is, carry a camera with you, and work from your own photos. The sketch is of

P.S. Liz got a lovely top, slacks and necklace.

On my blog the other day I remarked as to how diverse Hayling Island was. Church wise we found Elim Pentecostal churches right through to High Church. A Romanoff Princess's grave to simple wooden memorials; likewise church widows covered the whole spectrum. Finding modern windows, which were probably replacements, following bomb damage, resulting from the WW11 and also several exquisite Victorian glass lights, the example above was one of my favourites. In my humble opinion the Victorians were the masters of this art form. Whatever your stance with regards to faith, windows like this show an astounding, understanding of form, light and colour; with an astonishing ability to place these insights onto representations on glass.

With regards to photographing these windows, try to take these images when the window is in a shaded situation with even light covering the whole window, often an overcast, cloudy day is best; the time of day (the suns position) can be a factor. The exposure is best measured from the brightest area of the light; if taken from another area, detail will be lost to burn out. Then lastly take great care that the camera is as close to square on (right angles)to the widow as is possible. A tripod helps, but often I place my camera on a pew or something else which is available.

We just took three days off and went to Hayling Island for no better reason than neither of us had been there before and we were due a few days rest; it was also Liz's birthday.

Hayling Island is one of contrasts, to the south a little like out of season Blackpool, whilst the north east (where we were staying), could better be compared with the Suffolk countryside and Constable paintings. Everybody was very friendly and food was available at very reasonable prices. We highly recommend the Barley Mow, which we came to call disrespectfully and unfairly the miserable cow.

It was a little chilly for lengthy outdoor painting sessions, so I was limited to short pencil sketch's, which were worked up later on in the evenings. The above, called the Kench, is where rather old boats in a muddy inlet have been converted into homes.

As I said the Isle was an area of contrasts, more in a few days.