Nature Journal Updates and Stuff

Above is a pencil drawing that I worked on one evening when I wasn't reading but didn't want to draw a subject. Shapes are from nature, plants, flowers and a type of fungus that I came across on one of my walks earlier this summer. Some parts of this I like and think work and other parts I don't think work. Not a lot of time or energy in this so I guess I just consider it a study that might or might not go anywhere. 

These next two images are from my nature Journal. I have been walking and writing in the journal but haven't been keeping up with my drawings. I have photos and since it has been my practice to use the photos as reference I have started to go back to the journal and work on the drawings I have missed.

The page above is from a visit to Daniel Webster. Top image is the tree trunk in the panne showing the dropping water level. The bottom is of a morning dove stitting on one of the branches they have arranged around the panne in front of the blinds so birds have a place to perch. I don't usually see Morning Doves at the pond, but I did on this day and thought it would work for one of my illustrations.

The page above documents a visit to Ellisville Harbor State Park over in Plymouth, MA. I picked the oak leaf from a tree that was growing fairly close to the beach. It is from a species of White Oak, but I couldn't narrow it down any further than that. Shape isn't quite the same as the white oak leaf I drew last year, but then that could simply be cause by where on the tree it was growing.

Bottom drawing is of a crab shell that I saw on the beach. I didn't turn the shell over but I am sure it was empty the crab having been dinner for some shore bird, maybe the Osprey, but more likely a seagull.

Ellisville Harbor had a nesting pair of Osprey this summer who raised 2 young. The young birds while fledged were still around the nest during my visit. The 3rd image on this page is of the Osprey nest stand. I didn't even try to draw the birds.

Actually I didn't see the birds until I was back near the fresh water pond, at that point all 4 birds, parents and fledged young were back either on the nest or near it. I gather that the adults were still feeding their young even though they were able to fly and look for their own food. It does take a while for young raptors to learn how to feed themselves.

I still have a bit of a backlog of figure drawings that I have done but not posted. This drawing is from earlier this month. Scott was back from VT. though away on a vacation for this weeks session. The model in the pose was running the session for us. I am not totally thrilled with this one, but then again it isn't too bad either. I do like the shading and the way form is defined by lights and darks more than by a drawn line.

If I could say I was working toward anything particular with my drawings it would be that, the use of shading instead of line to provide the shapes. Not always possible, as the foot is drawn with line but the upper back is all shading.

Not the best photo, the birds which are Snowy Egrets were a bit too far away from me. Still it was a thrill to see three of them in the same estuary. My arrival is what caused them to take flight. Snowy Egrets are beginning to make a comeback here in MA. but it is not a bird I see all that often. Later I saw 2 Great Blue Herons in the same Estuary just in different locations. The location for the photograph was Ellisville Harbor, and the beach is just beyond the line of dark green you see in the photo.

One last image, I was photographing butterflies this weekend (see flickr site for those photos) and saw this brown grasshopper sitting on a black eyed susan. I just had to take its photo and I think it turned out really well. Insects are such strange creatures, this one with its brown eye doesn't even look alive to me, though of course it was.

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