Blog Archives
Last of the Colour (Almost)
There is still a bit of yellow in some of the oaks.
A little over a week ago I had some colour in my back yard.
The colours were much more subdued than the previous week.
The oaks on the other hand were in their glory.
But some of the oaks had started losing their leaves.
These were in less protected locations.
One was a victim of November 1’s winds.
Fading Colours
Here are 3 more sketches done in ink on my morning walks last week. The watercolour was added later. Most of the reds were gone but surprisingly some of the sumac were still persisting.
I was planning to paint the sumac behind my house yesterday (Friday) but after the heavy rain overnight on Thursday and the strong winds yesterday it looked something like this..
Break Out of Your Shell and Fly
Lately I’ve been painting birds, trying to do them loosely but not very successfully. I get too involved in trying to make them look like what they are.
A Song Sparrow singing by the side of the road on my morning walk.
This spring, a pair of Baltimore Orioles visited my Hummingbird feeder, bypassing the Oriole feeder that was also out. (The Hummingbirds use both feeders.) I put out some oranges and the female was very assertive in not giving up her place to the male.
I saw a large flock of Tree Swallows down at Grassy Bay just before the bugs got really bad. They flew too fast for me to get a picture of them flying but several of them rested on some reeds and I was able to get a photograph to paint.
Sheltered Shoreline
I have tried several times to do this type of painting but they have never worked out. This one, done from one of my photographs is the best so far.
I think I used every green in my palette as well as a few mixes.
Spring Tree
The black flies are out but if I keep walking I don’t get bitten, much. Fortunately, Thursday morning, on my early morning walk, I only encountered clouds of non-biting midges. I stopped to sketch this tree with my pen and added watercolour when I returned home.
It looks like many of the branches may be dead as there are no leaves on them. Or maybe this tree is just a little slow.
Shadows
The snow is beginning to go. There are bare spots in the woods and on my driveway. The forecast for today is calling for 15 – 20 cm of snow so winter hasn’t given up just yet.
I try to paint a snow scene at least once a year. This is my second attempt at this one. It’s from a photo I took a few weeks ago.
Plastic, Cheese Cloth and Sea Salt
I recently made these 12 cards from 1 large piece of 140 lbs Fabriano Artistico cold pressed watercolour paper. I divided the paper up using masking tape and painted each section. Some were done wet on wet, others wet on dry. I tried various techniques. I placed plastic wrap scrunched up on several. On two I placed some cheese cloth; on one I sprinkled sea salt. These were all left to dry as well as the three I left alone. After the paint dried I removed the plastic wrap, cheese cloth and salt. One of the ones with the cheese cloth had no discernible effect. I touched up some of the paintings with a second layer and splattered some paint on some. I then removed the tape and cut the sections and glued each one to a folded 1/2 piece of 8.5 x 11 card stock. I had printed the backs of the card stock with my name etc. before cutting and folding them.
These are a gift for a friend with whom I exchange handmade gifts.
Butterflies
There were a lot of Monarch Butterflies around this summer. There is a field nearby full of milkweed and whenever I passed I paused and spent some time watching the Monarchs flutter from plant to plant.
Closer to home, I found this butterfly on a milkweed beside my driveway. I had to look it up to discover that it is a Pearly Eye Butterfly. I took a photograph of it and used that to sketch it using pen and ink and watercolour pencils.
I had taken lots of photographs of the Monarchs and milkweed on my walks but hadn’t yet tried to paint them when I found a dead butterfly on the road. I picked it up and took it home to sketch.
Next I tackled a Monarch from one of my photos. I did the background wet in wet first and added the butterfly afterwards.
Skies, Water, and Trees
I carry my fountain pen filled with waterproof ink and my homemade sketchbook with me on my morning walks. When I do an ink sketch I also take a photograph, usually with my cell phone and use watercolours later when I’m home to finish them. I also take photos with my camera to paint later.
The two watercolour sketches above were done from photographs taken about 30 minutes apart. One facing east, the other west.
The next two were sketched in ink on location and coloured in later with watercolours
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