Well where to begin? This is a very late entry about my weekend at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage, May 30, 31, June 1, 2008. I wanted to make sure I share it with you because it was such a fantastically wonderful weekend filled with great people and plenty of new things to learn about nature. I’ve decided to break it up into several posts so it’s not too long. This one will be about the wildflowers I saw. Below is just one of the fabulous views in Allegany State Park.
I feel giulty for not having more drawings, but let me explain what it was like. From Friday until Sunday you could show up for hikes or classes lead by experts in their field, all day long! There was one after the other, some at the same time, it was so hard to pick and choose which I wanted to go on. I filled 13 pages in my sketchbook with notes about birds, flowers and plants! We were constantly walking as a group so it was very hard to draw, the small amount of sketching I did was while I was walking! Seriously…you have to watch the ground so you don’t trip! haha…
This page of my sketchbook shows a drawing I did while on a guided birdwatching hike. It was lead by Tim Baird of Salamanca, he’s a retired science teacher who knows more about birds and plants than anyone I know! He has such a wonderful casual manner when you ask questions about everything you see….well um…that was me! I asked him about everything I saw! He was so patient!! haha…must be the teacher in him. Most of the flowers, plants and birds I learned about this weekend were from his walks. Thanks Tim!!
Dwarf Ginseng, shown in the little sketch above, a pretty little woodland flower.
I learned about this flower on a wildflower hike led by Mary Alice Tock, down by the lakeside. It’s Cinquefoil, cinque (5) as in five leaves, five petals slightly heart shaped. Mary told us some things to look for when identifying wildflowers: 1. color 2. shape of leaves 3. # of petals 4. arrangement of leaves on stem, and how they’re connected to the stem.
This is Clintonia, a woodland lily, also called Yellow Corn-lily or Blue Bead for the fruits it bears. I took this picture up at Thunderocks on my last day…more about that amazing place in another post!
This is Golden Alexander, shown in the sketch I did above while walking. It has a complicated flower head like Queen Anne’s Lace, I forget the technical term…I’m sure someone can remind me in the comments.
This very pretty flower is Golden Ragwort, looks just like something that’d be growing in your garden.
This is Star Flower, found in the woods also, like a hidden gem just waiting to be noticed.
And this is a very well known wildflower, Trillium. I was lucky to catch sight of it in bloom here and in the Adirondack mtns.
I just finished this 12″ x 15″ watercolor of a Golden Eagle yesterday. I started it a few months ago and then put it aside. I used watercolors and a few touches of permanent ink pen. I wanted to leave the edges looking washy so you could definitely see that it’s a watercolor, and therefor keep some of the freshness. I stroked the feathers on directly with my round brush to show the pointy shape that the Golden Eagle has to his feathers.
Later…some months I should say!… I sat down to finish it, he’s been waiting around too long for me! So I just looked for what needed to be made darker, stronger shadows under feathers to make them start to pop a little. I worked on the eye, the most important part of any painting I feel, I added more golden color then lifted out some highlight area with a damp brush, then when it was dry I carefully scratched out a tiny highlight with a razor blade.
I will have prints available of this painting, without the shipping:
note cards = $5 each (8.5″x5.5″)
8×10 hand signed print = $20,
matted 8×10 print = $35,
I’m not sure about limited edition prints yet, I’ll wait and see about them.
Please just contact me if your interested, I can take credit cards or personal checks. The original painting will also be available, not priced yet or framed.
A bit more about the Golden Eagle, when I was in college I worked as a zoo keeper in Binghamton, NY at the Ross Park Zoo. My favorite area to work was in the aviary; it was up in the woods on the mountain. Each bird had a cage, of course they weren’t big enough, but the zoo has made huge improvements over the years, as so many zoos have done. I never forgot the Golden Eagle(s), there might have been two? All the birds of prey they had were brought there because of injury, some wings, some eyesight. The eagles were huge, and yes, their feathers on their head and breast were more ‘pointy’ than other birds. It was only at feeding time that I didn’t really enjoy it, their diet was fresh killed rats from the lab over at SUNY Binghamton. Ok, Ok…I won’t go into details here!…but being a zookeeper wasn’t all fun and games!
A little more reminiscing…last night I watched a old movie musical called “The Pied Piper of Hamlin”…ok..so I like old musicals!!…anyways…I noticed the feather the pied piper had in his hat was a very long, black and white striped feather. I never noticed it before, but now it popped out at me, it’s a “Lady Amherst Pheasant” feather! We had several types of exotic pheasants also in the aviary at the zoo, one of my favorites was the Lady Amherst…wow, so beautiful! I should do a painting of that one!
