Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Nature Journal, Figure and sketch


First image today is the sketch. This is actually from one of the photos for the WetCanvas Pen and Ink monthly challenge. I drew it in pencil to get the feel for the shapes, hopefully before the end of the month I will render it in pen. I enjoy drawing birds, and am beginning to feel I am getting a handle on their shapes and textures, still I wasn't quite brave enough to draw this with pen only without a trial run.


Over the weekend I paid a visit to Borderland State Park, in Easton, MA. Above is my nature journal page from that visit. The day was sunny and warm for an April day, and I enjoyed photographing spring flowers.

Top image is a bloodroot flower with some additional plants to give the viewer an ideal of what the leaves look like. They have one almost circular leaf with the flower stalk growing up through the center by the stem. The flower is white with at least 8 petals. Since I found this growing under a tree that is next to the house I am sure these wild flowers were planted there, not sure just when, but the original owner was a Botanist so he might have been the instigator. I also saw some blooming trout lilies near the old swimming pool area, again I am sure these were planted at some point. Both wild flowers are perennials.

Lower image is a view of the front of the house on the property. They are starting on a project to restore the landscaping to the original plan which required them to cut down several trees that have over the years grown up near the corner of the house. In the lower left of the drawing you can see the tree trunks that are currently there. I am sure they will be removed shortly and other plantings will replace them. Still I hate to see any tree cut down so wanted to document this stage of the project. Drawing was sketched first in pencil from a reference photo I made.


Above is last nights figure drawing. The model had very little sleep the night before and kept falling asleep on us. It made it hard to draw her face, and as she tilted it down as she nodded off I had a slightly foreshorten view. I thought I had it right, but looking at it today am not so sure. It is tricky to draw a face from that angle, features get compressed. She really does have a mass of wild hair, and the black was a hair band. I have no clue how she gets a comb through it. On the plus side I am fairly pleased with how the hands came out.


Two photographs today from my visit to Borderland. Above is the bloodroot flower from a different angle than I used for the journal drawing.  


The above photo shows a corner of the house with blooming forsythia bushes around it. Love the contrast of the bright yellow against the stones used to face the house. I believe they used native stone for the facing. Despite the amount of rock and stone we have in New England very few homes were ever built out of it. The early immigrant farmers built walls around their fields and maybe lined cellars with the stone/rocks but rarely used it to build their homes. I would guess that wood was much easier to work with and it was readily available. I also have a feeling a wood home is warmer in winter, but I am really only guessing.

That is it for today. Per usual comments are always welcome.

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