I was at the Farm Center where I go to buy corn for my chickens, hardware type supplies and new mud boots when I need them. Well, they had new baby chicks! What can I say? I have a barn, I have chickens, I love chicks and being the little kid in a big kids body that I am…ahem…I bought them for myself!! It was to cheer myself up because I’m still hurting from my car accident.
Usually I would put them directly in the barn, but it is still quite chilly and I don’t have a heat lamp set up yet or a pen. So I put them in the ‘old’ bathroom in the bathtub! Ha, what a surprise when my boys saw them!
I looked at it like an opportunity to draw them and do some studies, the dedicated artist that I am!
So the first page was sketches with a graphite mechanical pencil…it’s hard to draw things that are constantly moving! The other page is watercolors that I played with. At the bottom you can see where I wet the paper first and touched it with my color on my brush tip. It makes fuzzy blobs that are fun to play with, but you have to be careful as to “how” blobby it gets. Watercolor has a mind of it’s own, but that’s what I like about it. You can play with this technique, just wet the paper first…let it dry a bit to lose some sheen, then touch paint to it and let it go. It will grow on it’s own. Experiment with this to see how it reacts when your paper is wetter or drier. Then let it dry totally before you try to add details or they will be fuzzy too. Go here to see my new Nature Sketching Class schedule! http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2008/05/nature-sketching-classes.html
or there’s a link in the right hand column for my classes.
I’ve told you before I’m not the kind of person to waste time when I’m waiting around. Well, I started this sketch of a Marsh Wren while sitting in Regal Cinema waiting for the live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera to begin! I put my sketchbook, a mechanical pencil and a small book with photos (it’s listed on my sketchbook page) all in my purse. It was kind of low lighting but I was able to get it started, then later I finished the details. I hope I can see one in real life soon, I’ve heard their songs on bird tapes and it sounds so beautiful, like something from Walt Disney!
The Wood Thrush just happens to be one of my favorite birds, oh how I love hearing them sing when I’m near the woods! Especially near evening time. This one I did using Graphitint Watersoluble Pencils, they’re watersoluble graphite. I only have two colors to experiment with, cocoa and chestnut, this one being chestnut. I really like these pencils and have to pick up some more to play with. You can sketch then wet it to make washes or bring out the vividness of color, then rework into it wet will give you VERY intense value or rework over it when it’s dry. It’s a lot of fun to play with and I love working in monotones. See three of my Goddess paintings on my website that show this…Autumn, Twilight, Etain. Someday I’ll do a finer painting with these watersoluble pencils…ahmmm…when I have more time!! I’ve added a short video clip that I took while hiking on May 7th, you can hear a Wood Thrush singing as I point it towards the trees. (no, you won’t see any birds, just hear them!). ENJOY!!
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.
Well as my title alludes…I was in a car crash a few weeks ago, that’s why I haven’t posted. I was rolling right along preparing for my classes, going out hiking, getting ready to do plein air oil landscapes again when I got hit by someone who ran a stop sign! Sigh…well, thank God I wasn’t hurt worse, my car was totaled and I got out myself but I did take a ride in the ambulance to the hospital. I joked with the EMT’s that I guess you need to experience everything in your lifetime. I thought I’d be back to normal again right away but just as friends warned me, the pains and problems might show up later. Yup…they came! I won’t go into detail about all the pain and suffering, I’m trying to focus on the positive.
The killer is the weather turned absolutely gorgeous in my area of the world, and I just didn’t feel like going out to draw. What I did do was carry my sketchbook with me to the doctors offices, I’ve never ever been one to ‘waste’ time sitting around waiting.
I threw my field guide into my small field bag and my sketchbook, my inktense watercolor pencils and waterbrush. So…I nursed my interest in drawing along as I nursed my body and nerves. I even drew a chair while waiting for the Neurologist, chairs you know, are very good to practice drawing skills on. Think perspective!
I have a few pictures that show stages, with more to follow. If you take note of the dates, I did them about one week apart…wow I HATE moving so slow in my work, but I have to be patient everyone says. I am WAY behind on my drawing! I will also upload on another entry about the wonderful two openings I was in at the Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca. Lots of great photos from those events. So for now…here’s some pages from my sketchbook, though unfinished still, please forgive my taking so long!
This last sketchbook page is from a butterfly field guide, it’s an Eastern Tailed Blue. I did do more work on it since this was scanned, I’ll upload it soon.
I hope to take you on a walk with me this Friday, I’m going exploring with a photographer friend of mine and I will post about it after.
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!
Well, I finally had time to work on some small sketches in watercolor of Saw-whet owls. I did them in my small 5.5″ x 8.5″ Raffine sketchbook. I was inspired by the Owl Prowl I went on with the Buffalo Ornithological Society on March 15th. I did get some good photos to work from, but haven’t printed them out yet. These were done from very small pictures in field guides and a book I picked up on birds of prey.
