Back to black, grey and brown

Although its a relief the ice has gone and moving around requires a lot less concentration, the element of snow I miss most, apart from the obvious beauty, is the way it bounces light around, even in the shady places.  Suddenly everything seems surprisingly dim, especially in this misty drizzle we have here in the South Pennine hills.  Still, the trees never let you down, always some new angle to admire or familiar aspect to reconsider...

I love drawing on manila envelopes, something about the colour, texture and format. The trees are done with a reed pen I made from reeds gathered on the Vilaine estuary in South Brittany.

I suppose it would be even more appropriate to use a 'pen' made from a twig off the trees depicted - thats something to think about for later.