An expression meaning many things, but here I use it literally. The past month is almost a blur, with a second trip to Australia to see the youngest daughter, who lives some way out from Brisbane. I had in tow her sister and brother, he from Melbourne, she from Dunedin and me, Mum from Auckland. That explains my busyness, and lack of posts. It doesn’t explain my latest blip which was putting my back out, and although I have been doing regular exercise, I also need to sit down more. Perfect for getting a sketch done!

With the sky in a mood to match mine, I took a photo then sent it to my desktop, as it makes a larger and better image for me to sketch from. I used Hahnemühle 300 gms cold-pressed watercolour paper in block form, which has a nice textured surface. As I always need to leave the work to dry after applying water, I did this soon after starting. It suited me to leave the work to dry as often as I could, as anyone with back troubles knows, it is best not to stay in one position for too long. Once dry, I applied blue watercolour across the water-soluble graphite and aquarelle I’d already scribbled down.

I fiddled a little more, unsure of how ‘advanced’ I wished to make this sketch. After adding more tone to the higher clouds I again left the work to dry. I had to speak with a new local regarding writing after this, so never got back to the sketch that day. However, when I viewed it afresh, I decided I quite liked the unfinished quality, and that’s the image I present below. Sometimes, or at least this time, I decided that less is more.

Time now, to return to the novel.