Last thoughts of the day

I'm very tired, being out that long is not what I'm used to, hurrying to get my daughter to nursery or back and spending the rest of the day in front of a laptop.

But however attractive walking all day sounds, I only allowed myself two points to sit down and draw or write. I wonder if I would be more productive if I didn't feel like I had to cover so much ground. I guess I'm just excited to be out in the countryside.

The real challenge tomorrow will be the weather I think. I shall have to see what I can do given the rain we're forecast.


I did enjoy taking time to sit outside and draw, not because I liked the results, but because I was forced to stop for a while and complete a task. I liked being on the hill fort Carl Wark, it reminded me of childhood holidays with my family and our pilgrimages to iron age hill forts in Dorset. Whatever their age, and Carl Wark is disputed, I do get a strange, slightly spooky feeling from those locations, perhaps I imagine how afraid one would have been if you felt the need for them.

Sadly, the screen of the eeepc was too dim to use it as a Claude Mirror - perhaps the bad weather tomorrow will suit itself although I'm a bit concerned about getting everything too wet.

The Walk as a GPS drawing

A Five and a Half Hour Walk in 16 seconds

Here is my day, as witnessed by the web cam that was on my shoulder most of the way, compressed into a movie lasting 16 seconds, using the free Linux tool ffmpeg with the one-liner ffmpeg -r 8 -i %03d.png -s vga 8fps.mp4

Sketchbook II

Sitting under this rock

Looking at this view

I'm struck by the thought of another that I've taken on this journey and that I've rather neglected in the itinerary of camera, web cam, eeepc, watercolours, sound recorder, batteries, my internal dialogue etc etc: My body!
Assailed by thoughts of sunburn - this, the first bright but cold day of the year, me with no hat (forgotten in the hotel room), about to walk along Stannage Edge with no shade or cloud cover in sight. My body with its filling bladder, my body that I forgot to bring any food for. My body that gets left out of my romantic/digital debate so far, the sherpa for all this kit I insist on bringing. How can I bring it into this practice? Perhaps this walk is a walk towards this, towards an integration of some sort. Perhaps I'll have to put my coat on with the hood up while I walk!

[Later note: I subsequently found my hat in the pocket of my coat and wore it from this moment on I'll let you know tomorrow if I got burnt!]

From My Sketchbook I

It's occurring to me, as I sit for a while (the GPS track might tell me how long) that what drawing really does is force you to stop, if only for a while. Something that some aspects of digital life, especially mobile applications, encourage or at least enable is constant motion.
However, getting more into programming recently, I am all too aware of the painstaking craft of writing code in some instances. I wonder if I should really do some coding en plein air! I suppose I'm blogging now, although it's too bright to see the screen so I'm writing this round the frame of the drawing that I'm not very happy with.

A Lovely Morning

Just had breakfast in the intimidatingly luxurious hotel dining area, feeling very scruffy in my un-ironed shirt and fleece which would normally pass unnoticed in my natural habitat, I feel a bit too conspicuous - a polar bear in a coal mine (can't think of a better analogy at the moment).

I plan a day of walking in this sunny spring weather because the weekend will be wet. I'll post my findings when I get back later.

Have a good day, wherever you are.