I experimented with lifting color that I didn’t like…on the first owl (top first page) I had painted his eyes too close together. Now I’m a perfectionist, I thought, “I can leave it and just start another and call it practice”…but NO…so I wet the eyes, rubbed with my round brush, and pressed a clean paper towel on it, I repeated this over and over until I lifted a lot more than I thought I’d be able to! Then I let it dry and repainted it.
The little one under it I first drew with permanent ink first then colored it with watercolors. The page looked a little boring so I loosely painted green around the edges.
Page two, the owl on top came out nicely. I say that because as I started it, I didn’t like it very much. If I wanted to take more time and make it more detailed, I would add white to the face feathers with a guache or used liquid frisket to block it (retain white).
The little owl at the bottom is actually very tiny, it’s straight watercolor with no preliminary pencil drawing just like the others. It was so small I had trouble doing his pupils, they should be a tiny bit smaller so his eyes look wide open.
I really liked doing these little owl sketches! I love it’s coloring and it’s wide bright orange eyes!
Sign up in the right column to get email notifications when I update my blog.
On Saturday, March 15th, I went on an “Owl Prowl” with the Buffalo Ornithological Society. We started at the Niagara Airforce base..looking across the field (through chain link fence) trying to spot a snowy owl. All we saw was a coyote..looking for some lunch! Then we drove all over Niagara county, pulling over sometimes to look at Snow Buntings or Horned Larks. The stops were so quick that you’d no sooner pop out of the car, and they were ready to drive on again! I didn’t even get to see the Horned Larks to add them to my list.
Short Earred Owl
We tried to spot a Great Horned Owl on the nest, but I think with so many people walking into the woods to see it, it got spooked. A few crows were chasing it around in the near by field. We left right away so it could return to it’s nest. The photo of shadows on the snow is from the woods where the nest was. I just loved the dried golden leaves with the cold shadows on the snow.
The big disappointment of the day for me was that I had no time to what-so-ever to stop and do sketches! We were constantly on the run. I seriously hope to do some small watercolor sketches from the photos of the Saw Whet Owl.
The next stop was to see a Short Earred Owl that was known to roost in a pine tree next to a house. (see the picture of the owl with the dead branch in front of it) It was quite difficult to see without the experienced members pointing it out. When he did fly off, I was amazed at how large his wings were!
Saw Whet Owl
Saw Whet Owl
The next photos are of the Saw Whet Owl…oh that was exciting! We went to see it roosting in a pine tree at the Wildlife Preserve in Gasport. I read in the field guide that these owls will roost in the day and be very docile, it’s true. I was amazed at how it didn’t budge with all these people photographing it, talking quietly, creeping around. The darker picture of it I took while laying on my back in the snow! Well, sometimes to get a good shot, you have to be creative! Lucky I had my snow leggins on that day. What I find interesting, is if you look at the owls markings, his head blends in with the pine needles. His breast is heavily streaked and you’d think this would make him stand out, but no, it ‘broke up’ his profile, made him sort of disappear. It was really amazing how hard it was to see him at first. I was about 15′ away and had to look very hard, I looked for his shape to stand out from the tree branches around him. Once you had him spotted, if you moved to get another view, even just two feet, you’d lose him again. Everyone struggled with this and I thought it was pretty interesting, as we are all experienced birders! By the way, this is a tiny owl, measures 7″ and that is from head to tail tip! He’s a very cute little thing! I will definitely be doing some kind of painting of him.
The last little picture is on our way home, taken at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. As we came out of the woods where we viewed the owl, the sound of the Canada Geese was deafening! Wow! We had to pull over and just experience it firsthand, you can see in the picture they were swarming…the sky was alive with them. The picture reminds me of a Vincent Van Gogh painting, I can almost see the curls in the sky of where the geese are flying together…it looks like they’re moving when you stare at it. Maybe I’ll do a painting of that too. I hope you liked the photos, sorry there’s no sketches, I’ll have to work on some soon. There is a small video clip of the group also…
Don’t forget I have nature sketching classes starting in May, email me for more info. I’ll be teaching at the Burchfield Nature Center, Reinstein Woods, and at three nature centers in Clarence. mary@marymcandrew.com
I was inspired on Tuesday (19th) to paint a Cooper’s Hawk when I saw one (or a Sharp Shinned Hawk) swoop over my bird feeder. I talked about it in my post on the 19th. So I did this small study from a field guide in my 5″x81/2 ” sketchbook. First I did a “Gesture Sketch” then added some details when I felt the drawing was correct.I started first with black watercolor in various values to ‘draw’ more details in, feather markings, wing values and shape. Then I dabbled on with my fine pointed round brush, a light value of breast color. While it was wet I sprinkled on salt to see if it would help break it up, in a random way, I love the way salt does this. I also put in an orange red for the iris of his eye. In the third picture I have laid on more breast value, defining more of the 3d shape of the hawk’s breast and body. I put a pale wash of purply pink under his tail and touched it to his wing feathers and by his eye. I put a tiny bit of blue on the beak and behind the eye to shape his head more. I also colored the branch, legs and put some browns up onto wing feathers.
