Going into the studio this morning, we were excited to see what lay ahead of us. John had decided to show us how to use the pen that he provided us with. This was a matchstick, stuck in the end of a piece of cane! No expense spared in this instance, and we got to keep them! We went outside, just down the lane, where he sat and sketched a cottage whilst we watched or did a quick pencil sketch of our own. This showed his draughtsmanship, as he sketched the scene straight away in ink without any pencil guidelines, something I wouldn’t fancy doing. ,​We went back and followed him as he first drew the scene and then added colour. It was interesting to see his composition as most of us had concentrated on the cottage, whereas he had considered the whole scene and how it would work as a picture. We started to draw from the left side, so as not to smudge our work, using the tool to create a range of marks. It proved a useful piece of equipment and meant that you could get a range of lines without it being too uniform. I found it an enjoyable experience and will look forward to developing this style in future. It was interesting as he told us several things to help us with the composition; like where he added a car on the road to stop our eyes from going off the page, or the use of figures to add scale. Another important thing was the use of shadows to give a structure to the painting, something he always emphasised. I was quite pleased with my first attempt at this style but felt I had overworked the tree on the left, before I got used to the mark making. After lunch the weather had improved and we set off again to Burnham Overy Boathouse. Again, we picked our own scene to sketch. I liked the view from the carpark. Unfortunately, as I started working, the sun came out and I was staring straight into it. This made sketching quite difficult, as I had to keep squinting into it. I did manage a quick pen and ink drawing, using a pen, as I didn’t fancy sitting with an open ink bottle! With my luck, it was likely to spill over my clothes. I also managed to do a quick pencil drawing using the same viewpoint as John. Upon returning to the studio we then watched John paint the scene he had sketched. We could follow him or use our own sketch. I decided to do a little bit of both. It was fascinating to see him remember the colours, making slight adjustments to tone etc to bring the painting together. Again, I was quite pleased with my finished picture but was impressed with the slightly different viewpoint John chose, as the affect was quite dramatic. Also, it was interesting to see what he decided to leave out or add to the picture. A busy day and there was still another session the next day to look forward to.