This post has a lot of photos showing as many stages of painting as I could. I’m taking the pictures using my cell phone, sorry they are not perfect! I’m using a photo I took a few years ago in Northumberland, on a walk with Gary at Beanly Moor. Some of the most beautiful old Beech trees are there, the tall stately ‘ladies of the wood’ these trees can be known as. Many times we find a long row of very mature trees and know that once they were part of a farmers hedge and left to grow because they were forgotten and went wild. I love that.
Above, first I did a light pencil drawing but didn’t add too many details. Then I started to add some color that I see on the tree, I’m using gouache paint.
Here I start to put the greens of the ground down and a bit of burnt sienna mixed with burnt umber on the tree. I used a big filbert to brush the tree and used strokes that followed the rounded contour of the trunk. This left ‘streaks’ in the paint that I liked and I used the same brush later to add more tree color. The strokes it made I left and they really look great even at the end with other textures layered on top.
Here I did quite a few things, I toned down the green in the background on the left by putting a more opaque light green on top. I scumbled in more of the foreground greens and values then I added the dark browns you see using the big filbert brush. These are important dark areas because I’ll be putting light grasses and bracken on top and this will make them look more three dimensional.
I also made some brush strokes on the tree for the lichens and moss that I rather liked the texture of. When you see lichens on trees like this, it almost looks like fur. So as I continue I try to keep that texture on the tree.
I used a very light wash of color brushed on the left side of the tree, I’m trying to get rid of areas that are not as light in value as the right side of the tree and the background. I used the big filbert brush again to stroke with the round trunk.
The background trees get brushed in. Whoever said trees have brown trunks? Most tree trunks I see are green and grey in color!
Here you can see I’ve added grey on the right side of the tree. Then because gouache paint can be lifted quite a bit if you wet it, I was able to carefully lift the dark color off where I plan to put light patches of paint. I could probably have painted right on top of the dark, but this way I figured it had less chance of mixing and getting muddy. It was a good way to ‘sketch’ out exactly where I wanted to put the light patches.
I’ve also added more opaque color to the tree on the left which is giving it so much more ‘solidness’. And I added leaves/branches to the background trees and don’t forget the wee cows!
This is showing how I had it set up on my table, plastic palette on the right, gouache paints above that in a resealable palette. Just above my painting you see a clear plastic tray with round depressions, that was some packing material from battery tealights, it makes a great mixing area for paints! The colors in there were for painting the light bracken and finding the right color and value drove me crazy!
A lot has happened here, the light patches going onto the trunk and some very light speckles, bracken fronds all over, more texture on the ground in the back.
Here I worked on that grey area on the right side of the trunk, more texture and some sharpening of the dark edge to show the tree goes in there, like an old wound maybe?
Now I know the color of this picture is hugely different from the pictures of the stages of painting, this is the scan of the painting. You can really see the vibrancy of the greens, whereas the other pictures are all taken with my cell phone under lamps and some with cool natural light.
Once I get set up with a printer again, I’ll definitely be making prints and note cards of this one; I love the colors and textures! I hope you liked seeing all the steps of painting as I worked, please leave me a comment if you like. Please share my website with your friends! You can also follow me on Instagram to see more updates on my projects, look for Mary_McAndrew_Artist.
(Please click on photos to see enlarged, click again for larger view.)
Blocking in base colors.
For these two new little studies I’m working from photos I took this Autumn of a wall in our back garden. Instead of braving the elements right now, I’m painting in the sitting room with a wood fire going! I’m still a bit new to gouache but the more I use it the more I like it. Above you see I start by blocking in colors and shapes of areas with not much added detail.
Getting those darks laid in there.
If there is a dark area like under plants or in crevices, put them in early. This way you can paint lighter details on top and they will really show up. The rocks in the foreground had a violet coloring, that was fun to put in and see if it worked.
Adding the moss on top of the rocks.
After getting the rock colors right I dabbed on greens for moss, leaving the lightest values to use last. I used a very rough dry brush to dab paint on that wasn’t very wet. After it’s all dry I added the tiny wisps of dry grass over areas. I was also trying to use different brush strokes and dabs to create the fern fronds.
Working on my studies in my little cigar box pochade, with gouache paints and palette.
