(Some of the images go my shop where you can hover and see enlarged details)
Snowy Lane in black wax crayon colored with watercolor
Even though I did this sketch back in December, while I was in Northumberland England, I guess it’s appropriate now seeing as there’s been a return of snow there! This was their first snow of the winter and it fell quite heavy for a time, coating everything with that heavy kind of silent snow. I had a cold but peaceful walk up the lane and stopped at this view with the trees I always like looking at. I did the sketch while standing to the side of the road using a black wax crayola crayon. The snow was falling on my paper as I drew and it made it hard to draw, not to mention drawing while wearing my fingerless mittens. It was later that I added some touches of watercolor.
A lovely gate along the way
I love the way this ivy covered gate looks and would love to do a painting of it. Problem is it’s someone’s front gate and with the house being just inside, they may think I’m being rude standing there staring at it.
The snowy lane so quiet under snow
This is one of my favorite views as the lane curves into the distance. You can see this is the view I stood and sketched in my drawing.
Another view along the high lane
The trees stand sentinel as they’ve done for hundred’s of years. Many of the trees you see along a lane are just overgrown from old hedges that weren’t kept trimmed down.
The black faced sheep were quiet in the cold.
I love how the trees look in the back of the field and how peaceful the sheep were, just trying to conserve energy I guess. These ewes are probably getting fat with lambs in them now…can’t wait to see the little ones in spring!
The thick snowy hedge along the lane.
There are beautiful colors all around you even in winter!
I like seeing the leaves in winter; these were interesting with the red spots. Sorry the picture isn’t brighter but the day was so grey!
Just waiting to be put in a drawing!
This is an old farm shed I always look at along the lane, it’s so old it’s actually fallen off it’s foundation and the sides are collapsed. I don’t usually want to paint old barns as some people do, but this with the trees, shrubs and grass with their colors in this shot, really attract me. I can see it as an ink sketch perhaps or chalk.
I hope you enjoyed coming on this little snowy walk with me. More sketches and photos from England coming soon.
Now I’ll freely admit, I’m WAY behind on my blog posting! I was doing so well at sketching all the time in my journal this summer and getting out for walks in my fields then sharing it with you, but life has been so busy this winter. I’ve been in Northumberland England the past few months and though I didn’t get as many paintings and sketches done as I would have liked, I do still have sketches and photos to share here. So I’ll try to post them even though they’re a little ‘old’!
This one is about a short walk to the ‘local’ castle, church and a spider in my front yard.
Stone steps into the churchyard, access for people but not for sheep!
Just down the road there’s a Church, St. John the Baptist, built in the 11c, and sometimes I go have a walk around the churchyard. My boyfriend doesn’t know why I think this is interesting but I’m just amazed at how old the gravestones are. I read the names and dates and think of the real people who lived long ago in this village.
Gate latch at the church
I love looking at old gates and this one is especially cool, the metal clasp lifts up so you can swing the gate open. Think of all the people over hundreds of years that have walked this path, maybe not the same gate but it’s been around awhile!
Meet Me There carving on gravestone
This is a popular carving theme on stones, the finger pointing upwards; I just love drawing banners too so I had to sketch it. It’s permanent ink pen, the date on this stone was 1900.
Gate to the castle
This picture was taken just next to the church, the gate on the left goes down a grassy lane to the castle in the distance, the one on the right goes into the farmers field, we won’t go that way! You can see an old viaduct in the distance, that used to be for a small railway that ran through this little town, I wish it was still here. The hills you see in the distance I climbed up with Gary, right to the top and oh what a view! Then we walked all the way back down and came over that viaduct and back to where I shot this picture. That was a looong walk for me!
Edlingham Castle
There’s the castle, not far now. This is Edlingham Castle built in the 12th c. On either side of the grassy path there are usually sheep or cows, remember the red cows I sketched not long ago? Here’s a link to Wikipedia about Edlingham Castle.
Edlingham castle ruins
You can walk all around this castle ruins for free, I like trying to imagine the original layout of it. You can see the viaduct in the background and the crags on the hill above that.