Perhaps when I go home for a visit I can do a sketching and journaling day at the Ross Park Zoo where I used to work. It’s a really nice little zoo, if you’re in the area go visit and tell them I sent you! haha…they won’t remember me but it’d be fun. PS. I should mention that they have an amazing little aviary now where you can walk in amongst the birds! It’s beautiful, has water features, plants, birds everywhere..some hiding, it’s very well done!
Please leave me comments below, I’d love to hear from more of you, as I have readers dropping in from around the world!!
It’s a gorgeous day! 65-70 degrees, sunny and breezy. The first journal page is done with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush…I found it hard to get the greens I wanted. A gorgeous bird, the Black Tern; I took so many pictures of them swooping over the water, with their very elegant coloring. The other picture is a bit more sad but shows the real life of nature, it’s a Red Tailed Hawk being chased by Red Winged Black-Birds because he’s stolen a youngster from the nest! I saw him land into the tall grasses on the marsh, and noted the huge commotion of the Black Birds. When he took off I figured something was up, and sure enough he was carrying a chick.
I spotted this little butterfly in the field as we walked and I’ve narrowed it down to two butterflies-either the Pearl Crescent or Gorgone Checkerspot…anyone help me with an ID?
This painting was done with watercolors. I used my little watercolor kit that’s tucked into a tiny “Altoids” tin if you can believe it! I’ll have to post a picture of that soon.
Some bird photos I took, two of a male Tree Swallow that was sitting by it’s nest box. A picture of a Song Sparrow on the left, and a Swamp Sparrow on the right.
This flower was drawn with a micron pen then colored with watercolor. I had to wait till I was at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage (more on that later!) to indentify it, showing it to some wildflower experts…they told me it’s a Evening Lychnis. Click here for the link to Iroqouis Nature Refuge.
This is about the morning I spent at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve in Cheektowaga, NY. It’s from back in May, but I wanted to put it up to keep my posts in order. The very first thing I saw, well heard, was a House Wren…busy little thing! I kept watching it flit around until it showed me where it’s nesting hole in a dead tree was. (Don’t forget to click on my sketchbook pages to see the enlarged views.) I did a really quick sketch of a fern leaf and flowers on mint. I looked in my wildflowers book and still haven’t found a ‘blue’ flower, they say it should be pink. I need to find some more books!
May really is the month to see and hear birds when you’re out walking! Some of the birds I heard or saw: Catbird, Yellow Warbler, House Wren, Canada Geese, Baltimore Oriole, Mallard ducks, Turkey Vulture, Red Winged Black Bird, Nuthatch, Wood Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher.
I also took a few pictures of the gorgeous wildflowers including the pink ones with the bee on it, those are Honey Suckle, the pale lavender ones are Dames Rocket if I’m not mistaken. You look for the four petals it has, not five.
I came upon a Baltimore Oriole that had just had a bath in the shallow area of the pond. He was up in the branches at my eye level, just preening and shaking off. I took some pictures with my tiny camera but he was really too far away; but what in inspiring sight, I can’t wait to do a painting of one.
Then down by the wooden bridge on the Lily Pond Loop, I shot a short video clip just to show how gorgeous the day was. It was sunny but cool, the lily pads were out, no flowers yet, and birds flying everywhere. Check it out because I have another video clip taken on July 5th to show you soon…lilie flowers in full bloom!
Today I went birdwatching with the Audubon Society at Iroqouis Wildlife Refuge in Gasport, NY. This is north of Buffalo. a very beautiful area to hike around. The weather today wasn’t gorgeous as it rained off and on and was quite cold…but we saw birds. There were a few expert birders leading the informal outing, they were so good at naming birds just by their song. I’m using a new bag that my friend in England sent me. It’s a military bag that feels really comfortable, holds my drawing supplies but not the sketchbook. It’s nice because it takes the weight off my shoulders. I had to put up one of my sketchbook pages so you could see, just how little sketching I get done when on a hike like this. There is no time for stopping to sketch when you’re with a group of determined birders! haha…that’s ok, I have listed most of the birds we saw and heard. The check mark means I saw the bird not just heard it. Here you can see the group coming to the area where Ospreys are nesting. We had a good look with a scope on a tripod. There were areas in open fields with chicken wire around them, I pointed out to everyone that they (the Wildlife Refuge) were trying to grow lupines there, a very important host plant for butterflies, and beautiful too! Here’s the link for the Iroqouis Nature Refuge: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/iroquois
It was mother’s day and gorgeous…I had a chance to go out and just sit in the soft spring grass and draw. So I thought I’d just play with a non permanent ink pen and a waterbrush to do a little demo on how simple it is to make a nice value drawing. The pen is just a typical non permanent writing pen from an office supply store. By the way, I didn’t just get dandelions for Mother’s Day…my boys brought me beautiful tulips!
