or how not to do it. Every improvement I tried to make took me 2 steps backwards. This is now headed for the bin (so I've still got time left for this month's challenge). Just so you know, the original idea was to use Spike Milligan's parody on John Masefield: "I must go down to the sea again, The lonely sea and the sky. I left my shoes and socks there. I wonder if they're dry." But it doesn't work. Even I can see that. The composition is wrong (my eyes go darting about all over the place). The textures are wrong (sea is too still; foreground sand is too coarse). The lighting is wrong (needs to be more brooding). About 3 days work wasted, 'cos I didn't really understand what I was doing. But I learned a lot about how NOT to go about things:-) Ah, well. Back to the drawing-board (and the library). Cheers, Diolma