The swan

Mute swan
04-09-20
ink, pastel

04-10-20
charcoal, conté pencil

work in progress
04-09-20

04-09-20-swan02
ink, pastel, chalk

First Herons

Great blue heron
04-02-20-heron
pastel, ink

I've seen a great blue heron at the dam this week. The drawing above was made as I was about to leave and I drew with what was closest at hand: orange pastel and diluted ink. My hands were a mess when I quit!

Looking back through my sketches of years past, this year seems to be the earliest sighting. Below are earliest herons from previous years (not scientific!).

2019: April 28
04-28-19-heron

2018: April 7
04-07-18-heron

2017: April 6
04-06-17-heron

2016: May 17
05-17-16-heron

2015: June 13
06-13-15-heron

2014: May 22
05-22-14-heron

2013: May 2
05-02-13-heron

2012: June 12
06-12-12-heron

2011: May 17
05-17-11-heron

2010: May 14
05-14-10a-heron

Drawing in the Rain

Lately, I've been writing about what I do. One of the statements I find myself repeating is that I don't mind drawing in the rain. It's quieter and there are fewer people about; I can concentrate a bit more easily. The main reason is that I like the unpredictable quality that the rain brings. I've learned though to take a picture of the work before I go home. Oftentimes the drawing is just barely there and by the time I get home, it has blotted into a pale gray blob. Here are few examples.

03-29-20-log
pastel

03-29-20-dam
pastel

02-11-20-bridge
charcoal

01-05-19-willow01
ink, charcoal

04-23-19-bridge
charcoal

04-26-19-geese02
ink

05-14-19-flycatcher
charcoal

Nature is Not in Quarantine!

Despite the virus outbreak that is paralyzing the world, I have been able to get out each day to observe the progress of the season. Maples are starting to bloom and forsythia will pop any day. Skunk cabbage is flowering and ducks and geese are zooming back and forth and maybe starting to pair up. Vernal pools are full of boisterous frogs. The show must go on!
Best of health to you all.

03-13-20-tree

03-14-20-ducks02

03-15-20-geese02

03-15-20-geese03

03-16-20-moon

Crows

Crows are the artist's friend. They are sturdy and resourceful actors in whatever drama you wish to put them in. They're alert and funny. They are punctual and always show up in their dress blacks. The crow is wide ranging but are a stay-at-home kind of birds. Like a mafia family, they stick together and they have a lot to teach us about adapting to a changing world.

03-09-20-crow

10-08-19-crow

12-26-17-crow

10-21-16-crows

09-17-16-crow

09-03-16-crow02

The Man Who Draws the Ducks #1

I'm working on a story text about an artist who draws pictures of ducks (and other things as well). I wonder who that could be? Judging by my progress as an author so far, I'd say that a word is worth about a thousand pictures. Wish me well okay?

02-26-20-duck02

02-26-20-duck03

02-26-20-duck04

03-01-20-ducks

Muskrats

It is late winter and the mammals are getting active. Maybe food is becoming scarce and they have no choice but to venture out and forage. There's a small creek behind my house in suburban Boston. For several days, I've noticed a small muskrat in and around the shallow stream. Yesterday, it paddled about freely and unafraid of me standing on the road. Then it ducked under the surface and disappeared. Maybe it has a submarine burrow.

Today, the temperature is very cold and the stream is completely frozen. I imagine the muskrat curled in its den sleeping through this frozen February day. Me? I just don an extra coat and go out and see what is happening in the out of doors.

Muskrat tracks leading up and around the dam.
 02-13-20-dam

muskrat tracks
02-13-20

A muskrat on the ice at Lake Waban, 2013
03-10-13-muskrat

2011, Lake Waban (?)
03-14-11muskrat

Palindromic Day Drawings

Feb. 20, 2020
02-02-2020
:)

02-02-20-swans

02-02-20-mergansers

02-02-20-walnut

02-02-20-willow

02-02-20-church

One duck

01-23-20-duck
pencil, ink

The eddy at the downstream end of the island is a good place for a mallard to rest and look for a bite to eat. The water level in the river has gone down and everyone seems to accept that this is winter and it's not so bad. So, better get to work. Keep the home fires burning and take comfort in the lengthening daylight.

Come to think of it, I hear the sparrows making noise next door. That's my summons. Bonne journée!

Wires

All the wonders of technology… the "wirelessness."

It should come as no surprise that they still need wires. And the wires are everywhere. Perhaps you don't really notice down here in the "civilized world." One of these wires goes down and we are extremely unhappy campers.

This message brought to you by the wires.

01-05-20-wires

01-10-20-wires

03-12-16-wires

04-12-15-wires

03-17-17-wires

03-31-18-wires