The picture above shows I’m using my very small cigar box plein air kit that I’ve created to use as a pochade box. I’ve tried to make it small and very lightweight so I can carry it in a backpack. It has a mount attached to the bottom that clips onto a tripod. But indoors I just set it on the table and use it to see how everything fits and if there was anything I could leave out.
What I want to point out is the bright blueish purple blotch and the blue one next to that at the right side of the paper. They were blotches from when I was just messing around with the gouache. I took a very wet brush and repeatedly wet, scumbled and lifted color with paper towel to remove the color as much as I could. It was stained into the paper so I decided to just work on top of it.
Painting on top of purple and blue stained paper.
When I looked at my reference photo, the stones had a cool cast to them so I thought I’d give it a go. I first lightly sketched the rocks in using a small brush to make the crevices between the rocks. You can clearly see the purple and blue colors in the paper! I started to dabble on the moss and the yellow color in some rocks.
Adding darks at base of wall, then leaves.
Then, at the base of the wall, I put dark burnt umber and sepia brown as a background. Then when you paint leaves and stems on top, they show up nicely. But this is the tricky part for me still, trying to have opacity and rich color but light enough to show up on the dark colors.
Here’s a better view of my little cigar box set up. The study is quite small but I’m very happy with how it came out. You can also see the two little studies I did last summer by our stone barn. (When you click the picture below you’ll see them much better.) I experimented by approaching them in different ways. The left one I put down black brown background and then painted the stones on top. The right one I first painted a dirty yellow ochre color (more of the stone color) then painted the crevices of the rocks. Then I added different colors of rocks on top. I definitely think some more studies of the barn walls would be a great idea!
I’m finding the gouache colors, chroma and values really lend themselves to woodland, mossy rocks, trees and muted color scenes. So many times I’ve seen gouache paintings that are all bright colors and scenes, but right now I’m attracted to their softer look. I have started using them with some of the children’s book style paintings I’m doing and that’s really different for me. This is still a new medium for me so there’s lots to try out and discover!
I’ve already completed two gouache paintings since doing these studies, and I’m very happy with how they came out! One is from a photo I took of an old Beech tree along a favorite walk we had in Northumberland. The other is a photo right from my back garden here in the Scottish Borders, an old Hawthorn tree and mossy wall in winter. Those will be shared in posts coming up.
Thank you for stopping by to read about my painting adventures and to those who have been following me, thanks for being patient as I know my posts are very sporadic! I AM working very hard and always have some projects on the go. I’m looking into buying a good printer so I can produce prints as I used to before I moved to the UK. Then I can offer my new works and old, and get my website organized for that. Always something to work on isn’t there?!
You can see current photos I share while I’m working on paintings, on my Facebook page “Mary McAndrew Painting and Illustration” and on Instagram as “mary_mcandrew_artist”. Follow me there to see the up to date goings on and some photos of the views I see around me here in the Borders.
It’s been such a long time since I posted here on my blog. We’ve all been through quite a lot the past two years haven’t we? Well to add to my stress and at the same time happiness, we’ve moved from England to the Scottish Borders! Moving during a pandemic when they kept closing the borders was so stressful, but we’re moved now and getting settled in.
This is one of the first paintings I did at our new place, while standing in our back garden looking at the hills and sky. It’s a very small watercolor and I wrote the names of birds I could hear at the bottom while I painted.
We are still discovering just how beautiful our new area is, the Borders are wild and quiet, just what we like. The whole process of moving and settling in and creating new garden beds has and continues to, take lots of my time.
I unpacked paintings I hadn’t seen since I moved to England, has it been 6 years? More? They are like old familiar friends, and now many are hanging up where I can see them.
I will be focusing on getting a new printer set up and organizing proper selling of my prints and originals from my website. I’ve never had the chance to really do it right! Now I also have the fun little needle felted characters which I look forward to making available to buy soon.
Some new friends! I love creating these one of a kind characters, totally posable and unique!
I have a YouTube channel that has been sitting waiting also, so lately I’ve been adding videos so I can get back into it. Now with the house, gardens, new studio set up, new lands to explore, I’ll have lots to share there! Please go look, “Like” and hopefully “Subscribe” to follow my endeavours! Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnrD9rYXZ6KWYeDRElAvGyw I’ll get better at it as I go, I’m learning a new video editor called “ShotCut”.
