In Praise of Precision
It’s nearly mushroom season here in New York, the only time of year that I’m rooting for humidity and rain. I typically work fast to keep up with sketching the variety of mushrooms under our grove of oaks, but for now, I’m taking my time. There’s so much subtlety and beauty in the simple form of a mushroom. It’s a pleasure to look closely and capture it on paper. Tips and Techniques— I did this painting as a demo for my online Mushroom Explosion in Watercolor class using a photo I took… Read More
Eastern Phoebe
Nesting season is winding down for most songbirds, though more industrious species are still working on raising a second brood. By mid-summer the young of the year are active and you often see them flitting around testing their wings in the yard or perched together on telephone wires. Hopefully, the Eastern phoebes that were raised in this nest are among them. I took a photo of the nest back in May and finally had a chance to paint it with my class Bird, Nest, Eggs. Tips and Techniques– Bird nests are made… Read More
High in the Treetops
A flash of orange streaks across the yard. A fleeting glimpse, combined with a clear whistled song from high in the cottonwoods means only one thing: an oriole is here. The males sing to establish and defend their breeding territory and I can only hope that this will be it. Maybe his mate is already weaving a pendulous nest up there, hidden by foliage. Wouldn’t that be a treat? Tips and Techniques– Sometimes drawings come effortlessly. Many times they don’t. And sometimes it’s best to start over. Such was the case with… Read More
Noticing
Sometimes, painting is about the obvious things: the beauty that’s right in front of you, bold colors, compelling light, big picture views. But more often for me, it’s about the things you might pass by: the subtle, the small, the imperfect. Learning to notice is more important than pencil, paper, or paint. I had ample opportunities to sketch both bigger views and subtleties when in Maine recently. Which is more compelling to you?
Not the Last Afterall
Whatever happened to posts about birds or flowers or trees? There will be more of those to come, I promise. But first, just a few more mushrooms which, as you will see, were worthy of paint. First, the pear-shaped puffball, whose smoky spores release when gently squeezed. And then the inconspicuous tannish-brown clitocybe. Who would have thought lavender gills would be hiding underneath that unassuming cap? Tips and Techniques– Use your sketchbook to try a variety of artistic approaches. Part of what’s keeping me going on mushrooms week after week is not… Read More
By the Numbers
Quick quiz: How many species of birds are regularly seen in the U.S.? Butterflies? Moths? How many can you name? Answer: There are about 800 regularly occurring species of birds, 575 species of butterflies, and a whopping 11,000 species of moths! While I can identify hundreds of birds, I can name fewer than 15 species of moths, a paltry showing considering the amazing diversity of night and day flying species. Assuming you may be as unfamiliar with moths as I am, let me share these three with you and, hopefully, spark an… Read More
Fledglings Forever
This weekend’s freezing temperatures sent me packing my sketchbook and paints and seeking shelter in the natural history collection at a nearby museum. Amidst a long wall of bird specimens, I found these four fledgling Eastern screech owls. Most collections typically display adult birds, so it was unusual to find an entire set of young siblings. I was grateful for the chance to study these common, yet elusive owls up close. And yet, they haunt me, too. Their life in the wild was so brief, their time behind glass so long. My… Read More
Gone. Forever.
Though the news this week that the Ivory-billed woodpecker, Bachman’s warbler and 21 other species were classified as “extinct” may not have come as a surprise, it was nonetheless disheartening. I pulled several old field guides from my shelf and found these prescient passages: “When man appears, the Ivory-bill disappears. This is not alone due to the destruction of the bird’s haunts but the bird’s shy, retiring nature. Its days are numbered even more surely than are those of the forests it inhabits” (What Bird is That? by Frank Chapman, 1941). “Many… Read More
Seals Hauled Out
If seeing harbor seals lazing on seaweed draped rocks isn’t awesome enough, hearing them growling at each other and splashing at rivals in a full-on water fight ranks high on my list of Maine vacation experiences. This group of about 40 seals hauls out to rest on the same rocky ledges at low tide each day. I sketched them on two separate days; first, from a place on shore where I used binoculars to view them, and the second time from a closer rocky outcrop that we reached by canoe. Tucked in… Read More
Jean Mackay
The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook
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