Watercolour with some pastel.

Original painting
27 1/2 inches wide x 9 7/8 inches tall

I painted this picture from one of my favourite places, the end of Newford island, on a bright summer morning in 2005. When I started it was very sunny. I have learned through experience that, if I don't paint boats in straight away, they have a tendency to move off. So I started with the boats in the middle, only to find half way through the morning, the wind had changed and the other boats were facing the wrong way. Undeterred, I carried on with the town in the background. Then a bank of fog rolled in so I started on the foreground. When the tide came in, threatening to cut me off, I gave up for the day. I still liked the painting however and was able to finish it on subsequent visits.