At last I have reached that stage of my life when leisure time, quality of life and art is more important than working to pay the mortgage. Whilst I discovered art at school (45 years ago), I was never very good although I did achieve a CSE. Cabinet Making and Technical Drawing then took over my life and this way my career for most of my adulthood. Technical drawing has always influenced my art, making it very formal, stiff and difficult to flow. Having discovered Alfred Wainwright, the lakeland artist and author, I was motivated to put pen to paper as his style of drawing very much suits my technical approach. From this I hope to develop into other mediums and become less formal with my work. As a beginner, I really would welcome comments and constructive criticism to help me develop and make a worthwhile contribution to Painters Online.