Walking
I’ve been walking nearly every day lately. Typically, it’s the same two to three miles of country roads, past scattered houses, young woods, and farm fields with sweeping views. The sameness of the route makes it easy to spot unusual things. This week, I was treated to a small flock of snow buntings foraging in the stubble of a corn field at the edge of the road. I love seeing these birds of the high artic and consider myself lucky when I do. Although they are not rare, they aren’t around every year and they seem to range widely—here one day and gone the next. I’m glad to keep this one in my journal.
Tips and Techniques– It was too cold to sketch outside, so I made pencil sketches from video to help me warm up and get to know these birds better. You might try sketching birds at a feeder or from video to loosen up before tackling a more finished piece in watercolor.
Progress Report– I’m happy to share that I’ve just posted a workshop series, Painting the Colors of Spring, which begins March 23. My wrist continues to make progress, though I still need to work on range of motion and strength. My paperwhite bulbs, on the other hand (see Progress Unfolding post on 1/16), have not grown at all and I finally pitched them in the compost. So much for my lovely idea of blooms and bones.
Progress Unfolding
Many thanks for all of your kind notes and best wishes for a swift recovery from my broken wrist and surgery. The outpouring of support was such a nice gift amidst this trying time. I am so pleased to report that surgery went well and my hard cast was swapped for a removable brace last week. I’ve started OT and I have a lot of work ahead to regain range of motion and strength. While I’m thrilled to now be able to tie my shoes and use a fork with my right hand, I was most eager to test my abilities with a pen and paint brush…and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I bought these bulbs knowing that I could gauge the progress of my recovery as the paperwhites unfold. Stage one accomplished, I look forward to the growth still to come.
Tips and Techniques– The best advice I can share this week is the advice I’m giving myself: take your time. Every line and stroke feels both familiar and new to me and I have to take frequent brakes to rest. Maybe that’s a good thing. It allows you to see things fresh each time you start again and to evaluate colors, values, and composition as you go. Enjoy it!
Unexpected Break
The air was cold and crisp, the ice smooth as glass. Perfect for a family skating party. I wish I could say I was in the midst of landing a lovely spin or graceful figure eight, but I was merely trying to tell another skater that his laces were dragging when I suddenly hit the ice. I was able to get up and complete skating the counterclockwise loop to get off the rink, but I quickly realized that my right wrist was not looking or feeling good. Long story short, I must take an unexpected break from painting and blogging while my unexpected break is repaired and heals.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, with much joyful and safe skating if you so choose. I look forward to being back sometime in 2023 with two working hands and more creative explorations.
Tips and Techniques: Some of you will recognize this piece as the banner from Winslow Art Center’s Winter Bash. It was a fun but challenging assignment, as I had to create something that could be cropped to several formats and also be overlayed with text. I love starry winter nights (and skating at night) and that was my inspiration. I created it with several washes of ultramarine, indanthrone blue, alizarin crimson, and a touch of aureolin yellow, over spattered masking fluid. Try it– it’s fun! Keep creating!
Snowy Nights
Snowy owls are only occasional visitors to our area, migrating down to northern states after a population boom in the Arctic. These magnificent birds seek out areas that resemble tundra, including coastal marshes, grasslands, airports, and open fields where they hunt for small rodents, waterfowl, and other birds. A recent winter storm that blanketed the world here in white made me think of owls hunting in the silent, cold dark. As the snow was falling, my husband and I went outside around 9:30pm. As we walked along the edge of woods and fields, I thought of small birds and other creatures sheltering in tree crevices and burrows and wood piles, and I imagined owls waiting patiently for any of them to stir.
All was silent and still as we headed back inside.
Tips and Techniques- I drew this owl as part of a demonstration for my recent class Back to the Drawing Board. After testing a variety of pencils and pens, some that I rarely use, it was fun to put a full range of pencils to work. I encourage you to do the same—play around with your art supplies and put them to the test. You just might find yourself with new favorites or seeking out your old standbys with new appreciation.
December at Home
With snow yet to come and trees now bare bones, slate colored skies, tawny fields, and dun-colored woods dominate the landscape. Here and there, white pines tower above it all, making me think that that’s where I’d be if I were a bird in December. I’ve drawn the land around my home in different seasons, and I like the way using a grid with a variety of small vignettes helps me to convey a sense of place. Looking back, August and September were certainly more colorful and January brighter, but I do love the dark muted skies of December that seem a perfect end to the year.
Tips & Techniques- Check out the free online programs offered this week at Winslow Art Center’s Winter Bash. I’m pleased to offer Back to the Drawing Board on Saturday, 12/17. During this “draw-along” we’ll have fun practicing the art of seeing and rendering objects using pencils, pens, and ink and wash. If you have drawing tools you rarely use, this is a great chance to test them out.
