Stipple Flowers and figure drawings

It is finally finished. I started the above stipple piece of Bladder Campion last fall but ended up putting it aside to work on other projects. About a week or two ago I finally pulled it back out and started working on it again. Yesterday I finally put the finishing dots in place. The drawing is based on a photograph I made in June 2011 in Massasoit State Park. I really liked the photo and actually decided way back then that I would use it for a drawing. Last fall I decided it was time to take action on using the photo and that it would be a good image for a stipple piece.

The work is 9 x 6 inches, done on Stonehenge paper with a technical pen. I think this paper color is grey, the petals of the flowers only look lighter than the edges because of the contrast with the dark areas next to them. I love this optical effect, and have seen it in other stipple pieces I have done. I have to admit I sometimes get tired of making all those dots but when I get one finished I can't help but feel it was worth the effort.

Last night I went out to a short pose figure drawing session, and I have a few images from the session to post to the blog today. The ones above were 3 minute poses, drawing was done with a pen.

Above is one of my drawings of a 5 minute pose. I was trying out some new paper last night, and while this works I have to do some thinking about what media I want to use on this paper to achieve a more interesting effect.

 Last are 2 drawings of 15 minute poses. I rather like the one on the left, and feel I could have used a bit more time with the one on the right. I have a feeling I was getting pretty tired by that time and it shows in the resulting drawing.

We have been having some lovely spring weather this week. The above photograph is of skunk cabbage which I made Monday in the Blue Hills Reservation. Skunk Cabbage is one of the earliest flowers that bloom in our woods. They aren't very impressive looking I know, but after this winter I will take any signs of spring that I can find.

One last image, yesterday I was over to Daniel Webster (MA Audubon sanctuary) for the first time this year. It was a beautiful day and I was rewarded with the sight of blue birds, a hawk, wood ducks, mallard ducks, a northern shoveler, and some blue wing teal.

The photo above is of a male blue wing teal.

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

Back to some Stipple projects

Above is a small stipple project that I will probably make into a bookmark. The image is of a sparrow looking up with mouth open. It is from a photograph I made of sparrows feeding at my new bird feeder. I have a feeling I caught the bird in mid chirp, certainly not an image I usually capture. Done on Stonehenge paper size is 2 x 6 inches.

Doing the sparrow reminded me that I love doing stipple work. So I went through my photo images and came up with one of flowers that I have been meaning to do something with but haven't. The flowers are Bladder Campion and they were blooming down at Massasoit State Park over a year ago now. I love the photo and hopefully will be able to make a nice stipple work out of it. So far it is just sketched in. I will have to do a review of the drawing to make sure I don't want to make any corrections, but I think it is good. This will be a long term project as the image is fairly large for a stipple piece about 7 x 9 inches.

Above is a Nature Journal page from a visit to Daniel Webster October 8th (last Monday). Drawings are of a fern frond that I haven't yet spent the time to identify, but eventually I plan on doing that. A more delicate looking fern than my last one was.

The middle image is my standard tree stump, showing that the water level in the Panne is climbing, still has a ways to go, but it was higher last week than the week before and we have had more rain so it should still be getting higher and not dropping.

Bottom image is of some orange mushrooms growing out of a tree stump. The tree had been cut up/down earlier this summer, I believe it was not only dead but had fallen across the path. They left the cut wood in the woods to decay but it was probably easier to clear the path by cutting it up. Trees that fall but don't obstruct paths are just left as they are to decay. We have since had a light frost so I doubt I will be seeing too many more mushrooms this fall.

Photograph of a field with edging of trees at Daniel Webster. Not a lot of color so far this year, but I thought this view was rather pretty.

Above is a late blooming goldenrod. I just like the colors here, yellow and various shaded of green. This was also photographed at Daniel Webster.

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