Standing on the edge.

  Of all the sketches for the Wainwrights in Colour project there are one or two which stand out for some special reason. So it was for this painting from the Whin Rigg chapter, page 8.

The viewpoints.

 It was 13th April 2008 when I was on the Illgill Head, Whin Rigg ridge obtaining the references required for work on thses two fells. There was hardly anyone else about, I seem to recall it was maybe a Tuesday. Unusually enough AW even marked on a map the exact location for these viewpoints so all I had to do was find the exact spot where he stood for his reference photograph. Not quite straightforward as AW's shoreline of Wastwater is incorrectly drawn, possibly due to a poor contrasting reference photograph.)but once found all I had to do was to take the shot. In his drawing he includes a figure on the top and a couple of the lower viewpoint (possibly added in later to give a sense of drama as the y are slightly our of scale.) Just as I was lining up the camera a couple (who I later found out were German tourists) came and stoood in exactly the right place in the scene. How spooky is that?