Boating lake in oil pastels

Victoria Park West Lake

I've indulged myself and bought a big box of 72 oil pastels. My old ones were all dried up so I threw them out. I wanted to work with a larger range of colours and I've never had so much choice.

Earlier today I braved the blustery wind and strolled into Victoria Park which is right next to where we live and set up my garden chair underneath a tree near the West Lake where they have boats for hire.

I was attempting to try and convey moving water with the boats bobbing around on the surface. I have tried to do this before in a different medium and was reasonably pleased with the results. I think the best approach is not to be too critical of the results and just accept whatever you come up with. I also wanted to include some of the ducks that were busy swimming around but you have to be careful to not make them too big otherwise they can end up looking like the Loch Ness monster.

One of the hazards of working outside, apart from the weather, are the passers-by who might like to offer advice, talk about themselves, or if they are children just make a lot of noise and stare at you. I was fortunate today that I must have been virtually invisible because only two people made any comment and they were polite and undemanding.

This box of pastels are made by Sennelier and they are easy to hold and lovely and oily. I didn't realise until I read the information that they only exist because Pablo Picasso asked Henri Sennelier in 1949 if he could 'create a new medium that had qualities of oil paint and soft pastel in an easy to apply stick form.' So that's a high five to Picasso!

This is part of my view from my chair under the tree

I do like to be beside the seaside

View of the seafront from the Brighton Centre

In the last month or so I have taken up power walking round our local park. This is the closest I've ever got to jogging which I've never seen the point of and have never been attracted to. I've been encouraged to do this in an effort to increase my cardiovascular fitness.

'Yeah, right' was my initial sceptical response to this idea but having started my 30 minute sessions four or five times a week I've found I'm really enjoying it and my fitness has improved already. Although the park stays the same the light varies continually and, this being autumn, the colours of the trees are changing daily too.

Two weeks ago I was due to attend the Liberal Democrat Party conference in Brighton, East Sussex. I was joining my colleagues from Lib Dem HQ for five days of conferring and working. Since I had established my walking regime at home I didn't want to go without my daily walk while we were at the seaside.

View of the seafront from my fourth floor window

So I'd leave the hotel before breakfast and charge along the seafront in the wind and the rain while enjoying the spray on my face from the sea. It's surprising how many other people you meet on these outings who are on bikes, running or taking the dog for a walk so what feels like a solitary experience isn't really at all.

Every day I tried to draw at least one sketch to try and capture the mood of the weather. During our five days it was blustery and frequently raining very hard. As the conference drew to a close the weather improved enormously and I had a chance to walk on the pebbly beach, inhale some sea air and attempt another sketch of the constantly shifting view before heading back to London.

Brighton seafront with the sun out