After the fun and excitement of last weekends show at Titchfield Haven, this week, it was nose firmly back to the grindstone. Working on interpretation paintings for Cow Green Resevoir and grabbing any moment while the washes dried to paint the garden birds.

It's starting to feel more like autumn/winter, so it won't be long before the Blackcaps are back and feeding on the fatballs - providing the Starlings leave some morsels for them.

Looming deadlines and work overload have kept me honest and at my desk for the last few days. They have prevented me from getting out and about  much - not even being able to get over and play with the delightful Blandford Otters. Nevertheless, I was determined to keep up with the sketching momentum I had built up of late. Therefore, I decided  that the first half-hour of each working day would be spent trying to capture the avian activities of 'our' garden birds on paper. My idea was to give myself a time-limit, to make me work very quickly and thus learn how to gather as much information about the light and birds, without the images becoming pedantic. Generally, I was quite pleased with the way it was all turning out.

This morning I looked out and noticed the usual suspects rousing themselves for the rigours of the day. Blue Tits, Goldfinches and Blackbirds were all posing nicely for their portraits to be painted. My pencil was poised to start, when a handsome male Great-spotted Woodpecker stole their limelight, flying in and landing briefly on the Birch Tree. He allowed just enough time for me make one rapid drawing, before undulating away stage left. I was reasonably happy that I had captured him on paper and while the moment was still alive in my mind, I kept drawing, painting and adding surrounding elements to the page. By the time I had completed the page, the half-hour was up, compelling me to get the nose back-to-the-grindstone.