Spider in the garden
So I knew you’d be wondering, what about that spider you mentioned? Well when I got back from my stroll I discovered a spider in the front yard clinging to an old leaf and stem. Now I had to squat down and lean in really close to take this picture, I hope you appreciate how close I got to this spider to take it’s picture! I think spiders are really interesting but I still get scared of them and don’t want to touch them! shudder….
Spider sketch and poem
It had a web woven attached to it. I did a tiny sketch while crouched down to look at it, and I wrote the poem in bed one night after. I thought his web was like window panes in the air. Here’s the poem:
“Spider in the Garden”
Spider in the garden
What do you see?
A world through a web
Where we are all free.
Through your silver floss
Little windows in the air,
You watch us ignoring you
As if we didn’t care.
Mary McAndrew
October, 11, 2011
Blackbird eating berries
I’ll leave you with one more picture, a Blackbird (female) eating berries in the tree.
I know it’s already November and I’m way behind! I have more trouble getting online and having time to edit photos since I’ve been here in England. But I’m trying to go with the flow and keep up with posting my sketches and photos. I’m also using a tiny new laptop and my usual photo program isn’t on here, so I’m getting used to editing pictures with something new (sorry if they look small etc). I’ve also felt really down since my dad passed away and it’s hard to feel creative, as many of you probably know how that is.
But here’s a few cows to start off with! It’s what I see most of around where I’m staying so they’ve gotten my attention. I just love the velvety look of their fur in fall. The days have been very cold, damp and windy but I did these sketches standing along the field in the wind! Brrrr.
Red Cattle in the Field, Oct 1
I wrote a poem as I watched them, just put a few words down then later I changed two words to make it better. I’ll retype it here:
“September ends…October is here,
The little Robin sings, Winter is near!
The red cattle in the field look so nice,
Fur like rust velvet, ready for Winter’s chill and ice.”
(c)Mary McAndrew 10-1-11
Overthwarts on the Hill, watercolor
The page above I did on October 2nd, it was windier, colder and wetter still than the day before! I wrote a note on the page about how hard it was to draw, of course I was wearing my fingerless mittens too and they are hard to paint in! There’s a farm called Overthwarts up on that hill as I looked from where I stood near Edlingham castle.
Cows at rest and an Angle Shade moth, ink.
The same day I walked a ways up the lane where it got even windier, I found some cows to sketch and sat down along the lane where I could see them through a break in the hedge. Getting down low really got me out of the worst of the wind.
Then another day an Angle Shade moth paid us a visit by coming inside, I guess it’s hibernation time! He didn’t want to leave. I put some sugar water in a little jar lid and he sucked it all up and grew very fat! Anything to help a little hungry wanderer. It hung around a few days just sitting there then disappeared, so I don’t know if he’s hiding out in the house or went back outside.
The furry red cow eyed me warily
Here’s one of the bovine beauties watching me, I tried to walk slowly and talk quietly to her but they are so skiddish, she turned away and made a retreat as I approached.
Well I hope you enjoyed my outdoor sketches, more to come, slowly but surely!
I had some fun creating note cards with cow (and sheep) photos I took in England, have a look in my shop!
I headed out to the back fields today, before the day got too hot. As I picked up my straw hat and plopped it on my head Ginger got all excited, her eyes riveted to my every move. Her whole body tensed and ready to run out the door, as she knows this means we’re going out. Now…when I have my sketch bag in hand and pick up my camera and sling it over my shoulder she knows we’re in for it! The ‘Big Walk’ hahaha…well it means we’re leaving the yard and going out to the ‘wilds’ of the fields and lanes. Yes, if I was a dog I’d be acting just like her!
Ginger waits expectantly!
As I walked I was VERY mindful of watching out for the huge yellow garden spiders that I discovered in my overgrown field, I didn’t want to walk through one of their webs! I’ll show you pictures in another post! Every step I took about three grasshoppers or more would fly up and over the grass for a short bit then land again. As I studied them I laughed to see when they landed, many times they did a sort of “moonwalk” backwards down the stalk they were clinging to.
Red Legged Grasshopper I think
If you stop to study them close, using the zoom lens on a camera is a great way, you’ll notice how many different varieties there are. I am guessing some of the many types may just be different ages of the same grasshopper, or males and females, all were really interesting.
