Friday, December 29, 2023

The Bridge

 The Eliot Bridge over the Charles River.

The river has swollen with rainwater this December. The water is close to the top of the stone arches but is starting to go down --until the next storm.

12-29-23-bridge
charcoal
12-22-23-bridge
12-19-23-bridge
12-02-23-bridge




Sunday, December 17, 2023

Colored Paper

 Looks like a stained glass window! I have different piles of paper in my studio. I try to not discriminate too much. These are on colored copier paper which will fade to pale earthy tones if they spend too much time in the sun. I had fun. I hope you enjoy them.

11-07-23-coreopsis01
ink, charcoal
11-09-23-sparrow
ink
11-10-23-swans02
pastel
11-27-23-island02
watercolor
11-28-23-island03
watercolor
11-20-23-goose
charcoal, ink








Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Monday, October 16, 2023

A Year of Swans

I've watched a family of mute swans grow up this year. Here's a smattering of my favorite paintings of this group.
The babies have survived some hair raising moments that I can only guess at. I did see them get swept over the dam twice and later, somehow come bobbing up and later join their relieved parents. I've seen their number dwindle only a little. Originally there were seven cygnets and I think six have fledged. Currently, four hang out together and I see them every few days.
I know mute swans are a problematic and aggressive species but I felt lucky to follow their progress this year.

01-03-23-swans01
ink
05-09-23-swans
pencil, ink
10-15-23-swans01
crayon, ink, charcoal
10-13-23-swans02
charcoal, pastel, ink
05-18-23-swans03
pastel, ink

10-13-23-swans01
pastel, ink, charcoal





 

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Hello Autumn

Rains have come, the river is high and fast and the ducks and herons are staying far away. The cattails are beginning to bend and bunch together. It must be tiring standing up all summer long!

The mallows are drying up. I'll draw the seed pods in January. Right now, I'll content myself with drawing the cheerful, bright yellow Coreopsis flowers along the river bank. I think they are the last hurrah before a final trumpet blast of fall foliage. Then the drenching cold rain and wind can come and strip it all away.

In the winter I will pore over my drawings from warmer and sunnier days and think of next year.

09-22-23-flower
09-07-23-flowers
08-01-23-mallow
09-21-23-flowers




Saturday, September 2, 2023

Students Island, Aug. 2023

Here are a few sketchbook pages from a trip to the Maine woods last week. Students Island is a short paddle on Mooselookmeguntic Lake from the headquarters of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve in Oquossoc, Maine.

We spent three nights roughing it and cooking over a campfire. Wildlife highlights included seeing at close range a family of mergansers chasing down and feeding on silvery minnows flashing in the afternoon sun.  There were loons, cormorants, sandpipers and bald eagles. No moose but the red squirrels serenaded us in camp and as we hiked around the island. —We have our campsite reserved for next year :)


08-27-23-studentsisland05
08-27-23-studentsisland03
08-27-23-studentsisland06
08-29-23-studentsisland01

08-28-23-studentsisland01




Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Undergrowth

 It's approaching deep summer. Where I live, there is lots of vegetation. So that is what I draw (and try not to grumble about it!). High water this summer has frightened off the waterfowl. So I draw the plants (and light and shadow) instead.

08-02-23-thistle
08-02-23-bridge
08-05-23-thicket
07-23-23-bridge
09-08-20-balustrade
08-19-18-heron01






Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Mallows

The mallows have started to bloom. The showy white, hibiscus-like flowers are four or five inches in diameter with a deep magenta center that attracts pollinators to its yellow stamens and creamy white pistil. Technically, this is Hibiscus palustris, the Swamp Rose Mallow

It's a reliable bloomer usually starting the first week of August —based on the dates on my drawings. In winter, I like to draw the large opened seed pods (see the last sketch).

Nature is pretty predictable despite our well-founded concerns about the changing climate. I hope you have some mallows growing near you.

08-01-23-mallow
colored pencil, ink
09-25-21-mallow
ink, charcoal, pastel
08-11-21-mallows
pastel
08-10-22-mallow
charcoal
11-23-19-mallow
charcoal, conté, ink





 

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Studies

These are recent quick studies of animals in motion. I enjoy, intuitively, creating a loose composition out of multiple views of the same thing. I like the interaction of line, masses of tone and color and the spaces in between that overlapping elements can suggest.


07-04-23-heron01
ink

07-03-23-rabbit02
charcoal

06-28-23-turtle
charcoal

06-28-23-heron02
pastel, charcoal

06-28-23-heron01
charcoal

06-27-23-heron02
pencil

06-22-23-heron
pencil

06-18-23-hawk01
ink, charcoal, pastel

06-08-23-chipmunks
charcoal