This post, and the next few from me, are being put up late…but I wanted to keep the hikes I took in sequence….more exciting things coming soon! I couldn’t resist starting off with Ginger coming up the lane…it’s so green and lush in Springtime! You can see the buds are just coming out on the trees. Well, it was a very wet, rainy day as you can see by my raingear and barn boots! I always keep a plastic garbage bag in my pocket when hiking, this makes a great surface to kneel or sit on when the ground is damp or if you want to put your camera or bag down, it protects it. The page below shows a very, very quick sketch of moneywort…it grows all over my land in damp or wet areas and in spring + summer it’ll have the prettiest yellow flowers. You can click on any picture to read my notes closer…yikes the mosquitoes were rampant!!
This is a video clip about the Mayapples and one of my old oak trees. This is another one of my old oak trees on “Oak Lane”. I love walking up to each one and checking on them, touching their bark, feeling their power and strength.Growing under the oaks were these plants that I think are Adderstongue…I didn’t get to make a final identification yet. What I did was sketch the upper leaf at actual or life size in pencil. I shaded then smudged with my finger then used a kneaded rubber eraser to ‘wipe out’ where I wanted the light spots. Because the leaf had a mottled look I thought I’d try a little watercolor technique to recreate it. I painted the leaf green then as it was drying I dropped water onto it, this makes a nice mottled effect. It also had a fruit that was green colored. Sorry to say I didn’t get back out there to see what the plant did as far as flowering. You can see where I tested my colors in the corner of the page.At the end of my walk I came to the only Crabapple on my property, what a pretty sight when you find it in Springtime! It’s hidden in an out of the way place in the “Maze”, a field I have with paths that go all over like a maze. I didn’t get to finish the painting properly, I tried to work on it as rain was starting. But it was good practice anyways! I do have some ‘sweet’ pictures of the blossoms for future use. By the way, this was done with watercolor pencils that I then wet with a waterbrush.
The final video clip below is a nice bit of music by one of my favorite singers…the Wood Thrush!!
Well I’m finally getting some pictures up from my day of exploring at Evangola State Park, in Brandt NY. (it’s near Angola) My photographer friend Mark Baker and I are picking areas around Buffalo to go explore, he concentrates on photography while I grab some pictures and then try to sketch. It is nice to spend time with a friend this way but it is a little harder for me to settle down and draw things. I guess as we explore more together I’ll get more comfortable with just saying, “I’ll be sitting here for awhile while you go shooting”. He got some neat shots of me working and I took the ones of my hand holding the palette in the creek bed and the cool “hanging by a root” photo.
It was a very overcast day, windy but pleasant enough. Sometimes that’s a great kind of lighting for photography or drawing, no glaring sun to deal with. I sketched the covered bridge and wanted to work on it more at home, but never got time. That’s why I waited so long to post this!, ah, the best laid plans of mice and women….ahem.
The picture of me standing in the stream, I’m sketching the scene very quickly using a permanent ink pen, then the close up of my hand holding the palette and pad shows how I hold it to use the watercolors. I just kept bending down to rinse my brush in the water flowing past me, no watercup necessary!
Then I sat down on the bank to do a quick watercolor of the lake using my Chinese brush, the colors were really dull because of the type of day it was. But I wanted to experiment and practice painting outdoors. You can see in the picture that Mark took looking over my shoulder that I’ve spread my bag out in front of me, but all within quick reach in case I have to pack up suddenly and go. Um…rain, creepy men …you ladies know what I mean! haha…another good reason to have a male friend on the exploration trip with you. A side note here to my painting, drawing, exploring lady friends, ALWAYS pay attention to what’s going on around you!! Don’t be naive, believe me you don’t want to run into trouble out by yourself, better to be paying attention to who’s around you.
Ok, back to more pleasant thoughts! I’ve also included an OK clip of the lakes waves. It was my intention to get a clip of the sound, but my friend Mark was diddling around next to me with his camera…made some noises. I’ll shoot a better one next time!
Here’s a link to Mark’s phenomenal website www.mhbaker.com and Evangola State Park link: http://www.evangolastatepark.com/
Today I’ve uploading my sketchbook pages that I did the other day (4-23-08). It was my first day going outside to draw since my car accident…what a great day to be out there! I got to observe the bluebirds trying to nest in one of the bluebird boxes I put up. A Red Spider Mite came and visited, then crawled all over my paint box. I tried to note the bugs I saw, one I need help identifying, the little brown one with tan spots. The thing I wanted to draw most were the little yellow flowers, I still have to figure out what kind they are.