Fat Yellow Grasshopper
Most had some kind of interesting pattern and colors that I’d like to do some studies of someday. First I need to start identifying them better, my field guide to insects is woefully lacking in species of many insects, grasshoppers included.
Nat. Wildlife Fed. Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America
Though it’s not a bad all round guide to start with, I find now I need much more species to choose from.
Long Lane Farm in August - watercolor
Well as I got out into the field a ways, I paused and looked back and this is what I saw. The Purple Loosestrife was blooming, clouds billowing, wildflowers dotting the field. I did this small watercolor using one waterbrush and my pan of colors, while standing in some very hot sun. It was really hard to find any shade and it made me a little ‘snow blind’ looking at my page.
A tiny Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly
After that Ginger and I made for the lane for a bit more shade. I’ve been noticing this tiny butterfly now sometimes when I walk on the lane. It first caught my attention flitting around the grasses and I thought it was one of those tiny white moths I always see. (It’s only as big as the end of my thumb!) There was something about it though, it seemed to have a bluish look too. So I followed it with my eyes to see where it landed then zoomed in with my camera and there you go! Ahha! A butterfly. Just one of my little discoveries this summer.
He shows a peek of blue wing
They don’t give up much, this tiny, tiny butterfly hardly ever opens it’s wings to show off it’s gorgeous blue!
Hummingbird Moth feeding on Teasel
I couldn’t resist slipping this picture in to share. I have a great big area behind my barn that’s overgrown now with Teasel. I found the Monarch and Viceroy butterflies, and to my delight Hummingbird moths, loved feeding on them. I would encourage everyone to grow some for them to feed on and for their beauty of form.
Teasel drawn with permanent pen
I love drawing Teasel and long into winter you can enjoy their elegant forms. This is a drawing I did years ago in the fall, (sorry I don’t have it scanned large enough to enlarge much) can you see how much fun you could have looking at it’s bristly but graceful form?
I hope you enjoyed our little walk on Long Lane Farm. I always see or find something new when I stop and look for awhile. I want to point out that I have been adding great links for identifying things on my “Nature Links” page, please have a look. I use these links often when I need to identify bugs or blooms. I’m adding links all the time so everyone can use it, please let me know if you have a favorite you want to share!
Below are a few note cards I created in my shop from my sketches or photos, I hope you enjoy them!
I’m showing you the page from my journal first, then I’ll tell you a little story about a ‘bug discovery’ I had. You’ll see on the right my studies from the lady beetle I found, bottom left is studies of lady bug ‘faces’ so you can see at a glance how this is a handy way to identify them. It’s not really their face but the pronotum which is the part just behind the head on beetles. Then I have a quote by Paul Cezanne and had some fun adding a old style border. (Please click on pictures for a BIG clear image!)
Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetle studies
You can read my note that the one leaf I actually traced to get the exact size on my paper. That’s a great thing to do when you’re making ‘scientific’ type notes and it saves time for studying other things about your subject.
Ok…now to get on with my bug story. Now this is really exciting, well for someone who’s interest in bugs has really peeked this summer it is!
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle pupa
When I went out to get the mail I find myself looking down at the weeds in my front ditch near the driveway. I’m getting more used to spotting insects and today was no different.
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle pupa 2
I thought it was some kind of small bug but I didn’t have my (reading) glasses on so I didn’t really see what I was looking at as clearly.
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle pupa 3
Well after taking pictures of it I gently set it down by some weeds in my yard, but when I looked at the enlarged pictures on my computer I realized what it was! I double checked in my Field Guide and yup, it’s a Lady Bug pupa. It’s a pupa just like butterflies come out of!
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle pupa 4
It was when I saw this picture that I realized it was hatching right now! Yikes!
Newly hatched Lady bug
So I ran back out into the yard and found where I had put it, brought it inside and put it in my plastic “Crisco” container you’ve seen me use before. He/she slept in this overnight (yes in my living room!) and the next morning there it was, all fresh and yellow, a brand new Lady Beetle! How cool is that?
Newly hatched with wings still very tender
Can you see the clear ‘spots’ on it’s yellow wing covers? I had a suspicion that these spots would turn into black spots we all are familiar with. And I think just like butterflies do when first emerged, I think it was letting it’s wings ‘develop’ and firm up…they looked quite tender at this point.
