Today I felt like I just had to get out of the house! There was a bit of snow on the ground so before winter weather leaves us completley I decided to go snowshoeing with my dog Ginger. I decided to leave all the colors behind (watercolors, color pencils etc.) and just bring some non permanent ink, micron permanent pens and my waterbrush. I really like sketching with a NON permanent pen because you can create some nice effects with a little water and a brush after. You can rework or redraw on top of it after to add details or more value. The ink I’m using is called Brilliant Brown by Pellican. I put it into an expensive little Rapidograph pen, it has a very fine tip for details. The ink is nice though it gets a bit ‘pinkish’ when you wet it, but I still like it.
Page one of my sketchbook I talk about wearing my dad’s old hunting coat, oh I love that coat but mostly because it makes me think of him! When we were kids he’d dress up in the red plaid overalls and coat and chuckle like Santa! We’d all laugh!
The sketch shows a little deer path across my field that the foxes have been using. Then I used ‘comparative measurements’ to draw an exact size of the track. This is something I teach in my Nature Sketching classes. The branches were rubbing in the wind and they sounded like frogs calling! The picture of me I took myself! I experiment all the time with my camera, this time using my trusty Olympus FE230. I hung it in a tree, on a branch, by it’s little strap. I turned it on, and checked to see if it was pointed in the right general direction and then set the auto timer. Once you set it RUN!! and get in the picture. Then you can check to see if it came out. I was lucky and this one came out first try! haha…
Page two of my sketchbook (click to enlarge) shows a drawing of Ginger’s footprint. I did this to compare to the other print I drew, and to show that a dog will have claw marks. The other print I couldn’t see any. The other drawings on the page were done with a Graphitint water soluble pencil (cocoa). I like the color of this a lot! The clouds were high and puffy, I tried to draw them, but it was hard! Then I sketched a flock of geese going over, at first they sounded like yipping coyotes in the distance.
Page three I switched back to my rapidograph pen and non perm. ink. I found a tiny nest and on the page I indicated it’s actual size by measuring with my pen. Then using my sketchbook, starting at the ground and going up I counted how many sketchbooks tall it was. Knowing the size of my sketchbook I was able to very closely estimate how far off the ground it is. 21″. This is using comparative measurements in another way. The oak leaves are still hanging on, still pretty in their dry form.
The two photos (click to enlarge) are from my return walk home. The one shows a view of what it looks like when you hug a tree and look up! It’s pretty cool!! TRY IT! The other is a view of Long Lane on my way back home. Ginger is actually up ahead in the bushes on the left, can you spot her? I have a video clip that I’m goint to attach, lets hope it works! I really enjoyed sharing this walk with you, please leave me your comments and questions. I have classes starting in May for Nature Sketching, please email me for more information mary@marymcandrew.com
Well, as you gather from my title, it is cold outside today! The past two days it’s been in the ‘teens’…today only 10 degrees F. But it’s been awhile since I did some outdoor observations so I threw my little 5 1/2″x 81/2″ sketchbook into a gallon ziplock bag and three micron pens. NO playing with color today, I knew it’d be too cold to get into that, especially with wearing big gloves and my water freezing!
I mostly drew with a .02 micron pen, wearing huge mittens! I forgot my flipback pair that my English friend encouraged me to wear, so I was stuck with the big, cumbersome old leather pair of mittens that I wear when I do barn chores in the winter. I should post a picture of them so you could have a laugh…they have duct tape around parts because of wear! haha…
So, about my drawings, the first was a small clump of weeds by the barn with snow on top of them. It was really beautiful, even the colors were nice. Then I walked over to the garden where my flowers are all standing dead but looking interesting with their bareness of form. I especially liked the Black-Eyed Susan’s because they were almost like abstract black dots against all the white.
Then I used my micron brush pen, which I think is a bit dried out, but that can be a good thing. I sketched the Blue Spruce and some trees next to it very quickly. I was running out of space here. So then I flipped the page and did a very quick rendition of a group of trees that I like to draw in the summer. I used the brush pen again for that. Oh a side note here, I’m always trying out new things..today it was an old thing. I had a pair of battery operated heated socks that I pulled out of the closet. The kind that you put a huge D cell battery in the top side of the sock, I wore them today but I think they don’t work! Well they’re old, I have a new pair still in the wrapper, I plugged them in when I got back inside and they seemed to work, so next time I’ll have to try them out. They’re not the most comfortable as the battery jams against your leg if you’re wearing tall boots like I do. I’ll have to test them again to see how they work.
