As long as there is an R in the month - Mussels are in season. (from May to August they're breeding, and not only are they rattly i.e. losing a lot of meat, they also need to be left alone to reproduce.) Mussels remind me of times spent in Brussels, of days sitting outside the cafés around Le Grand Place, eating steaming bowls of them with the best chips (frites) ever! I'm going over a few of my early notebook pages to add a drawing or extend the colour range, either because I love the colours or because I want to draw the subject. Here it was for both these reasons. Their shell colours are saturated shades of blue and brown, echoing barnacle clad rocks and sandy seashores... ...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.