Here I’m sketching along the river near our house, just up the valley. I need to get out to do this more often, the garden has been keeping us both busy!
I have really missed sharing here and can’t wait to get back to it. I have lots of new artwork to add to the Gallery too. What’s been holding me back in many areas is just figuring out how I want to redesign my website Galleries. I’m also having trouble receiving email notifications when someone leaves a comment! I need to find help for that issue with Word Press.
Finally I got my watercolors and color pencils set out, here I am working on an illustration for my new granddaughter, I’ll share more about that later!
So, has anyone missed me? What have you kept busy with during this pandemic and are you OK? I miss talking to the great people who leave comments for me here, you always inspire me to keep creating!
I’ll share some pictures below of our area and some more studies.
Sketching “Rubers Law” from the top of “Bonchester HIll”, and boy was it windy and cold! Very hard to draw, but look at that view!
This is a small unfinished gouache study of our back garden and byre (barn).
One of my illustration studies, I love the ‘old style’ like this and find drawing bugs really fun!
On a cold day, the sun is lighting up the hills far to the west. This is looking over our garden in the front where we are creating a small orchard.
There’s also new wildlife to discover here, this is a Green Hairstreak butterfly, with metallic green wings! It flew up out of nowhere when I was by the byre and settled on the Honesty I had planted. I was so excited!
Well that’s all for now, so much to share! Please don’t be shy, leave me a comment and I’ll check back here to reply to all. I hope you’re all keeping well, see you soon with another post or YouTube video!
Many times I really want to share photos from our walks here in Northumberland England or from the Scottish Borders, where we’ve been driving to a lot this summer and autumn. The problem is my posts have been infrequent due to time and when they get long it feels like it will just be too much. Also, I used to have more time while out to sit and do a watercolor study and then share that as a post. It seems we just have time to pop out for a walk and there’s no time for poor deprived me to do any artwork!
So I thought I’ll just do a separate post and just pop a bunch of nice photos on to share with you some of the beauty of this area, which truly inspires me as an artist and human being. I hope you enjoy them and maybe this could be something I do more often, what do you think?
SCOTTISH BORDERS – Langholm area
A beautiful view up the lane near Langholm.
So first I’ll share some photos from our drive up to the area around Langholm, Eskdalemuir in the Scottish Borders.
This was our view as we had lunch in the car.
We pulled up, well backed up into a gateway area and this was our view across the valley from us. It was pretty cold and misty outside but Gary made hot coffee on our little gas camp stove behind the car, it was so welcome!
This is a little closer view, just look at that hill on the left!
When I look at these hills, though they’re really pretty high, I feel I just want to start walking and get to the top! But that hill on the left is quite steep looking!
From inside the pine forest, how beautiful!
The above picture I shot when we had a pitstop for a ‘wee’, somewhere in the vast hills. It was so quiet and I love, especially at this time of year, there’s not many people around.
This was shot from the car window, that’s the town of Bentpath at the base of the hill.
We went through an area we explored a bit last year, the valley and hills of Eskdalemuir, NW of Langholm. The tiny town you see above is Bentpath. I love how it’s situated with the gorgeous hills behind it, such a tiny place along the river.
Coming over the moors, wide open and free.
I like that view of coming over the open moorland, no barriers. Sometimes you see sheep wandering around across roads like this up here.
Sunset on our way home, I just love the colors and those clouds!
And to finish a nice day, a beautiful sunset to send us home to Northumberland.
NORTHUMBERLAND
COQUETDALE – Rothbury + Thropton area
Two beautiful tups or rams, how bonny are they?
On this day we went for a walk between Rothbury and Thropton, we park on a back lane and walk up through fields and end up on a very ancient lane called Physic Lane. Many times they have rams in some of the fields we pass, so I was happy to see these two fellas above. I don’t know anything about why they are colored like that, it’s not natural color, so I’ll have to find that out.
One of my favorite kind of stiles to go over. built right into the wall.
