It’s March 2, 2021. Spring has been showing itself for a while once more. There are new buds, small birds are more noticeable, the sun is higher in the sky – when we see it – and you can feel the energy in the air.
Time for a quick sketch with a broad black marker on an A4 cartridge pad, looking up from a gully in my local wood. Keep it simple. On the ground the bluebell leaves are through the leaf litter a good two inches, not yet forming a green carpet.
Looking up the slope the trees beyond catch the light from over my shoulder, a metaphor for the whole experience, maybe.
![](https://alanbaggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Spring-wood-Marden-Hill-marker-pen-March-21-718x1024.jpg)
![](https://alanbaggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Spring-wood-Marden-Hil.-gouache-march-2021-9.5-x-12.5-sm.jpg)
I worked on this further when back indoors. While I like the pen drawing, and the gouache version (right), possibilities opened up when I began cropping in to the image in Photoshop, concentrating on the upper section. These are quite lively semi abstract images and might lead to further development.
![](https://alanbaggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Crop-1-Spring-wood-Marden-Hil.-gouache-march-2021-1024x550.jpg)
![](https://alanbaggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Crop-2-Spring-wood-Marden-Hil.-gouache-march-2021.jpg)
![](https://alanbaggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Crop-3-Spring-wood-Marden-Hil.-gouache-march-2021.jpg)
![](https://alanbaggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Crop-4-Spring-wood-Marden-Hil.-gouache-march-2021.jpg)