Newly hatched lady beetle
It looks like a little lemon seed, I love it!
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle with it's spots developed
Well what did I tell you? The very same Lady Bug now with it’s spots all developed. I released it as soon as possible onto the same weeds I found the pupa on. What a wonderful experience it was to see this Lady bug go through these changes!
My eyes are getting better at noticing little things on the weeds and plants around my yard and land. I find that I’m seeing many more bugs, interesting eggs and pupas. If you take your kids out on a bug hunt, tell them to pretend that they have “Eagle Eyes” or “Superman Vision” and they need to stand still, zoom in on leaves and watch for little things. It’s a wonderful hobby to get kids interested in, especially if you loan them a small camera like I use, and get them photographing them.
This little beetle is definitely waiting patiently on my list of things to be painted! Below are some note cards I created using the “Multi Colored Asian Lady Beetle” pictures.
Yes I know, what a name! This bug is a type of “Shield Bug”, so named because when viewed from above it looks like a shield. I don’t have a definitive identification on it but closest I could come was a type of Stink Bug.
My sketch page with finished paintings of Stink Bug
This one I found was much smaller than others I’ve seen in the garden, you can see from the picture below. I put my subject into the “Crisco” container that I like to use for bug study and photographing. It crawled around constantly and was a real challenge to draw!
Stink Bug and sketch book
Below you can see an experiment I tried, I colored swatches of watercolor pencil on a heavy piece of watercolor paper. I used it with a waterbrush to paint the Stink Bug studies. I wanted to try it because it’d be great to take along right in my sketchbook into the field. It worked pretty good for small studies and I’m going to try it out some more. It helped to mix the colors on a small metal palette to the side to keep this color palette clean.
Watercolor pencil palette and waterbrush
Another tip, if you need to show some white highlights you can carefully scrape off layers of paint using a very sharp blade. This was just a small penknife I sometimes have in my field bag. Scrape sideways, gently and repeatedly to remove layers; sometimes scrape the opposite direction to remove it.
Scraping with a sharp blade
Here’s a bunch of pictures of the interesting little bug. If bugs aren’t your ‘thing’ I want you to just take notice of a few things. You can appreciate some things in insects that you may also appreciate in birds. What catches me about birds is how you identify them by checking their shape, patterns, colors and behavior. Well the same is true of insects; you can identify species by their special shape, patterns, colors and behavior!
Stink Bug 5
This guy has an interesting shape from every angle you look at him. Just check out those red antennae!
Stink Bug 4
And the spotted legs! Looks like he needs a shave! But isn’t it fascinating that it has such pattern?
Stink Bug 3
This angle is very interesting, his head seems to streamline right into his body, and the eyes are right along the edge.
Stink Bug 2
Stink Bug 1
Here we see his pointy shoulders, like he’s wearing football shoulder pads! And I love the pattern along the edges of his back. Can you see the fine veins patterns in that little section at the bottom of his back, that’s part of his wings folded up. His underside was a gorgeous light green that reminded me of marble, but it was hard for me to capture as he kept running around! After I took all these photos in the garden, he flew away, I think just to show off!
Hope you enjoyed my insect study, I’ve been on a real bug kick this summer! More coming!
PS. I have a Flickr page that I’m trying to add to when I can. Check it out here.
(Click on any picture to see larger, picture links at the end of the post go to my shop, enjoy!)
The "Beautiful Wood-nymph" moth...my newest discovery!
As your family and friends get to know how much you love to study new bugs and things, they will start to point things out to you that they find. This is great because it’s more ‘eyes’ watching for things than just your two. Well my son Paul, home from college, said there was an interesting moth on the back screen. I didn’t pay much attention until he again said, “Mom, you really should look, it’s really different looking!”
My two page spread of studies from life of the moth.
Glad I listened and glad I looked! It was a small moth who must have made it’s way onto my porch looking for the lights. Above you can see how I used two pages of my sketch book journal to do studies. I’ll share with you the steps I usually take when I find a new bug to study.
View from above taken with my tiny Olympus camera.