Above, you see a very old type of style, it’s stone and built as part of the wall. I love it because it’s so permanent, though you do have to take care when you use it because they’re narrow and there’s usually nothing to hold onto. And yes, the stones go down the other side too!
A view down Physic Lane, just a grassy path now.
I love photos of gates in the countryside and would like to do more paintings of them. This gate is typical in style, a very practical farm gate to keep livestock in (or out). This is one part of the old Physic Lane, some parts you can see the old cobbles under the grass. Physic Lane dates back to the Medieval time, as there were two known hospitals in the area. It’s believed the monks who ran it would gather herbs along this lane and I know for a fact there is a great number of Elderberry trees along part of it, and this is a great healing plant with it’s berries and flowers being used. I know it’s a dull day for a photo but I love how the Bracken is changing color along the lane too, I just love it’s Autumn colors.
Though it’s a misty overcast day, it’s still a beautiful view of Coquetdale valley, one of my favorite places!
I just love Coquetdale, so named for the River Coquet that runs from up in the Scottish Borders down through this valley. It snakes it’s way along, added to by little streams that run down from the moors, clean and cold. Then it winds it’s way along and reaches the coast at Warkworth Castle. But on this walk we don’t see much of it, so maybe I’ll share photos of it in a future post. What you can see are the Simonside Hills across the valley, a very popular set of hills to hike up.
One part of the walk has huge boulders scattered on the hillside.
One part of the walk has huge boulders scattered on the hillside. I just love big boulders that form crags on many of the hills around our area. They are full of interesting layers from when they were formed and huge cracks where they split apart from years of freeze and thaw and general wear. They’re kind of like architectural elements sitting in the countryside!
My favorite mushroooms are these, Fly Agaric.
Fly Agaric mushrooms are my favorite kind, I can’t resist the bright red orange of their caps and the little white ‘bits’ that appear there too. I just loved how these appeared to line a path, like maybe they were magically put there by a fairy to decorate the way?
NORTHUMBERLAND – Above Eglingham
I’m a sucker for pictures of tracks through grassy fields!
Then on another day we went for a short walk that we did years ago, above Eglingham, but this time we went further up the fields. It’s very open there with far reaching views of moors, grasses, heather and distant hills.
We found a huge boulder sticking out on the hillside.
We found a huge boulder sticking out on the hillside, so naturally we were attracted to it. I guess others have been too because some nitwit carved a big heart into it and then names and a date. We don’t find this attractive at all or nostalgic, we just find it annoying and a disturbance to what we consider perfect as is, nature left alone. OK rant over!
We enjoyed sitting on said rock for quite awhile, just enjoying the view, talking about things going on in our life and because it was very windy and cold, keeping out scarves wrapped around our faces.
There were wonderful little mushrooms growing around the boulder.
There were nice little mushrooms growing all around the boulder, on all the different levels of rock, where ever there was soil and grass growing. What I liked about this boulder was there were so many flat parts to sit on, all on different levels. I’m certain this rock has been popular for sitting over many, many years!
Here’s a view from the boulder where we sat.
I included a photo to show you the marvelous view we had from the boulder top, it just keeps going on and on. I love the color in autumn of the bracken and heather, just wonderful browns with a hint of burgundy.
This is another photo of the view from the boulder.
And here’s a photo just showing the view in landscape format. I want to go back up there and see it in different seasons. Also as we sat and studied the land and hills before us, we try to see where tracks, gates and paths might be so we could explore further on another day. When I see land spreading out like this I get the feeling of just wanting to walk and walk to get to further hills. Getting back might be a problem when I’m all tuckered out!
Just to show you how chilly it was, there’s me bundled up!
Just to show you how chilly it was, there’s me bundled up! It was soo cold and windy, but sometimes that really gives you energy, as long as you don’t sit still too long. I had to crop Gary out as he does not like his photo shared! I like snapping some selfies from our walks, it really is nice to look back on later and gives that more personal feeling and memory of our day out.
I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of some of the wonderful views we’ve seen lately. I do have more to share so you may see some other posts like this, just to share some photos. Do you think this would be good?
Hello my dear friends, did you miss me? Well life has just gotten so busy and time went right out the window, I’m sorry about that and feel guilty for neglecting my blog. But here I am to add something new and hopefully start sharing more too.
