The Ferry Sketch

Felix opens his sketchpad as the ferry leaves the harbour. His art class is visiting an island. Holly sits beside him, and Mr Shaw is nearby. Felix wants to draw the little lighthouse before it disappears behind the headland.

He draws the roof, then looks up again. The lighthouse has moved across his view. A boat now blocks the bottom of it. Felix rubs out a line and starts again, but the ferry keeps carrying them farther away.

“I cannot make it stay still,” he says. Holly looks at his page. There are three roofs and no finished tower. “Perhaps you are trying to draw too much at once,” she says. Mr Shaw asks which part matters most to him.

Felix studies the lighthouse. He likes its dark roof against the pale sky. He draws that simple shape first, then adds the tall white tower. This time, he leaves the small windows until later. The main shape is already on his page.

A gust lifts the corner of the sketchpad. Felix holds it with both hands. Holly lends him a large clip to keep the loose page in place. They remain seated while the ferry passes the end of the harbour wall.

The lighthouse is smaller now. Felix adds a few marks for the rocks below it. He cannot see every crack, so he does not try to draw them all. Holly sketches the wide curve of the water beside his tower.

Inside the sheltered cabin, they compare their pictures with Mr Shaw. Felix thinks his drawing looks too simple. Mr Shaw asks Holly what she notices first. “The roof and the tall tower,” she says. “I knew it was the lighthouse.”

Felix writes the date beneath his sketch. He has not drawn every window or stone, but he has caught the part he liked. On the return trip, he plans to try a different view, beginning with one strong shape.