Before anyone gets their portrait painted, I get as many photos as I can to file for references, maybe for a future painting or at least to properly identify it. I usually have some plastic containers around that I use, this one was perfect, it’s from a “Crisco Sticks” shortening package; the kind you buy with three sticks in a pack and they’re easy for measuring. One of the plastic containers has a lid and the whole thing is nice clear plastic!
View underneath the moth, many times reveals a surprise color!
I also have some fine mesh that I can put over the top with a rubber band, I never want to kill the creature (unless it’s a house pest, I may not be so nice then!) I love using my tiny Olympus camera to take the close up photos, it works great on the macro setting. This shot is through the bottom of the container. Another tip, I go outside into the natural light if I can to take pictures, the color is always so much better; this was taken in bright sunlight.
This is my set up showing how I positioned the moth under a magnifying glass.
This photo shows you my set up for drawing. Now that I have lots of pictures to save, I put him under an old magnifying glass that stands up and start sketching. Do you see there is no lid? The moth was staying put, maybe because of the light, so I kept the lid off to work. I start with a light pencil sketch and then use permanent ink (you can see my pen in the background, this was an Itoya Finepoint System .2)
I did a 3/4 view to show another angle.
This is a close up of one of the sketches, I try to do different angles to show various aspects of the bug. I thought the furry legs were fascinating! (and made it look ‘cute’ actually!) I colored him in after drawing with the ink, but sometimes I do it in the opposite order. I laid the washy blue background in after I colored all the moths, I wanted it to be lose and just ‘pretty’.
View from above of the Beautiful Wood-nymph.
What an appropriately named moth…”Beautiful” really is in it’s name!
Beautiful Wood-nymph in the 'wild' on a leaf.
Now here’s the cool part of my story! I went for a ramble the very next day, hoping to find some interesting butterflies to photograph. I was into the first pasture and saw a tiny fluttering in a low plant, I watched for where it seemed to end up then just studied the leaves and grasses, looking for a butterfly. See below:
Hiding down low in the grasses, can you believe I found him?!
Ok, I’ll brag a little here, I think I have good eyes for spotting things, because I found him! Hiding amongst all those grasses and leaves. Can you see how well he can blend in, but then, not totally.
Another shot showing how well they hide on the leaves!
Then he flew around again and re-landed; this shot shows him pointed downward, always keeping his legs stretched out in front.
The Beautiful Wood-nymph imitating bird dropping, that's his job!
When they do that, it makes them look like bird droppings and that’s their defense!! I’ve seen pics in books about such things, but never saw one myself. Though he imitates such a yuchy thing, the moth itself is really pretty! I enjoyed studying how the wing pokes up through with a curling flourish and the fuzzy legs that remind me of a Poodle dog. The wings had a sheen in the sunlight that looked like white satin.
The big thing all of this made me realize, was that I’ve been living here for about 17 years and I never noticed one of these before! Well, much of that time I was busy raising my boys, taking care of animals and whatever else. I didn’t go out walking in my fields all the time as I do now. What I’m trying to say is there is SO MUCH around us that isn’t seen, unless we start looking closer to see it. And then, like this moth, once you see it and study it, it’s more likely you’ll see it again. Try not to miss anything, try to capture it all and the best way is in a sketch journal!
(No moth was harmed in the making of this blog entry, the names were not changed because he’s not innocent, he’s guilty of being “Beautiful” heehee)
The following pictures go to glossy Note Cards I created using my painting and photographs of the moth. Please have a look and share the links with nature loving friends you think may enjoy them!
(I wrote this at the very end of May and wanted to share it with you before it gets too late!)
I took a walk out through the fields today to “Aspen Hall”, just for a bit of exercise and to enjoy the sun. Along the way I discovered some beautiful butterflies, though it’s tiny, the “Pearl Crescent” was so pretty when you look at it on zoom!
A beautiful little butterfly called the Pearl Crescent
When we got to Aspen Hall, I did a very quick sketch using my watercolors and waterbrush. I say quick because the mosquitoes were finding us fast! The picture below shows how I held my palette as I worked.
This is how I held my palette while I stood and painted.
You can see the last post I did on Carpenter Bees there to the left. I also always make a little pen holder with clear tape on my sketch book.
This is the water brush I used to do the whole painting, a big flat.
