Silvery winter sketching

The winter here in the UK is almost never white, but very grey – lots and lots of various combinations of this colour. As if someone had slid a Saturation bar down (though not all the way to the end) in a Photo-editor.  And I love it! Especially by the sea. All you have to do is divide the piece of paper with a horizontal line and paint both halves a different grey, usually a colder one in the sky and a warmer one of the sea (or vice versa on a sunny day but that’s rare 😉). Then the sea has various gradations within its colour. All very subtle, like in a pearl.

It can be an endless exercise of detecting the relationship between the greys above the horizon and below it, darker/lighter, bluer, greener etc. Plus the light changes all the time. Beautiful.

To cut the long story short, all my latest pictures are grey.

Each picture has a location in it’s caption.

Milford-on-Sea

Lepe Country Park. The Isle of Wight is so close.

New Year’s Day in Boscombe, Bournemouth. That rare day, when the sky is a warm colour.

Lepe Country Park. A6 postcard

Lepe Country Park. A6 postcard

Isle of Wight from the Highcliffe beach

Milford-on-Sea

Lepe Country Park

Lepe Country Park. Boxing Day

Milford-on-Sea

This is a Russian poem, but it coveys the mood very well.

И небо и серое море
Уходят в немую безбрежность.
Так в сердце и радость и горе
Сливаются в тихую нежность.

Другим – бушевания бури
И яростный ропот прибоя.
С тобой – бесконечность лазури
И ясные краски покоя.

На отмель идут неизбежно
И гаснут покорные волны.
Так думы с беспечностью нежной
Встречают твой образ безмолвный.

Валерий Брюсов