Kitten, grasses and a Pecks Skipper

The above kitten was supposed to have been done in pen and ink as it is done from one of the August Challenge images in the WetCanvas pen and ink forum. But once I started drawing this little one I quickly realized that taking a month off from drawing was not the best way to maintain my drawing skills. I knew that really, but I now I really know it. Took me much longer to draw this little guy than I expected and I think there are still some issues. Still it looks like a kitten so I have accomplished that much.

I may still do this in Pen and Ink now that I have the basic outline and know where the shading needs to go, but I am in no rush.

The above are pen and ink drawings of various grass seed heads. For several years now I have been fascinated by the various grasses I see growing, and how they bloom and go to seed at so many different times and with so many different looks.

In the spring some grasses seem to wake up and rush to bloom and go to seed, others wait until mid-summer, and others wait until fall. No wonder there are so many seed eating birds, summer offers a banquet of seeds starting semi early in spring and going through fall.

I don't have any reference books on grasses so I don't have species names for these. I may check the library the next time I am there to see what I can find, or I may try looking on-line, in any case the 3 different seed heads are from 3 different grasses that I collected on my walk to the Library the other day and rendered directly in pen and ink. Not Botanical drawings by any means but they do give the overall feel of what I was drawing.

This is a quick graphite drawing of a stem of Smartweed, the booms are actually little white flowers, while the blossoms are pink/red,  they give the tips a reddish look. Not sure which exact member of the grouping of smartweeds the above is (there are over 46), I found it growing as a weed along the sidewalk. They usually like moist soil so I am surprised this one is surviving our dry summer.

An update on the Mandala. Note that the background color in the ring out from the square is subject to change, I just wanted to lay in a light color that I can work with. When I first started working with colored pencil I tended to use each color as a color, but now I tend to work in layers using different colors layered on top of each other to come up with a final color. I think the colors are probably richer and more visually interesting because of this change.

Finally a butterfly photograph, the above is a Peck's Skipper dining on a clover flower. I found this little guy in an open lot area that has gone to weeds. Thankfully they don't have it fenced so I can roam at will through the small area looking for insects. Fortunately for me this guy was so busy feeding that I was able to make several photographs, I think this is the best shot.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.