(click on the photos for a larger view, these were taken in my own backyard)
“Connecting to Nature”by Mary McAndrew2-4-08
“If you’re feeling tired, stressed out or sort of ‘disconnected’ today, consider taking time to visit some place of natural beauty, a place that fills you with a sense of awe and wonder.The ocean, a river, canyon or forest would be great because they carry their own energy of power to marvel at. Let go of worrisome thoughts and just immerse your mind in the beauty around you. Our problems fade away when we are in the presence of such wonder; our mind and spirit expand and open.
Actually the more you experience these great feelings and positive feedback, the easier it will be to draw the memories up when you need them.You don’t have to visit a grand forest or the Grand Canyon for that matter, to experience this, just take a walk out your back door for some fresh air.Even a dead looking yard in winter can hold beauty and life. Find a place to sit or stand quietly and close your eyes, just listen, feel the breeze on your face and hands, smells of the earth, rain, snow; the sounds of birds or leaves blowing.Let them visit you, touch you and enter your being.Feel the warmth of it entering your heart space, a beautiful green color glows within.Did you get a shiver?That’s the energy moving through your body, it’s a great thing!
If you can’t get out to nature, sit and quiet your mind and breath slow, let yourself wander out an imaginary door to the places you’ve really been before. Remember the sounds, sights, smells and feelings you had when you were there. Let yourself smile and see how it changes your feelings or mood!
If you can, next time you do go to a beautiful place, take a journal or sketchbook with you.Write how you feel, paint some colors or do a drawing of an interesting or beautiful plant.Memories will stick with you so much deeper if you write about it or draw it, the thoughts going from a deep place within you, to your head, to your hand, your pen then the paper.Look back on these notes and sketches on a day when you feel you need to connect with nature and you’ll be surprised how the feelings and memories will come back to you!“
Last night when I went into my upstairs bedroom, it was very dark but for the tremendous light coming in from the window! The moon was so bright. I always look out my bathroom window at the moon at night because it’s very dark if I close the door, and I can open the top of my window and take pictures without a screen in the way. I ran and got my camera and took these pictures, all handheld. It looks as bright as day. The first photo, (horizontal) shows a great glow from the town below, reflected, bounced light. If you look close at the right you can see a light spectrum from the ground going up towards the moon, purple at the bottom and going through the spectrum like a rainbow. Very cool!
The second photo is interesting because the clouds were moving, which gave great depth to the picture. I think it looks like a wolf on the left, looking up at the moon and his paw stretched out. On the right it looks like a woman figure, angel?, witch? her arm is bent and the moon looks like her face, she’s looking down at the wolf. What do you think?
This is a sketch in oil crayons I did while looking out my studio window in December.I have made up a small kit of easy to carry art supplies and am giving the oil crayons a go. It’s been years since I’ve used them but am looking for transportable color. I always liked using them as you can smear them like oil paint, thought it’s a bit harder to do! But they won’t smudge all over in a sketch book like soft pastels can. They are a bit hard to get detail with if your sketching with them, but you can if you take your time and sharpen the end with a blade.
Anyhow….to keep my small kit small…I broke the oil crayons in half, half for my kit, half in a baggie to keep in studio. This way I can try out colors, see what works, what doesn’t.
This little ditty I did outside, while bundled up in snow bib overalls, boots with wool socks, down coat, wool hat, scarf over half my face and leather gloves. I did the painting (6″x 8″) with Oil Pastels that I cut in half so I could fit more in my little field kit. Do you know how hard it is to paint/draw with a one inch chunk of crayon while wearing bulky gloves and fffffrrrreeeeezzzing to death?? I actually worked as quickly as possible, laying down some outlines for the shadows and other shapes with pale grey, then drew in some shadow and tree color so I could finish it inside later. I took some pics with my Canon 20D…even looking at those later, you can’t see the colors in the tree as well. That is why it’s so important to work from life!
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Today I felt like I just had to get out of the house! There was a bit of snow on the ground so before winter weather leaves us completley I decided to go snowshoeing with my dog Ginger. I decided to leave all the colors behind (watercolors, color pencils etc.) and just bring some non permanent ink, micron permanent pens and my waterbrush. I really like sketching with a NON permanent pen because you can create some nice effects with a little water and a brush after. You can rework or redraw on top of it after to add details or more value. The ink I’m using is called Brilliant Brown by Pellican. I put it into an expensive little Rapidograph pen, it has a very fine tip for details. The ink is nice though it gets a bit ‘pinkish’ when you wet it, but I still like it. 
The picture of me I took myself! I experiment all the time with my camera, this time using my trusty Olympus FE230. I hung it in a tree, on a branch, by it’s little strap. I turned it on, and checked to see if it was pointed in the right general direction and then set the auto timer. Once you set it RUN!! and get in the picture. Then you can check to see if it came out. I was lucky and this one came out first try! haha…
I have a video clip that I’m goint to attach, lets hope it works!
