I arrive at 12ish with portable travel easel, a green-primed square board, a filthy big oil palette, an assortment of different brushes, with different attack functions, and a plastic biscuit tin full of gungy oil paint tubes. I have the whole of a sunny afternoon and evening to get it down, - stretching through lengthening shadows, Fuelled with a flask of tea and some biscuits to be guzzled later only on a well-earned 'half-time' break.

This first part of the battle is quite exacting, requiring sharp observation and precision mark-making. Using a then mix of burnt umber and black, I locate the buildings and key trees and shrubs, describing the surfaces with flat brown tones. In the past I usually did this with charcoal, but I tend to get caught up too much in the drawing process that way, and end up narrowing the possibilities for lively paint use when I over-describe with drawing. So this time I draw in paint, - not too precious... A tonal underpainting like underpants. Then I bashed in the sky with a mix of titanium white, and reddish blue, which could be much looser. By the time I'd set up my painting post and done all this, 2 or 3 hours had flown by. I treated myself to a BLT in the cafe instead of my tawdry rations.