Have you heard of Inktober? It’s an artist’s self initiative to produce work for the month of October and all has to be ink. I’ve always wanted to do the self challenge because I love drawing with ink, but shied away because of the pressure to produce and being busy. Well I’ve decided (as we all should) to do it in my way, I’ll do some as I can and that’s good for me! haha.
So recently we had a surprise visitor, a tiny frog that came hopping out of my studio, all the way at the back of the house! Now I know this post is about toads but we’ll get to that shortly! We’re not sure if he came in when Gary had the door open to feed the hedgehogs or what but he needed to go outside. This summer I made up a little pond using a ‘tubtrug’ shallow plastic tub, filled with water, rocks and sticks and a tiny solar pump that squirts a bit of water to make some movement.
This is the little pond I made from a shallow plastic tub.
I’ll tell you what the birds have been loving it, the pheasants drink right at the sides and little birds land on the various pieces of old slate or the sticks to drink. I was excited to watch both the Robin and Blackbird take really good baths in it, splashing all around, it was great! The little water pump just makes a little ‘blurp’ or water repeatedly or when the sun is really bright it flows like a little drinking fountain; it’s supposed to be just enough to get the birds attention and keep the water circulating a bit.
Such a tiny frog, what was he doing in my studio?
So back to the frog, we took him outside (it was night-time) and put him in the pond and watched until I was sure he could also get out. You see even a frog can drown if it can’t get out of a tub type thing so be careful when you put water in containers outside. He did just as I expected and kept swimming around and around to the sides, which were too high for him. The way the rocks were situated he could easily have climbed on them and got out, but he had a one track mind to go around the edges. So I arranged some sticks and weeds at the edge so he had lots to grab onto at the rim, and he duly obliged by climbing up then out. Great, now I know if one goes in it can also get out.
Baby frog hopping away in the wet grass.
So on the way back into the house I stopped Gary just before he stepped on a little toad in the dark! This is a real wildlife night! So we took him to the pond, just so he would know about it, I took lots of photos then he got down in the long grass between some pots and it was goodbye! That’s him below, we shone two torches (flashlights) on him for the picture, it worked great.
Then another day I was in my back garden planting strawberry runner babies and I looked down and there is a decorative ceramic pot full of rainwater was a little toad, swimming and desperately trying to get out! Poor thing, I scooped him right out and took him to the pond area too, took some pictures and he warmed himself in the sun awhile before leaving.
Little toad had a nice dip then soaked in some sun before leaving.
So now you’ve patiently waited to hear how Inktober fits in here and to see some artwork! I’ll show you the two drawings I did and some of the stages as I worked, I took a few pictures with my cell phone. (By the way, I share a lot of pictures like this on my Instagram account “Mary McAndrew Artist” and on my Facebook page “Mary McAndrew Painting and Illustration”, you can easily follow me on those and see lots of photos as I draw, paint or see things outside in the garden or from walks.)
Toad #1 showing my pencil drawing and the start of the inking.
I want practice using my dip nibs and ink so that’s what I used here. The ink was a bit old so I struggled a bit until I added enough water to thin it again; I used Rapidograph waterproof ink.
Here I’ve gotten more of his bumps on.
You can see on this second picture I’ve put a bit of a light wash of ink, using a brush and water, down his arm, face and side.
Toad #1 finished
You can see I added more washes to the toad, finished his ‘bumps’ (I hate calling them warts, it’s not nice for the toads image!) and put some tone under him to set him off. I also used a white gel pen to put tiny dots on the bumps where needed.
Toad #2 at the drawing stage.
You can see in my drawing above of Toad #2 how I used simple ovals to place his feet and leg parts. I sketched simple ovals and circles to get him basically laid out and then could correct the proportions of him before adding details.
The drawing stage basically done.
Above you can see the drawing stage is done, toes are all on but not every bump.
I started adding the ink with a dip nib.
I’ve started adding the ink now with a dip nib, but this time I am using Higgins “Black Magic” ink. It said it’s waterproof but later I find this wasn’t totally true!
Then there’s always a chance of ink spots!
