Brushstrokes
How do we measure a year? In months, weeks, days, hours? Or perhaps in moments lived. Experiences remembered. In births and deaths. In friends made or lives touched. Miles walked. Milestones achieved. Breakfasts and dinners shared. Gardens planted and harvested. Travels taken. Birds come and gone. In what we create, give, leave behind. In brushstrokes, bold and subtle. I hope you’ve made some good marks in 2023.
Thank you for following and sharing your thoughts and feedback. I’m very grateful for your support.
Tips and Techniques– When drawing outside in winter, try to capture as much information as you can before stopping. Block in major shapes, note values, and add a few details if you can. Then snap a photo and add more details and color indoors to finish. I sketched this nest directly with a Micron 005 sepia pen while standing in a thicket of goldenrod and new white pines as the late afternoon light faded. I’m not sure what bird made this nest, but it certainly chose a tangled spot. It was a struggle to unravel both nest and vines before my feet got too cold and sent me packing. Still, sketching outside opens good possibilities for winter subjects, and I’m always glad to be outdoors poking around.
A Winter Gift
It’s been cold and clear here for the past few days. I walk or run my usual two-mile loop on a country road; Canada geese fly overhead, their calls ringing out in the chill sunshine. I find myself glad for blue skies and brown fields, for stark vistas, and for subtle details among the roadside’s remaining weeds. A curled leaf, a thorny seedhead, a bright berry—slim pickings alone, but together they make the winter seem special for its own stark beauty.
I send you my warmest holiday wishes and share with you these sentiments from the Christmastime letter of Renaissance pioneer and architect Fra Giovanni Giocondo (c.1435–1515):
“The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look!”
The Beginning of Something Beautiful
The great promise of the amaryllis begins as soon as you open the box and take out the naked bulb. The fact that this thing, this ball of a plant, will produce a huge red flower is remarkable. But it seems to me that it is also beautiful right now. Maybe it’s just that I like drawing tangled roots. Or perhaps it’s the papery peeling skin and ghostly stalk that intrigue me. Maybe it’s all that potential holed up inside such an unlikely package. In any case, it’s the beginning of something beautiful. I hope this page is the same as I add to it over the coming weeks.
Tip and Techniques– If you are inclined to draw or paint flower bulbs, don’t wait until they bloom. There’s a lot to be learned and enjoyed by sketching the bulb before you plant it. Begin by drawing the big shape of the bulb and note its size relative to what’s coming out of it. Likewise, start with the larger roots and the ones that are in front and then add more behind. Keep looking at your subject– the more you look, the more you’ll see. Once you have the big shapes down, you can start to refine them and add detail. Do the same once you start painting. Start on the largest areas first and work your way to the finer details. Enjoy the unfolding!
New class—Check out the workshops page for a new four week series of Collecting on Paper through Winslow Art Center, beginning on January 4.
Captivated by Water Lilies
The beauty of water lilies is most closely associated with French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. From the late 1890s to his death in 1926, Monet created nearly 250 oil paintings of the many moods and changing light of the water lily pond in his garden. Water lilies have also captivated botanists, whose pressed plant specimens are preserved in herbarium collections around the world. Since I have neither pond nor oils nor pretense of becoming an Impressionist painter, I was drawn instead to the dried form of Nymphaea odorata, the white water lily. It’s not as showy or colorful when pressed, but I find it beautiful, nonetheless, with its simple curves and striking, subtle colors.
Tips and Techniques- Before beginning a painting, play around with different paint combinations to see what will work best for your subject. I made this painting almost entirely with just three colors: ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, and quinacridone gold. This combination created muted and transparent colors that worked perfectly for the green and maroon leaves and the brown rhizome and stems. Diluted with lots of water, it also produced the subtle tones of the flowers and dragonfly wings. Using a limited palette makes it easier to create subtle shifts in color and create harmony throughout a painting.
The Last of the Garden
We put our garden to bed last weekend, composting what remained of stalks and dried leaves and scattering coneflower seeds in the meadow. Still, there were a few flowers, now faded and dried, but nonetheless impressive, that I culled from the rest. I love the curve of their petals and leaves and the hint of color left in a few of the zinnias. They’ve been on my desk all week, reminding me to look for beauty not only in its prime, but in every season.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving. I’m grateful for your support for my artwork and for your many generous comments all year long.
Tips and Techniques– This page taught me how much you can get from a nearly spent pen. I used two Micron 005 brown pens that were nearly out of ink yet managed to make lot of fine lines and subtle shading. This size brown Micron is not easy to find, which is why I’m using these to the last drop of ink– I had to order more online. If you are interested in trying one, you may need to do the same. More art supplies, you say? Now, that’s a good day.
Incredulous
The colors and patterns that adorn the bodies and wings of beetles, moths, and dragonflies are nothing short of astonishing. My reaction to seeing them is like hearing an incredulous story: you can’t make this stuff up. And, in fact, you don’t need to…all you need to do is look.
