Heron: Loiterer, Lingerer

9/24/15
ink, crayon

9/28/15
ink

10/2/15
ballpoint pen, crayon

10/12/15
ballpoint pen, crayon

10/12/15
ink 

10/13/15
charcoal, conté chalk 

10/13/15
charcoal, conté chalk

10/14/15
crayon

10/14/15
crayon

10/14/15
crayon

10/15/15
pastel, crayon

10/15/15
pastel, crayon

10/13/15
charcoal

The Nor'easter

A long storm (a Nor'easter to be exact) has drenched the area in the last 24-36 hours. Natick has had 4-5 inches of rain.

The river has filled up again and it thunders over the South Natick Dam. Geese and ducks fly overhead and see no safe places to rest. I did see a kingfisher and a young heron. These fish-eaters seem to be just doing reconnoissance; they go away, their stomachs empty.

The Charles River Dam
charcoal, ink
10-24-14

A Great Blue Heron
ink
10-24-14

Play By Play

Forgive me for playing catchup here. I draw quickly and my drawings accumulate. I vacillate between posting everything as in a diary (for my own benefit mostly) or blogging a curated selection with my philosophical musings on the meaning of Life and Art. I guess this post represents both approaches.

SUNDAY: I made four drawings yesterday: three in the morning and one later in the late afternoon.

A kingfisher perching above the river (for Paula C.)
ink, charcoal, oil stick
Sunday morning 10-12-14

The morning sun shining through the trees on the island
ink, charcoal, oil stick
Sunday morning 10-12-14

Blue trees, the dam and river in the distance
blue oil pastel, conté
Sunday morning 10-12-14

SUNDAY AFTERNOON: I'd been doing chores all afternoon but I promised myself I would get a coffee and relax by the river at the end of the day. I would sketch and play my mbira. The coffee shop closed at 4:00; I was there at 3:55. I'm almost never at the river at this time of day. Afternoon light is completely different than early morning.  A whole new set of delightful problems present themselves to the landscape painter. And since the trees are changing into their Autumn finery, many visitors stop and take photos of the landscape and each other. It was a beautiful time of day to be there.

Afternoon light shining on the bridge
charcoal
Sunday afternoon 10-12-14

MONDAY: Finally, I was at the river again this morning. Today is Columbus Day, a holiday in Massachusetts. The commuting traffic was light so I did my first drawing from atop the bridge (a few cars and trucks zoomed by inches away behind me).

A tree branch, the dam and the park by the river (very little water)
charcoal, oil stick, paint
Monday morning 10-13-14

Time for one last drawing: Great Blue Heron
conté chalk
Monday morning 10-13-14

I was so busy

At the dam this morning: I was so busy noticing the Little Green Heron far below me that I failed to see the Great Blue Heron close by. The Little Green Heron is rarely seen here and is very shy. I saw it a few days ago so I hope it will stay a while. Maybe I'll be able to draw its portrait.

The heron was right there in the heavy flow of new rain from the other night's showers. I saw the heron catch a scaly breakfast before he decided the dam wasn't private enough. I spent the rest of the hour drawing the ripening Black Walnuts overhead and the Autumn light filling up this room, this space between the dam and the bridge. It's very lovely. I hope you get out today and experience the real world too.

using an ink wash: a geometric simplification of the dam

directly overhead: black walnut fruits

Thinking about Ducks

A few mallards at Broadmoor Audubon Sanctuary
brown pencil
© 2011 Rob Dunlavey

detail

At last! Ducks!! They've been scared away from the South Natick Dam and all its rushing and unpredictable water. At Broadmoor, a wildlife sanctuary a few miles from my house, the water level in the marsh is at seasonal (lower) level and the wetlands are populated with dabbling mallards and crazy, easily-frightened Wood Ducks. Wood Ducks are really beautiful birds. If they weren't so skittish, I'd be able to show you a drawing. I did hear them a lot this morning at the far end of the marsh making their plaintive "Let's get outta here!" cries.

In order to get a good look at Wood Ducks, I think you just have to sit still and be very patient. Then they probably will put on quite a show. Early in the Spring. I was down at one of the vernal pools drawing maple blossoms and trying to keep warm when, lo and behold, a pair of Wood Ducks started going for a little walk: up in the trees (that's one reason they're called Wood Ducks). They nest in trees and this pair was, perhaps, looking for a good spot to get started making more Wood Ducks (for my benefit no doubt).

Now here's the honest-to-God truth: Two years ago, I was present at the moment when a brood of Wood Duck ducklings left their nest (in a tree cavity twenty feet above the ground and a 30-40 foot waddle to the river). One by one they flapped/plopped to the soft leaf litter below, collected their wits and were quickly hustled over to the bank. Mom and gravity did the rest of the work getting them out onto the relative safety of the water and on with life. I saw it with my own four eyes. I did!

Mushrooms

graphite drawing with digital color

pencil sketch with Photoshop additions
© 2011 Rob Dunlavey

It's interesting to watch the seasons through the eyes of the blogging world. All over facebook and flickr my friends and acquaintances have posted many pictures of mushrooms. A few have posted photos of bleak autumn landscapes and some are still lingering on balmy beaches. Me, I'm trying to get the house ship-shape for winter… …like I do every year. It's that dance between preparation and simple enjoyment of the many fleeting moments.
Oh, there's another sunbeam! Gotta go!!

Gathering Nuts

"Red Squirrel, Lake Waban" colored pencil

Red Squirrel, le lac Waban" crayon de couleur

Fall is definitely here. And we are harvesting different things:

Some sort of flying circus

Une sorte de Flying Circus

Fearless Fox

Le renard intrépide

Birds in flying machines

Les oiseaux dans des machines volantes

We're having a good time over here. I hope you are too.