The fourth picture I added some more colors here and there on the hawk, more color on the grey wing feathers and around eye. If you notice the longest tail feather in the last picture I rubbed out in this one. If you need to change something, wet it and repeatedly brush it and dab with a papertowel. I wanted to shorted in because it was making the whole tail look too rounded. I used my favorite little Chinese brush to make the pine needles in the background. I have a picture below about this. The final picture of my painting (above) shows another little Cooper’s Hawk study, this one done with Inktense watercolor pencils, Prismacolor watercolor pencils and one Graphitint water soluble pencil. You can see the difference between the transparent watercolor painting and the wc pencil painting. I like the grainy look of the wc pencils, it has a softness to it. On my sketchbook I’ve listed the actual colors for those who like to know! You can click any picture to see it larger.
This photo shows how I used a plastic bag to block the birds breast so I could brush right from his breast out, without getting him green! It’s a little trick you can do to protect your areas you’ve painted. I would be holding it down with my fingers normally, but I had to hold the camera! (I need a camera man!) Then I show how I use my little Chinese brush by splaying it out, to make pine needles, it works great! The next photo shows me putting the needles on with the brush tips. Now here’s a little tip that I just put to good use, you can see in the last photo I have two pencils in my hand. You can brush the tips of your wc pencils to get a limited amount of color for light washes. But this time I held two, an Antique White and Tangerine. I brushed the Tangerine then the White to make an opaque wash of orange. I used this very nicely on his eye as it had gotten a bit dark. Then I used the white alone to dab repeatedly to make a highlight on his eye. Besides the Chinese brush, I used the one small brush to do all of the painting on both, a round, cheapo brush from Walmart! I hope you enjoyed my painting today as much as I enjoyed doing it! Please leave me your comments if you like and you can sign up to receive email announcements when I do a new post!
Please have a fun visit to my Zazzle Shop where I have my bird paintings on glossy notecards, mugs, canvas bags and t-shirts! More coming all the time.
I thought I’d do a little color practice using my watercolors, to sketch the field in Winter. I just love the brown, soft tans and red of the bark on the bushes in the far field. My studio is on the second floor so I have a good view.
As I was sipping my coffee and playing around with the field sketch, a hawk swooped down right in front of me over Ginger’s head and across the yard. It was going for the birdfeeder I’m sure, looking for a light lunch of juncoe or sparrow! It landed up in a tree on the side yard and I had to look quickly with my binoculars, hard to see much as it was turned away and not close.
It is hard for me still to tell the difference between a “Sharp Shinned Hawk” and a “Cooper’s Hawk”, and being a stickler for correct identification, I can’t say which it was.
I feel it is a Cooper’s hawk, but need to see more to learn about their size and see the tail better.
If you look at my blog coming up…I did a nice little painting of a “Cooper’s Hawk”, inspired by today’s sighting.
Today I wanted to get outside without spending too much time thinking about it. Sometimes you can waste time just planning and packing so I kept it super simple. I took a gallon ziplock bag, my 6×8″ sketchbook, a tortillion, a small stiff brush, one small set of charcoal pencils (already in a clear pouch so I could grab them), and something new to me a set of “Cretacolor” leads or sticks with a lead holder. I have a bigger picture of them laying on my sketchbook pictured. The set comes with a 4b graphite stick, a white chalk, two shades of brown chalk, and sanguin? stick that is like a color pencil and doesn’t smear or blend easily. I should have brought a simple pen for writing, hard to write with charcoal! oops! Next time. I wore these work gloves because they offered a bit of protection but they let me use my hands better than my heave work gloves! I use these when I do oil landscapes in the fall or spring when it’s still chilly.
Something I’ve mentioned before, it’s when you really stop and be still for a time that you start to notice little things you might have missed before. Today I was setting my ziplock bag in the snow as I worked on drawing standing up. When I crouched down to retrieve something from my bag, I noticed a tiny, tiny bug on my bag. Then I noticed there were more tiny bugs on the snow under the dead Zinnias I was drawing. Then as I looked around, no kidding, they were all across the snow everywhere! Yikes, glad they were tiny, but it’s a sign of spring. I’m not sure what they were.
The most up to date information about my artwork, nature sketching adventures, or step by step demonstrations. Search using Categories or Tags, or use the search box in the left column.
Please sign up below to get notified when I post new articles.
Go here to see my new Nature Sketching Class schedule! http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2008/05/nature-sketching-classes.html
