Had a bit of a break from drawing recently, but decided to take on a recent request for a pet portrait with a bit of a sad story. It's in coloured pencil (not taking commissions - it's just a hobby I like to dabble in now and again). #coloredpencil #petportrait

Not too many flowers left in the garden now, but here's some little violas that have weathered the wind and rain so far. #photography #nature #naturephotography #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #bloomscrolling

Dramatic morning sky. #photography #nature #blueskyphotography #naturephotography #sky #clouds

Good morning! Here's a lovely sunflower in my garden. #photography #nature #naturephotography #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling #sunflower

Lovely light in the woods this morning. #photography #nature #blueskyphotography #naturephotography #onlybeautifulthings

This American Pillar rose that runs along my garden fence produces masses of blooms every year. #photography #nature #naturephotography #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling #roses

Lovely dramatic skies this morning. #photography #nature #blueskyphotography #naturephotography #onlybeautifulthings #sunrise #skies

Ferns are so graceful. Here's one I took a couple of mornings ago in late summer golden light with some nice bokeh in the background. #photography #nature #blueskyphotography #naturephotography #onlybeautifulthings #fern #bokeh

A welsh poppy in my garden #photography #nature #naturephotography #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling

Taken on a damp morning walk through the woods - a raindrop about to drop from the end of a fern. #photography #nature #blueskyphotography #naturephotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling

Astrantia in the garden. I liked the dreamy abstract look of this which I didn't expect. #photography #nature #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling #rosewednesday

Rose "Princess Anne" in front of my living room window, smells as lovely as it looks. #photography #nature #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling #rosewednesday

A wild foxglove. #photography #nature #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling

A hydrangea in my garden. #photography #nature #flowers #garden #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings #bloomscrolling

The lovely topiary gardens at Levens Hall yesterday. There were so many butterflies too. 🦋 #photography #nature #flowers #garden #topiary #cumbria #blueskyphotography #gardenphotography #onlybeautifulthings

The seedpods of a foxglove plant. #photography #macro #macrophotography #naturephotography

Taken from my bathroom window this morning. #nature #roedeer #photography

Close up of a pansy. #macrophotography #macro #photography.#naturephotography #bloomscrolling

Tiny blue flowers in the garden #macrophotography #macro #photography.#naturephotography #bloomscrolling

Trying out a bit of macrophotography today. I quite liked this shot of montbretia flower buds. #macro #photography #macrophotography #naturephotography

Tiny new born deer right in the middle of the path a couple of days ago. More in Alt. #nature #wildlife #deer #roedeer

Finally finished my coloured pencil raven portrait. #coloredpencil #handdrawn #drawing #bird #birds #raven #BirdArt #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart #sciart

Work in progress - a raven in coloured pencil. Still a lot to do. #coloredpencil #polychromos #drawing #bird #birds #raven #BirdArt #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

Labour are backtracking on a plan to help save birds: by blocking a new rule that would make developers put a £35 nest brick in every new home. They think it'll help win them votes - we need to show it would do the opposite. Sign the petition 38d.gs/ky2i

First attempt at the daily haiku prompt Blue sky, drifting clouds Mirrored in the pool below Heron stands watching. #dailyhaikuprompt #haiku #pool #birdhaiku

Dip pen and ink drawing of celandines. It's the first drawing I did using dip pen, learning how to control the weight and smoothness of the line without making blots. #dippen #penandink #handdrawn #art #nature

Found the remains of a blackbird egg among the buttercups this morning. #nature #wildlife

A page from my sketchbook. Dog rose and rose hips study in ballpoint pen. Ballpoint is great - cheap as chips, and creates a nice softish line somewhere between ink pen and pencil. #ballpoint #sketchbook #botanicalart #drawing #nature #art

Two nice captures on the Merlin app today. I missed both by ear, but it's picking up Hawfinch most days. There are two ospreys nests within a mile or two of here, and have seen them flying over previously, so no reason to doubt it. #birds #birdsong #merlinapp

Cuckoo's been cuckooing like crazy for the last few days. This is him this morning. Looking up the Rusland valley towards Coniston. #cuckoo #birdsong #nature #birds