Here’s a picture showing the big flat waterbrush I used to do the entire painting. The flat was great for making the marks on the trees and I used the corner when I wanted to make small marks. (If you click this pic you’ll see a really cool note card I created where you can put your own text on the palette!)
Painting and notes done while standing in "Aspen Hall", watercolor.
This is the page I created with my notes and watercolor sketch. Click it to read my notes, the black flies were terrible, biting me and being pests! It was hard to paint, but I’m happy with the little watercolor sketch. Standing still is great for seeing and hearing birds, they were all around me.
Ginger gives me a toothy smile and says, "Hurry up already!"
And there’s Ginger, my faithful Aussie! She’s just looking at me saying, “Are you done yet?”
A footprint in the mud from ?
Here’s a cool footprint I spotted in the mud in “The Maze”, another area on my land. I have to look it up, but I’m thinking Opossum? Skunk?
Another Leopard Frog friend!
Could I take a walk on Long Lane Farm and NOT see a frog? I don’t think so! This is one of the most popular kinds here, the Leopard Frog. Isn’t he handsome? (oh it could be a female…can a frog be pretty?) I just love the spring greens, olive greens and bronze of their skin; in the sun it really is metallic!
A female Baltimore Oriole looking for food in the bushes.
A great capture, photos of a female Baltimore Oriole searching for seeds on this wild bush in my field.
Another shot of her as she searched for food.
It’s interesting to observe ‘garden’ birds further afield than your backyard. Seeing her feeding on native bushes, bugs, seeds….whatever she was eating she was very busy doing it.
A collection of leaves I picked while sitting in one spot.
After painting I sat for a few moments in Aspen Hall, I looked around me at all the green plants. It didn’t look like anything interesting to paint or draw, but, if I had students with me I’d challenge them to find as many different leaf shapes as they could to draw. I picked one of each just within my own reach and look how many I found! It would be nice to do as a lesson, ignoring color and talking about shape, and some botanical terminology.
I hope you enjoyed this (short) walk today! Wait till you see the next post, a new moth discovery for me!
BTW here’s a new page I created called “My Photography Equipment” to show what cameras I use when I go out walking and exploring, I love ‘em!
You know there are interesting things all around us to discover, some are right under our noses…or under our eaves! I have known about Carpenter Bees but never paid them much attention, until this year. I caught one and started to draw it from life, safely keeping it in a plastic container under a screen. I did the studies above from life, then just for fun added the little quick sketch bees as a border around it. I put the green after to add color and liven it up, and the red and blue ribbon with an arrow was just me messing around!
Female Carpenter Bee I captured for study.
It seems the bees LOVE the eaves under my back porch, and are making their home there.It may not have bothered me much before, then I watched a video about the damage they can do to your timber. Uh oh. This is a photo of the female bee, you can clearly see the abdomen (end part) is shiny black, unlike the bumble bee which is nice and fuzzy black. It also has a spot on it’s back where there are no bristles, like a bald patch.
Front view shows no light patch that the males have.
Oh my, look at those choppers! The female will chew and cut wood with her mouth parts, so I wouldn’t want her landing on my arm! Yikes! Actually, the female can sting and the male cannot. I liked this view though, with her wings sort of up, head down.
Male Carpenter Bee in flight, showing the light patch.
After I drew the bees and photographed the female, I got curious about the bees and that’s when I looked them up online and did a little research. From my upstairs bathroom window you can see the males around the porch eaves below, like they are guarding territory. The male is easy to tell by the light patch on it’s face, it will look whitish to you, but a book said it was yellow. Isn’t this a cool picture? It took me many, many tries just to get the few blurry pictures I have here! I like how he has his antennae up while flying, his little legs tucked under.
Side view of male bee in flight.
Look at this shot!, he’s so stout looking.
Rear view of Carpenter Bee in flight.
This is one from behind, now that definitely looks stout! How does he hold himself up with those little wings?
Here's a close up of my sketch so you can see it better.
This close up shows how the wings are folded over the back.
Here’s a close up that shows the wings folded over the back, you’d never know there were actually 4 wing parts when you look at it. There is two on each side, just like butterflies; each has a forewing and hindwing.
Check out this article about Carpenter Bee Control, complete with videos! Then you’ll see why I need to get rid of the bees.
