In-progress oil pastel sketch of Birkenhead Park It has been a very long time - years, in fact - since I had used oil pastels. I'd been tidying up my art studio when I came across them stored away in a wooden box. The photo above shows a nearly-finished piece based on a sketch done on location in Birkenhead Park, where I've been regularly sketching for six years or more. I quite enjoyed using the oil pastels, and so may well turn to them again. The drawing is on dark grey A4 Khadi paper. While tidying the art room I also found two tubes of watercolour so old they'd gone solid. Rather than throw them away, I carefully cut open the tube, scraped the pigment into a large-sized palette, ground it into powder then mixed in some water. This has since dried into two pats of paint, one yellow ochre, the other crimson, which will be put to good use now they've been given a new lease of life.. Our garden seems to be confused. The winter jasmine is now in flower but so are the f