Nature Journal, pen and ink exercise and button

The penultimate catch up Nature Journal drawing, sorry I have always wanted to use that word since I heard it and understood its meaning, it means next to the last, very specific and not something that can usually be dropped in casual conversation. Anyway only more drawing to go before I will be caught up, a good thing as snow is actually melting around here and I will hopefully soon be able to be out and about in the Nature Reserves. Just have to decide which one to concentrate on.

This page was done for a visit to Daniel Webster Audubon Sanctuary back on June 15, 2013. The images are the stump in the panne, Water levels were extremely high, in fact I don't think I have seen them higher except maybe the time a Hurricane came through, As I recall I don't think there were a lot of birds as probably much of what they would eat was further under water than usual. Course I did see a Green Heron, love those birds they are such fun to watch. They can stand so still watching and waiting for a meal to swim by. There was one turtle on the tree stump, and a perching bird on one of the supports, probably a tree swallow as they like to rest between feeding flybys over the panne.

Another of my ink exercises. I drew the outlines of the major shapes first then added fills. I think I should have left the stipple out, but it seemed like the design needed something to pull the two different areas together so I added it. Oops, ah well better luck next time I guess. I am trying to use more black areas in these designs, in contrast to the white I think it makes a visual statement.

Done on the other half sheet of Utrecht American Master's paper with my various tipped technical pens.

Another drawing for the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunt, this one in graphite is of a plastic button shaped like a leaf. Spent longer on it then I intended and used a couple of different grade pencils on this. In the dedicated sketchbook, with various leads in clutch pencil holders.

I was able to get my lens back last Friday, but the sun never really came out, did see one small flash of it for about 5 minutes then it was gone for the rest of the day. Over that night into Sat. we had clouds and more snow. Thankfully not very much snow, just a couple of inches but it did cover all the dirty old snow with a layer of white so I thought why not go to the park and see if I can make some photos. Above is one of them, the pump house and a row of trees that line the dike around one of the ponds the city uses for drinking water. Probably would have been a better photo if I had the diagonal of trees going toward the center of the photo, but I was at this end and made this one. I am getting tired of photographs of snow, I really really hope this all melts soon.

So, this is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

One down more to go

One down, meaning I have finished one of the 3 drawings I was working on last week. Above is the finished drawing of the Green Heron standing on a rock at the south end of the Panne at Daniel Webster. The background doesn't look like water because it was covered with duck weed at the time and in the photo actually looks green not blue or grey.

Not sure how the heron could see anything to eat through the duck weed but it manage to catch some thing so the problem is probably my perspective. They are such hansom birds, and I am quite pleased with how this drawing came out.

I have two Nature Journal spreads today, as I am catching up with my drawings in the journal and need to get them posted. Both pages are from August and both were for visits to Daniel Webster.

The above page is for a visit I made on August 20th. Saw a frog in the pond, so tried to draw it for the top image, not totally satisfied with it, but it will have to do. The plant on the lower left is Motherwort, it was in bloom out at Fox Hill, and I find it an interesting plant to look at. The plant is a member of the mint family and was brought over from Europe thought it actually originated in Asia. The plant is another of those that were used by early settlers for medicinal purposes. The final drawing (lower right) is the tree stump with attendant turtle. I have to say the south end of the Panne doesn't have as many turtles hanging out now as there were in the spring, not sure why, I usually see more turtles at the northern end of Panne.

The images above were for a visit on August 27th, thus wrapping up my August visits. Top image is of a Northern Mocking bird sitting on a bench that is placed on the path heading toward the South Blind. The bench has a view of the natural pond, and I suppose would be a nice place to sit, if the mosquitoes aren't too bad and the weather nice. Bottom image is again the tree stump in the Panne, again with just one turtle hauled out.

Another figure drawing:

The above figure drawing was made a week ago Monday, so I am almost caught up with posting these. I rather like how this one came out. The face sort of looks like the model and I like the way the legs/feet are rendered. She had a pillow behind her back so was really supported in the chair.

Two photographs today, the one above was made in August when I was visiting the Long Pasture Sanctuary on Cape Cod. Image is of goldenrod blooming in a field with trees behind.

This little guy is a bit out of sequence as I actually made this photograph on Monday at Daniel Webster it is of a Bush Katydid, though the exact species is a bit up for debate, it is either a Split tailed Bush Katydid, or a Treetop Bush Katydid. Without the actual insect it is a bit hard to tell for sure. Since I don't capture the insects I find I will just have to wonder. Such a lovely green (probably female) bug, not so little actually, about 2 inches long sitting on a milk weed leaf.

I have found a wonderful site for ID'ing insects, BugGuide.Net  OK, I know insects aren't everyone's thing, but I find some of them beautiful and many fascinating. I admit mostly when they are outside and not on me, but under those conditions they can really draw my attention.

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

Nature Journal, still catching up

Today I thought that instead of an update on the Mallard Female I have been working on (and I have been working on her) I would show you one of the other drawings I have in progress.