Ah yes, things were going ok but I was struggling with old ink with clumps, adding water and trying to wipe off my nib when needed. Somehow in all this I did manage to drip ink on the drawing, argh! I wasn’t too upset because this is just a study and I’m trying to be a bit loose with it.
I did some ink washes on the body to show form.
I found the ink was not so waterproof when I tried to do washes with a small brush, I had to pick up disturbed ink with a paper towel. So I was able to carefully go over areas with just a damp brush to get the ink to lift and make a wash. You can see I also start to add some black around his back foot, leg and front foot. I really like digging in with darks around subjects to set them off, you’ll see it works to my advantage next.
More ink around him done with the brush, ink and water for diluting. See how that big ink spot is getting covered?
Toad #2 finished!
Here he is finished, I layered the ink in and got nice and dark around his body; I like the way it makes him look like he’s coming out of the ground. I edited out the other sketch of a toads head on the paper, just for the final scan. The spot that was on his leg I was able to lift pretty much with water and paper towel. I added white gel pen to his bumps where it was shiny on the photo and finished adding his tiny bumps. Did you know each toad has different bumps? When I compare the two toads they looked so alike, but when you look close you can tell which was which by where their bumps were.
The color photo of this very gorgeous toad!
Above is the photo I worked from, I had to flip the photo to draw him facing a to the right. The photo and drawing also look a bit different because my drawing of him is turned a bit so he’s pointing up more, I liked it better that way. I wanted to share with you his gorgeous colors too and show you how lots of his bumps were a deep sandstone red, like jewels on the ground. It’s all about texture with a toad, that must be why I like drawing them!
I hope you enjoyed this post, as I said it’s been an awfully long time I’ve been away from it and will en-devour to share more soon! Please find me on Instagram at “Mary McAndrew Artist” and Facebook business page is “Mary McAndrew Painting and Illustration”. Please leave me some comments below about toads in your area, are they getting ready to hibernate?
(This post was written on November 19th, 2016, but I never got to post it. Since we’re at that time of year again I guess it’s ok to share it now, better late than never!)
It’s the time of year for mushrooms! Whether you like to forage to eat (not me) or just admire (me), they are popping up everywhere. Now that we’ve had some rains and the ground is getting cold and soggy…I’m seeing them so much more.
Huge old Sycamore (Maple) I admire.
At the top of the lane I like to walk up most days, there’s an especially old huge Sycamore tree I admire. At it’s base are what I think are three different kinds of mushrooms. I tried to go up to draw them the other day but got side tracked with the Brown Trout painting adventure. So this time I went right to them and found a good seat on one of the huge roots.
Drawing with mittens on!
It was really cold just sitting there so I had to do the entire drawing wearing my mittens! I think I did pretty well with that in mind. Also to save time I did not do a pencil sketch first but drew directly with the permanent ink pen. That went ok too!
Look at all these lovely mushrooms!
I love this new (to me) type of mushroom, I like imagining how the top split apart as it grew and expanded, kind of like how the continents split apart a long time ago! Each crispy looking brown shell part tops a bit of the mushroom flesh, making a great three dimensional subject to study.
Side view of one mushroom.
Above shows the side view of one mushroom, you can really see the texture on it’s cap and see it’s ring around the stem like a little collar!
Below you can see how I progressed along, feet getting colder all the time.
My drawing is getting there, just one more mushroom!
I was definitely feeling the cold chill by now, but I really wanted to add one more mushroom behind these.
Mushrooms, brown permanent ink
This is how far I got in the field, I got that last mushroom in! Now when I have time, I’ll add some more details of leaves and grasses…digging into the dark areas a bit. Then I’d really like to add the reddish brown color of the mushrooms using watercolor. We’ll see if I get that far.
Beautiful, I’m guessing at “Shaggy pholiota?
Above is a picture of another mushroom cluster growing under that tree, I’m guessing it’s “Shaggy pholiota” (totally guessing from my small field guide!). It was so wonderful looking in it’s neat little cluster that dispite being very chilled to the bone, I decided to do a quick pencil sketch.
Very quick pencil sketch of mushrooms.
This also was done wearing mittens, it was really hard to do like that and to be very cold at the same time! But maybe I can find time to do up a little watercolor study with it? I loved the texture of these mushrooms, shaggy on top and stem.
