Half term is over

So it is back to school, or in my case adult education. It was a beautiful day today that started with our first frost of the year and was soon followed by clear blue skies and sunshine. I was strongly tempted to miss my painting class and book up an hour in a Cessna. I checked the weather for tomorrow and it seems to be the same and so I was able to book for an hour of circuit flying on Friday morning and still make it to my painting class.

I managed to arrive precisely at the designated start time and found only one available seat that was rather a long way from where the painting subjects are set up. It was also looking into the light. Once the still life was set up, it looked most uninspiring from my position as a large vase was dominating the arrangement. I decided to do the same as a few others and paint a landscape. One of the ladies had a collection of calendar photos and I borrowed one. Having not done any landscape painting since my beginners course two years ago, I was a bit dubious about the project. Although I was unsure as to where to start when applying paint, at least the first task was to sketch the scene in pencil. As I was doing this, I racked my brains trying to remember the correct process. Yes, I know it is the light areas first, and so I got going.

Here is the result, it is Durdle Door in Dorset.





Here is a photo of the actual place. It is not the photo that I used for my painting.




It is a great looking place and I must take a visit there next summer.
My painting ended up kind of OK as a first attempt but it looked very 2D, so I cheated and used a soft pencil in order to try to give it a bit more shape. Mrs Peewit says that I should add a Scottie dog on the beach.

I mentioned that I had started trading stocks and shares recently. The PC based trading system uses a broadband connection. You can preset buy and sell conditions subject to certain criteria so that even when you are away, the shares can be traded. In the first month I had made over a £1000 profit, but a couple of these preset conditions caused shares to be sold, when if I had been watching I would have hung onto them. These caused losses and the worst one was whilst I was away at my painting class today. I managed to lose £730 in one hit. Luckily, I am still showing an overall profit. I am learning fast about what to do and what not to do. Hopefully I will get better at it and be able to avoid more silly mistakes. Buying my own aircraft is obviously a little way off yet.

I’m looking forward to getting back in the air tomorrow, even though it is only for circuits. It is important to keep my hand in at circuit procedure and landings. It seems that there will only be light winds so it should be fun.

Regards

Peewit