Above is a Green Heron, I used the image of the heron I used for my Nature Journal page in my last Blog update. The herons that day were relatively close and I was able to manage a pretty good photo. The drawing isn't done. The legs/feet and rock it is standing on need more work, also I need to decide what to do about the water background. In the photo the water looks green because of duck weed covering the surface of the water so I have to decide how to handle it. Right now I am just thinking of applying a light tone, I don't want to distract from the image of the bird.

I have two Nature Journal pages today. Above is from a visit to Daniel Webster on July 30th. It was a beautiful sunny day with a temp. in the upper 70's a nice break from some of our heat. First image is of the mallard family that I saw so often this summer. They seemed to prefer the south end of the pond  and were often to be found grooming themselves on rocks exposed by the lower water levels if they weren't feeding on the duck weed.

The bottom photo is of a Great Blue Heron. I don't often see them at Daniel Webster in the man made pond, they really are shy. This one which was quite close for a Great Blue but took off as soon as it either heard me or saw me in the blind, so I only managed the one photograph.

This next spread is also Daniel Webster, this one from a visit on August 6th. I wasn't able to make any good bird photos this week, all of the birds I identified were too much in the distance, Canada Geese, various hawks, Mallard Ducks, Wood Ducks, a Green Heron and a Spotted Sandpiper. It was a good bird viewing day, if not a good day for photographs.

So the top image is my usual tree trunk in the water (which was about the same as last week) and some thistle flower heads. Daniel Webster has a couple of different type of field thistles growing, mostly the smaller flower Canada Thistle (an invader from Europe) but there were a few of the larger Bull Thistle plants. The Gold Finch love Thistle seeds and will go after them as soon as the seed heads have dried out.

Another figure drawing, this one from about 3 weeks ago in August. I am relatively happy with this drawing, and don't have much else to say about it. A couple more posts and I should be caught up with these.

Above is the photo of the Great Blue Heron that I used as my reference for the Journal sketch. It wasn't really all that close to the blind, but still too close for the bird to be comfortable once I arrived.

For my second photo today I thought I would show off one of my Butterfly photographs. This is one of the several Skipper Butterflies that can be found here in MA. They can sometimes be tricky to identify so usually I don't even try. The flower it is feeding on is Blue Vervain. These guys are only about an inch long so I am very pleased with this photograph.

Per usual comments are always welcome.

Starting to Catch Up

I seem to have regained my desire to draw now that summer is on the wain. Above is a drawing of a female mallard that I started last spring. This week I pulled it out and have been working on her, she obviously isn't anywhere near done, but progress is being made. I also have a couple of other projects in the works, a larger version of the Green Heron I drew in my Journal and a pen and ink drawing of one of the Cape Cod Canal bridges.

I enjoy drawing birds just wish I could get better photographs of the more unusual birds that I see on my outings. I suppose what I need to do is make friends with some of the other photographers I see at various MA Audubon Sites and ask if I can use some of their better photos as reference for my drawings. In the meantime I will continue to draw using my better photos even if the subjects are every day birds.

Above is a catch up spread I drew this week in my nature journal. The visit was in July so you can tell I am weeks behind with my drawings. Subjects have all been selected, I just have to do the work.

Top left corner is a drawing of two morning doves sitting on the fence around the parking area. Normally they are quite shy so getting a good photo of them can be tricky. They are really kind of funny looking birds with small heads and rounded bodies. If they are on the ground their buff colored bodies they do tend to blend into the background.

Middle right is my old standby of the tree trunk in the Panne. Water level was about the same as the week prior, but I was able to make a photo of the mallard family swimming in front so I thought I would use it.

Bottom left drawing is of a Green Heron, there were actually 2 different Green Herons in the sanctuary that day. One was a young bird who sometimes had difficulties figuring out how to eat what it caught. There was at least one fish that got away. It had slightly different coloring through the breast (more white) than the older more experienced bird. It was so fun to watch them, and I did manage a couple of good photos, not sure which bird this was, not a good enough view of the breast feathers.

The figure drawing above is slightly out of order, meaning that I made this drawing the week prior to the drawing I used in my last post. I am still a couple of drawings behind when it comes to posting. This pose was a bit tricky, with the head angled away from me so I was looking at the underside of her jaw. I am not sure that I got the distances just right with the features. There are other issues with this drawing, but there are also some areas I like, legs and feet for one.

Above is a frog I photographed this summer at Houghton's Pond. Usually frogs jump in the other direction when they hear me coming, but I must have been quiet enough to not scare this one. It actually hopped toward me and was sitting right next to my shoe. I lowered the camera and was just shooting blind for this photo, one reason for the odd angle, though I actually rather like it.

A photo of a field at Daniel Webster, made the same day as my Journal visit above, in July. They mow most of the fields at least once every summer. If they didn't the trees would take over and the open habitat some of the birds require would be gone.

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