November’s Nest
I spy the nest in a thicket at the edge of the field. There’s no way to reach it but to wade in. I follow an old deer trail that takes me part way, and then battle brambles, thorns, and waist-high goldenrod stems to reach the prize. Unlike many nests at this time of year, this one is still quite intact. Whoever wove it did a beautiful job.
Tips and Techniques– I always do some research about my subjects, especially nests. Like identifying birds, identifying nests requires a process of elimination. At first glance, I think this is a goldfinch, but I’m not sure. It’s the right place, height, shape, and size, but lacks the soft thistle down and spider webs that typically adorn the top and inside cup of goldfinch nests. I’ve searched field guides to nests, online images, and bird information, which helped me rule out various sparrows, finches, and warblers, but still I haven’t found a perfect match. It could be that this particular goldfinch didn’t follow the script. Sometimes you just have to accept the mystery. At any rate, I thought I should post it before it becomes December’s Nest.
Magnificent Trees
At this time of year, with no cloak of greenery, I’m drawn to old trees, grown in the open with limbs spreading out fully in the sun; magnificent giants that stand out from the crowd. I bet you know a few. I love seeing the bare bone structure of massive limbs and trunks, of cavities and broken branches. This sycamore is among my favorites. It grows in a park near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers in New York and has witnessed the growth and passing of woods and farms and factories. Sometimes an eagle perches high in its branches—a magnificent throne, fit for a king.
Tips and Techniques– Big trees are typically so large and complex that you might want to tackle a section rather than attempt the whole tree. Especially when working in a smaller sketchbook, trying to get the entire tree on the page can end up making it seem small and less impactful. Use the negative spaces between branches to your advantage when figuring out the structure. Those shapes are a significant part of the composition as well, so look for a vantage point that presents interesting shapes at the outset.
Coming up: The final session of my Drawn to Nature series on 12/8 will focus on capturing a sense of place with a grid format; details and registration here. Registration is also open for Sketching through the Winter: Watercolor Series which begins in January. Watch for free online programs in December at Winslow Art Center. I’ll be offering Back to the Drawing Board on 12/17. Details to come.
Small Miracles
This painting is a gift: a symbol of new life and the cradle that embraces its fragile loveliness. I painted it for my cousin to give to her daughter, who has two daughters of her own. One was born this summer, nearly four months early. Yet by the grace of many small miracles and the amazing skill of neonatal care, she recently went home, beautiful and healthy. Two blue eggs, so much to be grateful for.
Tips and Techniques– I loved doing the shadows in this piece and, in fact, they are critical to getting any nest to look dimensional. The cast shadows are cobalt blue and Winsor violet with plenty of water, painted in one go with loose brushstrokes. It’s worth practicing shadows, as it will help you to learn how much water you need and will build your confidence in making marks without fuss.
Out of Season
Usually, I would bring you beach finds in summer, when freshly found and still holding a hint of sea and salt air. But here they are in November, a collection of small treasures that I pulled out for my latest Drawn to Nature class. I used them to illustrate ways to record discoveries and layout sketchbook pages when out exploring. Like a puzzle whose picture is revealed only when complete, these types of pages are built piece by piece and end up capturing a particular place or moment in time. So, though out of season, I hope this brings you a sense of wonder for the sea and for the otherworldly creatures that live in its watery depths.
Tips and Techniques– Unlike a precise natural history illustration, this type of page often requires you to sketch quickly, especially if you are working with time constraints, challenging conditions, or objects that you can’t collect. Practice doing small sketches where you try to capture what you are looking at in two to five minutes. Draw the basic shape and some of the darker values. You will soon find a flow as your eyes begin to really see and your pen or pencil meets the paper. This practice will prepare you for working in all kinds of settings and conditions and add a freshness to your work that you simply can’t get when working from photos.
Daily Bread
There is meditation in making bread. The coming together of simple elements, transformed by hands and patience into something sublime. In this season of slowing down and coming indoors, it’s time to appreciate the subtle aroma of yeast; it’s time for kneading dough into a smooth, glossy form; it’s time for breaking bread. Coming indoors also seemed like a good time for me to try something new and stretch my skills. You can read more about that below, or just indulge me in a new subject and way of painting this week.
Tips and Techniques– Instead of using transparent watercolors, I painted this piece with opaque watercolors known as gouache. Like traditional watercolors, gouache is mixed with water, but it differs substantially because it can be worked loose and wet or thick and heavy, more like acrylics or oils. Getting the right consistency takes practice.
Another difference is that gouache is painted dark to light, which bent my usual way of thinking and working. So did using white and black—colors I typically avoid– to tone colors lighter or darker. Still, gouache seems more solid and painterly to me; and that’s what I wanted here. There is a lot of subtle shading to this piece, which made it both challenging and satisfying. Where does white shift to pale gray to deep shadow to create folds in the towel? How does light create form and change the color of dough from tan to golden to tanish-gray? How does a tiny thread of white convey light on the rim of the bowl? Good challenges indeed for my week.
Drawn In 