A brief taste of Spring

Well, it was actually more like mid-summer for three days at the end of last week.  The boots, scarves and jumpers were discarded in favour of light and cool attire and we spent a beautiful day at Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire.  The swathes of daffodils were almost over, but were being replaced with snakehead fritillaries, primroses, wood anemones, magnolias and cherry blossom.

I made a basic plein air sketch of this quaint Japanese style building using pen and Inktense pencils, adding more line work and stronger watercolour washes later at home.

Note to self:  remember the old saying "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out".  We are now back to cold, wet and windy!