Tips and Techniques– When painting insects I start with the lightest “ground” color(s) on the body or wings. Sometimes the base layer is best created with a wet-in-wet wash of one or more colors that merge right on the paper. Once dry, I lay down the patterns on top of the base layer in a series of dry washes with a small brush. If the surface is shiny or iridescent, I leave a bit of white paper to produce that effect. Insects are classified in the phylum arthropods, and their three pairs of jointed legs resemble the claws of lobsters and crabs—which are also arthropods.
Passing on a Sense of Wonder
“What Bird Is That? A Pocket Museum of the Land Birds of the Eastern United Stated Arranged According to Season” by Frank M. Chapman, published in 1941, sits on my bookshelf next to several other old field guides. This guide is special not only because of its lively descriptions of birds, but also because it previously belonged to my mother-in-law, Alice, who I never knew. The book makes me think about the ties that connect us to generations past and future. Chapman, as curator of ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History, pioneer of early field guides, and originator of the Christmas Bird Count, left a legacy of bird scholarship and enthusiasm; Alice passed on the simple pleasure of watching backyard birds. As for me, I am currently teaching a class encouraging participants to draw from their wonderment for nature to create their own “Paper Museum.” I like thinking that someone in the future may pick up one of these journals and find a sense of connection and joy in its pages.
Juncos Return
When the Dark-eyes Juncos return each year it’s a sure sign that fall is waning into winter. A small flock arrives like clockwork when the oak and beech leaves are the only ones still hanging on. Their white tail feathers give them away as they flash across the road and dart into the brush. I welcome them with mixed feelings—I hate to see October go, but I’m glad to watch them all winter, small black bodies puffed up against new snow or hopping out from under the porch on cold mornings. They’ll be our companions until spring winds send them northward and the season shifts again.
Tips and Techniques– I painted these juncos yesterday during my workshop “Knowing When to Stop” at Winslow Art Center’s free Autumn Art in Action Festival. At each stage of a painting, I evaluate color, values, details, shadows, and composition, slowing building up layers of paint until I’m satisfied with each of those things. These criteria help me make decisions about what to do next and can help prevent paintings that are under-or-overworked. If you struggle with knowing when to stop, try looking through that lens and see if it helps.
Am I finished?
I could have used twice as long and four times the size of my sketchbook to really convey how gigantic this Honey Locust at Thomas Cole Historic Site in Catskill, New York is. Instead, my time for art has been very short this weekend, so I decided to stop here. I may add watercolor, but I’m not sure– I like it as an ink sketch, but I can envision some fall color on the page, too. Pausing seems like the best choice for the moment.
I’ll be exploring the topic of Knowing When to Stop and call a painting done next Saturday 11/4 during Winslow Art Center’s free Autumn Art in Action Festival. The session will explore ways to assess your paintings during the middle and late stages so that you will avoid underworking or overworking. I’ll begin with a partially finished painting in ink and watercolor and demonstrate finishing techniques. Feel free to bring a mid-to-late stage painting to evaluate and work along.
Also coming up: EXPLORING HOME: Sketching Through the Seasons
Opening Reception Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2:30pm
November 1-30, Kinderhook Memorial Library, 18 Hudson St., Kinderhook, NY
This show features sketches and watercolors done within a 10-mile radius of my house. Kinderhook is a small town but there are several excellent lunch options, including Saisonnier, Morningbird Café, and Broadstreet Bagels; farm stores– Golden Harvest & Harvest Spirits and Samascott Farm Market, and places to hike nearby. Make an afternoon or day of it if you’re nearby—I’d love to see you.
Fall Collection II
There is still a lot of nice fall color here in New York, but this weekend’s rain brought a lot of leaves down and, by next weekend, I expect I’ll be seeing a lot farther into the woods. I’ve been picking up pieces of fall—nuts, fruits, berries, leaves, flowers—for weeks and stowing them in small collections on my desk, on the back porch, and on windowsills. I did another page like this a few weeks ago, but the collection has continued to grow. It’s nearly time to let it go back outside, but first, a sketch to save the season before it goes.
Tips and Techniques– The nice thing about a page like this is that you can work on it and let it build a little at a time. Don’t feel the need to rush. You can sketch directly outside or bring things home to work on when you have time. If there’s a gap in your composition, go for a walk. Soon, you’ll be noticing more and more, your page will fill, and your windowsills will start to look like mine.
You’re Invited…ART EXHIBIT: EXPLORING HOME: Sketching Through the Seasons
Opening Reception Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2:30pm
November 1-30, Kinderhook Memorial Library, 18 Hudson St., Kinderhook, NY
This show features sketches and watercolors done within a 10-mile radius of my house. Kinderhook is a small town but there are several excellent lunch options, farm stores, and places to hike nearby. I’m happy to share options for making this a day trip or a weekend getaway.
Drawn In 