9 days after the flood, the river is still flowing fast and full. This sketch is from the banks of the 'new cut', at a point where the high water overflows a small weir. The main current continues down to the right. I stopped to sketch for 20 minutes with a 6B pencil. I was trying to adjust the tones to show some distant houses caught in winter sunshine, and, in the foreground, the willow branches silhouetted and crisp against the softer, graduated shadows on the reeds and grass beyond. It was too cold to stay long where I was in the damp shade, so I came home and tried to adjust the drawing with the help of a reference photograph. To be honest, what helped more than the photograph was the radiator. |