Here you can see them growing in the root area.
Here’s a picture of the cluster growing in the root area, and I believe those on the root below it are more mature individuals.
A bright “Yellow Brain Fungus”, (Tremella mesenterica)
This Yellow Brain Fungus I found growing on a stick broken off of the tree. The branch was heavily damp and covered with lichens and dead leaves. When I turned the stick to look at all it’s sides, the fungus flopped about a bit; it was so cool! I laid it back down on the ground, hoping to observe it each time I come back.
Do you see any mushrooms growing where you live? Post me a comment about them and where you are located, you don’t have to know what kind they are, I usually don’t know them either!
This is the White Ermine Moth that came to visit the other night.
This is the White Ermine Moth (Spilosoma lubricepeda) that came to visit us here in Northumberland the other night. What is it about moths that gets my interest so much? There are so many kinds, they hold their wings in different ways and seem to ‘sneak’ into the house and surprise you. This moth has a wonderful ‘Ermine’ fur coat and furry legs. He has long slender antennae with delicate fringe and speckles on it’s wings that are different on every single moth!
Sketching the moth in my little field sketchbook.
I made a simple holding container for when I catch interesting bugs and want to study or draw them. This is just a plastic container from Wilko, I cut a rectangle in the lid and taped some mesh over to cover it. I had a better container before I moved to England made from a clear plastic container, but like so many things I had to leave it behind, so this one will do for now.
Ink studies of White Ermine Moth
First I sketched the moth in pencil, then used permanent ink and erased the lines. I know it would look nice if I did an ink wash around the moth so it will really show how white it is, but this is just a brief study. I feel I have no time for lengthy studies lately! I think when I have some time I’ll go back and put a watercolor wash around the three studies to make them stand out white.
The underside of the White Ermine Moth
This shows the underside of the moth, his little furry black ‘face’ and neat rows of ‘buttons’ down his front! It’s things like that that inspire me to think of drawing little characters! One of these days I’ll make a better container, a jar is also very good to use.
The way he holds his front legs and the ‘fur’ on them and his body reminds me of the beautiful moth I discovered back in NY. Here’s the post I did about it: http://marymcandrew.com/beautiful-wood-nymph-moth-june-2011/ I hope you take a look, it really was a ‘beautiful’ moth!
Click this link to see some really great photos of other White Ermine Moths: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/spilosoma-lubricipeda/ It was this website that helped me to get a positive ID on my moth, but I would have had much trouble doing it if I didn’t already know that it was an Ermine Moth.
In the morning I like to get out for a quick, short walk before I eat my porridge. Sometimes I wander down to Edlingham Castle and the view I sketched above was the view of the church (St. John the Baptist) as you return up the path. I love the way a fenceline can add an elegant curve and show perspective, even when just indicated by little lines like toothpicks.
These are the notes I put on the back of the drawing.
This particular sketchbook is very small, so it’s easy to hold and carry in my pocket. So for the small size I was happy with how the composition turned out.
St. John the Baptist Church from the castle.
This is the church as you approach from the castle. You can see the Butterbur is growing so tall, it loves growing there by the wall!
Here’s a nice view of the church, St. John the Baptist.
Here’s a view of St. John the Baptist Church from July 2015.
This will be short and sweet. Just a quick post to share some sketches I did of a little dark Weevil that came by today. He didn’t stop by for tea but I may do a character of him someday so you never know!
(click any pictures to see larger)
Enlarged sketches of the Weevil
Above shows the small sketch page I did. It had a spot of color on it from when I was going to paint something, but this is just a study so it didn’t bother me. You can see in the upper right corner, I always draw two lines showing the bugs actual length. I hope the pictures aren’t too blurry, I only have my cell phone camera right now. I cropped and enlarged them so they may not be as nice as they could be! (getting a new camera is on my list!)
Weevil in my ‘bug’ container to study.
Above shows the little container I’ve used for years as a temporary holder for bugs while I study them. None of them have ever held still, it’s so hard to draw them while they constantly walk about. I tried to draw the sketches much bigger than actual size to show more detail.
A great natural light picture when I released him.
This is when I released him outside on the fence. You can see the tiny dots of tan on his back.
Another nice shot of his texture and color.