What did you think I’d be doing on Mother’s Day? It was gorgeous outside and I had the day to myself until later when my son comes over, so off I went for a walk with my sketch journal!
female bluebird I met along the way
Along the way I captured this shot of a female Bluebird, I’m so happy it came out. I didn’t use my long lens today, so the camera was actually easier to hand hold. (click to see as Note Card where you can see up close)
My watercolor crayons in a vinyl case so I can scatter them as I worked.
I was thrilled to find that the land on one side of the field was actually sort of dry. I mean I’ve been wading through water for weeks now, so any dry grass was pretty great. Before walking at all I decided to sit right down and have a go with my kit. I knew something would strike me. Above you can see something new I tried that worked great; I brought this empty vinyl case along and when I was ready just opened it and put it on the ground. I took my watercolor crayons and set the box right inside it, as I used colors I could just plop them in front and find them easier as I worked. This would be good to use for the watercolor pencils too, as they get lost easily in the grass.
Putting color down around a round plastic shape.
I wrote some notes at the top of my paper as I sat, not even caring about painting, just enjoying the great weather. Then I decided I’d try to put a landscape but leave a circle in the foreground to fill with something. I have a piece of plastic I cut from a plastic milk carton and just filled in green watercolor crayon around it.
Blocking on more green for grass, sky has been painted a bit.
As I decided where my horizon line would be I colored blue in the sky, leaving the clouds just blank paper. (lately I’ve been doing them with white wax to ‘block’ them out using a resist method, this time it’s just bare paper) I then brought the green up as far as I thought it should go, then wet my paper with the big brush to blend all and used a brown crayon to put trees in on the wet paper. I like how sharp the trees can look if you put them on wet paper; if you draw them dry first and then wet them, they can get fuzzy looking.
My set up on the grass, balancing my sketch journal on my knee.
Here’s my set up, as I sat on my piece of vinyl and kept everything in easy reach. I actually leaned on one elbow to do most of this sketch, and quite smartly tucked an empty sandwich bag under my elbow. By the time I was done, my elbow would have been soaked!
The real scene behind my sketchbook, the clouds have already floated by.
So here’s the sketch with the ‘real’ scene behind it, I don’t really like the greens of the watercolor crayons, but more practice will help. Sometimes I admit I could do a better job but when working in the field either the weather is too cold or my back hurts then I just want to hurry up. So I try to work fast, I can always touch up later if I want, or leave it as a study.
This is the page as I finished it in the field, dandelions and all.
This is my study finished in the field, I decided to put dandelions in the small circle as they were everywhere. First I lightly sketched in pencil then went over it with a brown Windsor Newton Permanent ink with a dip nib pen. Then I colored them in by touching the brush tip (a finer one) to the crayons then painting. I colored the letters the same way using a blue crayon. I really want to go back and tone down that green on that grass! Yikes!
Field sketch after touching it up back at home.
Well here’s the sketch after I got home and touched up the greens and added the yellow dandelions.
Leopard Frog
On our way after that sketch, I kept seeing Leopard Frogs. If I stood still I would start to pick them out of their hiding places.
Leopard Frog
I was really getting good at it! As you walk by they get scared into the water…then if you stop a few steps away, they would seem to appear everywhere. I imagined a funny cartoon of a photographer stopping to look for frogs, the way in front of her clear, but behind her all these little heads popped up in the water! haha, well it’s me of course!
mystery water bug
This was really cool, I noticed as I stood watching for frogs without moving, a little something moving in the water below me. I swore they were just catkins from the tree floating along the bottom, but it’s a standing pool of water and instinct told me otherwise. I bent over and kept watching them and remembered reading about larvae that formed cases by ‘gluing’ stuff around them. I got this great shot of it actually poking out of the case a bit! I am not sure yet what it is, have to look it up.
Long Lane green and lush.
Here’s Long Lane on the way back home. It’s green and lush in this very wet spring we’re having. It’s a bounty for the frogs but that means soon will come the mosquitoes too!
I hope you enjoyed this springtime walk with me and my sketching. I hope you go out and capture some nature the way I did, just stop and stand or sit still and you’ll be amazed at what you notice.
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