Check out the pictures I added, the Red Spider Mite was crawling over my white watercolor block, I photographed it through my magnifying glass! The other picture shows my field bag and it’s contents…also my palette. I kept the little binoculars handing so I could keep checking out the bluebirds.
Today I couldn’t resist the sunshine, it was a ‘balmy’ 40 degrees so I took my field pack and told Ginger we’re going for a hike! She, of course could barely contain her excitement! If you click on any picture you can see the enlarged version, and read my actual notes. There were Red Winged Black birds calling from the tree tops and some Turkey Vultures sailing overhead silently. I sketched a tree with a hole that lookes perfect for something to have a nest in, I’ll have to watch this spring. The second page is further out, in “The Maze”, a place on my land where I cut all these paths that intersect. It’s a great place to explore. The sketch at the top of the page was done first with permanent marker then I used Derwendt Inktense watercolor pencils and a few Prismacolor wc pencils; I noted the colors used on the page. I noticed the buds on the trees coming forth…like pussy willows…all soft and grey, but smaller. I did some sketches on both pages, very small. The next two pictures show me holding my sketchbook. Now it’s impossible to take a picture of oneself while both hands are occupied, I told Ginger I wish she could take the picture! So, first picture shows my hand holding the pencils and sketchbook at the same time.
The second picture shows me drawing with the wc-pencil and holding the waterbrush at the same time. The small buds I painted using the watercolor pencils and a small watercolor brush. The waterbrush gets frustrating, it’s a bit large and the water amount is hard to control.
The next ‘cute’ picture is Ginger fetching a stick, she was bored while I was setting up my supplies for a picture so I had her play fetch.
The next picture is of my field bag with the contents laid out. I numbered them so I could describe what they are. 1)watercup attached to strap 2)sandpaper block 3)watercolor pencils 4)sketchbook 5)watercolor field set 6)natural sponge 7)paper towels 8)square magnifier 9)eraser 10) slide holder for composition 11)retractable knife 12)watercolor brushes 13)tiny tripod 14)pepper spray 15) various pencils, pens, waterbrush 16)palette watercup 17)biscuit treats for Ginger 19)garbage bag to sit on.
Then there’s a picture of the ice and bubbles, I had to stand in water to take it and YES, my boots leaked! Even with the plastic bags my sock got very wet and squishy! Oh the adventures of a Naturalist Artist!
Then there’s a picture of a fern head …I love these things. Then a picture of the ‘tools of the day’, my sketchbook, watercolor pencils, waterbrush, watercolor brush, and permanent ink pen. The last picture is a Turkey Vulture that flew over, I know it was checking us out! It circled, riding the updrafts, and kept coming back over us. I’m really surprised I could catch a picture with my tiny camera.
I hope you enjoyed the walk with Ginger and I, “Come Walk With Me” again soon!
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I feel giulty for not having more drawings, but let me explain what it was like. From Friday until Sunday you could show up for hikes or classes lead by experts in their field, all day long! There was one after the other, some at the same time, it was so hard to pick and choose which I wanted to go on. I filled 13 pages in my sketchbook with notes about birds, flowers and plants! We were constantly walking as a group so it was very hard to draw, the small amount of sketching I did was while I was walking! Seriously…you have to watch the ground so you don’t trip! haha…
This page of my sketchbook shows a drawing I did while on a guided birdwatching hike. It was lead by Tim Baird of Salamanca, he’s a retired science teacher who knows more about birds and plants than anyone I know! He has such a wonderful casual manner when you ask questions about everything you see….well um…that was me! I asked him about everything I saw! He was so patient!! haha…must be the teacher in him. Most of the flowers, plants and birds I learned about this weekend were from his walks. Thanks Tim!!
Dwarf Ginseng, shown in the little sketch above, a pretty little woodland flower.
I learned about this flower on a wildflower hike led by Mary Alice Tock, down by the lakeside. It’s Cinquefoil, cinque (5) as in five leaves, five petals slightly heart shaped. Mary told us some things to look for when identifying wildflowers: 1. color 2. shape of leaves 3. # of petals 4. arrangement of leaves on stem, and how they’re connected to the stem.
This is Clintonia, a woodland lily, also called Yellow Corn-lily or Blue Bead for the fruits it bears. I took this picture up at Thunderocks on my last day…more about that amazing place in another post!
This is Golden Alexander, shown in the sketch I did above while walking. It has a complicated flower head like Queen Anne’s Lace, I forget the technical term…I’m sure someone can remind me in the comments.
This very pretty flower is Golden Ragwort, looks just like something that’d be growing in your garden.
This is Star Flower, found in the woods also, like a hidden gem just waiting to be noticed.
And this is a very well known wildflower, Trillium. I was lucky to catch sight of it in bloom here and in the Adirondack mtns.