They must have a special substance on their feet because he was able to walk on all the slipper walls of this shiny plastic container.
And another shot, you can see his eyes.
Look at those antennae! They were bent like an arm would bend at the elbow, and he poked them up and down to ‘feel’ or ‘smell’ (?) his way along.
I like how this picture shows how he can bend his body a bit, or neck if he has one!
Look at the interesting shape of his legs, and I like how he has his neck bent a bit.
One last picture of him in the container.
One last picture of him in the container, I like showing all the different angles. I find the legs so interesting and difficult to draw unless it’s from a photo. He walked constantly while I sketched him and reminded me of one of those wind up toys! I noticed how they moved opposite legs, just like any multi-legged creature would for balance.
This past summer my husband and I tried to pop out to the Lake District when we could. Unfortunately time slipped by and we only got out there a few times for the day, except of course when my son visited and I got to stay in Keswick two days with him! (but that’s another story). On this occasion we explored Kendal, then some small tarns but the best part was walking up Gummer’s How and having a picnic. (please click on photos to see larger views)
The Chocolate House, Kendal.
First we stopped in Kendal and had a quick run around, but lingered a little longer in the Chocolate House. It’s a very small shop filled with all kinds of chocolates and candies. To be honest I didn’t buy any this time, I just didn’t feel in the mood….I must have been NOT feeling myself! Well it’s a reason to go back again.
An amazing old door on a small church we visited.
This is an amazing old heavy wooden door on a small church we visited.
A very scary ford to cross.
This is a ford we came to, I’ve never seen one this wide! There was no sign saying not to cross it but I told Gary I’d get out of the car if he tried! It looked far too deep.
I’m so glad we decided not to cross this ford!
We drove around the long way and this is the ford from the other side. It was awful, the ground was all broken up from previous flooding, and it must have been 2 1/2 feet deep! There should have been a sign to warn people!
Gummer’s How, waiting for us to come up!
This is Gummer’s How and you can just see Lake Windermere at its base. Time to get our boots on and get walking.
There were some really pretty areas on our walk up.
We passed small grassy glades and this one had a small stream that sounded so refreshing.
This is the path that curves around towards the top
As we get near the top the path goes close to the edge and you get a great view of Windermere. I had to stop and take it in, though Gary said to keep on, he knew the view got better!
Now don’t get jealous of this next photo! It looks like a scene from the “Miss Potter” movie and I love that!
Settling down to do a watercolor of the view at Lake Windermere.
Of course my big plan was to do a watercolor study up top and I’m happy to say I did. Many times we walk and when we’re at the top of our hill I don’t feel like painting or there’s just no time.
The day couldn’t get more perfect!
After our picnic of Ploughman’s sandwiches (cheese and pickle), various biscuits (cookies) and a can of apple cider we shared, I settled down on some soft mossy heather to draw.
This apple cider was nice with our picnic.
It helps to carry a plastic bag to sit on, the ground is usually very damp so I always have one tucked in my field kit.
My small sketchbook and travel palette balanced on my knees.
The difficult part is translating that huge expanse of landscape to your small pad, I focused in on several of the distant mountains and first sketched with pencil.
This shows how far I got while working in the field.
The above picture shows how far I got in the field. One of the best things about painting or drawing outside, is all the things you see as you sit there! We heard loud airplane engines and then two really big military airplanes flew right up the lake; it was below us and that perspective made it even more exciting! They must have been returning from an airshow?
Finished watercolor of “Lake Windermere from Gummer’s How”
Here’s the finished watercolor (above). The most challenging thing (as always) was the changing shadow patterns on the hills. You can sit and gaze all day at the moving shadows from the clouds, picking out brilliant greens in one area then fading to appear in another spot. It helped me greatly to look at photos I shot when I finished up details at home. I had to pick a bit from many to fit what my painting was showing.
Click on this Wikipedia link to read more about Gummer’s How. I love the quote by Wainwright at the end, I guess I don’t have to hang up my boots just yet!
The end of a very nice day, this was the sunset as we drove through the Pennines back to Northumberland. I hope you enjoyed the extra photos today, though I know August is long since gone, I’ll always remember our hike and painting on Gummer’s How.
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