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Thinking of some of the drawings in Dan Price's book (see previous page), I start by drawing a box on the page. The landscape runs on and on, beyond my field of view, so the box enables me to complete a drawing in just a few minutes, without thinking that there's a hedge I should follow at bit further or an extra tree that should go in. The advantage of this walk is that we start straight from home so there's no driving or changing footwear; the disadvantages are the muddy footpaths through Coxley, the road-walking by Smithy Brook and (compared with our favourite walk around Newmillerdam) you're more likely to meet motorbikes and see sights like the pile of discarded furniture and Christmas rubbish, dumped down a lane near Thornhill Park. There's so much to see in Thornhill Park, so many subjects that strike me as tempting to draw, that I find myself thinking of doing a booklet on it. But I must focus on the Peak District . . . Looks who's talking (almost)
I've been sketching Alice, from next door, since she
was a few weeks old. Here she is aged a year and four months and she's
very articulate; she doesn't seem to make much sense to me, but she's
got a lot of rhythm and cadence in her babbling. She'll pause and smile
for a moment, then move her eyes, smilingly and coyly from side to side,
as if she's giving a lecture and she's made some erudite joke and she's
waiting to see if the members of her audience have picked up on it.
Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk |
A
new bench in Thornhill Park and a slightly different
view, which takes in Storrs Hill on the opposite side
of the Calder Valley. This was once a regular walk but last year, for
one reason or another, we didn't get out this way more than a few times.