Here's my pied flycatcher pen and ink drawing - mainly microns with a bit of dip pen. #micronpen #dippen #drawing #inkdrawing #bird #birds #piedflycatcher #BirdArt #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

This is an old charcoal burning platform which is on my daily walking route - restored by my friend. There are a few others scattered through this wood, many others in the local area, and also remnants of the burners' dwellings. Click Alt for more. #Cumbria #LakeDistrict #ruralheritage #history

Tree doodles from my sketchbook #trees #drawing #handdrawn #pencil #pencildrawing #nature

A few of the birds picked up by the excellent Merlin app today. It's exciting to see the pied flycatcher on there - I know they're here but don't see them often. It missed the cuckoo, which was a little way off. Not impressed by its spelling of Grey Wagtail though! #birdsong #nature

Reposting my watercolour Mother Shipton moth for #mothmay #watercolour #watercolor #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

A small goldfinch painting in dip pen and ink, with watercolour. #dippen #penandink #watercolor #watercolour #lineandwash #bird #birds #BirdArt #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

Dawn chorus at 4.30 this morning - song thrush and swallow (nesting in my woodshed) in the foreground, and a gazillion blackbirds and others all around but not picked up quite so well on the video. It's going to be another lovely day. #dawnchorus #birdsong #birds #wildlife #nature

Here's a little soundscape from very early this morning. The loud singing in the foreground is a song thrush, and you can also hear blackbird, robin, pheasant and sheep! #birdsong #songthrush #nature #birds #cumbria #wildlife #inthewoods

My drawing of an Oleander Hawk Moth for #mothmay - drawn in dip pen and ink. #mothmay #hawkmoth #dippen #drawing #inkdrawing #moth #nature #wildlife #wildlifeart #artyear #bskyart

Happy Beltane! This is my stomping ground on a beautiful May Day morning. Cuckoo is cuckooing, smell of bluebells is divine. It's paradise. #beltane #mayday #birdsong #bluebells #woods #nature

This is a 2 inch square section of something I'm working on at the moment for Moth May - just to show the lines and dots that make up a dip pen and ink drawing. The completed drawing will be 12 in x 6 in. #dippen #drawing #inkdrawing #moth #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

Bluebell time is my absolute favourite time of year. The path through the woods carpeted with blue 💙 💚 💙 #bluebells #nature #cumbria #spring #beautifulthings

This morning my geese decided to squeeze under the gate and go for a jaunt round the village, thankfully too early to find anyone to terrorize. This is a painting from a while ago. It's acrylic on paper. #acrylic #acrylicpainting #bird #birds #geese #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

A sad little discovery on my walk this morning. A nest dropped from a tree, all 3 eggs cracked. The nest is incredible, made from feathers, moss and lichen, and the eggs are tiny - no more than 1cm. I'm pretty sure its the nest of a long-tailed tit. I feel a nest painting coming on. #birds #nature

Two crows enjoying the corn I put out for my geese in the morning. Drawn with micron pen on paper. #micronpen #drawing #inkdrawing #bird #birds #crow #BirdArt #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

My drawing of a roe deer - I see them most days, looking just like this, carefully watching from a distance as you walk past. They're so beautiful and graceful. #drawing #procreate #deer #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart

I've done very little painting recently as a dose of 'flu knocked me sideways, but I've just managed to complete this little watercolour of a Mother Shipton moth - named after a 16th century witch from North Yorkshire. #watercolour #watercolor #nature #wildlife #wildlifeart #artyear #moth

This is my latest corvid drawing - a rook - Corvus frugilegus, common in the UK and the Palearctic. It's drawn with a micron ink pen. Impressive birds with that huge bill. #micronpen #drawing #inkdrawing #bird #birds #birdart #corvid #penandink #micron #nature #wildlife #wildlifeart #artyear

I've been doing a bit of cross stitching recently. This is the first one I've designed myself. I just wanted something simple, folk art inspired, that wouldn't take long to stitch. #crossstitch #crossstitching #stitchsky #birds #craftsky #needlepoint #fiberarts #folkart

Another deer painting, this time of a red deer. There's a herd of up to a hundred that roam up and down the valley here - a really beautiful sight when you come across them. #paint #painting #acrylicpainting #deer #reddeer #nature #wildlife #WildlifeArt #artyear #bskyart