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

Heron Hunting

With the high water, the heron hunts from the shore at the base of the dam
(charcoal pencil)

When I try to sneak up on it, the heron spreads its mighty wings and glides away to safety.
(drawn from memory)
pencil, watercolor  

This time it settled near a thicket downstream on the opposite bank.
(china marker crayon)

…He looks like a gentleman waiting for a train
(detail)

Other days, after escaping, he sneaks under the bridge and lurks in the overhanging branches downstream.  I'm onto you Mr. Heron!
(oil stick)

Striper tease

quick ink sketches of a Great Blue Heron
Sept. 17, 2014

I like using my lanky Winsor & Newton #1 striper brush to do these types of drawings. So there you go: art tip of the day. It would be good for painting decorative lettering, scrollwork and ship's rigging. Or serious noodling on your fancy fingernails. But I'm no purist: I'll paint moonbeams with a brick if I think it'll make for a lively drawing.

My striper looks like this:

It has these very long bristles that hold lots of paint and keep a fine point. Good for paining lanky and pointy Great Blue Herons!

A Heron's Life

Great Blue Heron & Mallards
graphite
Aug. 14, 2014

The Great Blue Heron has been hiding most of the summer. I found it last weekend in the shallows downstream. This view is from the Pleasant Street Bridge.

The ducks seem to have no trouble finding the heron. I wonder what they think about each other. The heron has a completely different sort of existence than the dabbling ducks. Ducks scramble about eating aquatic plants and getting in each other's way. The heron stands still as a statue stalking daydreaming fish. And then, like lightening, he stabs the water and swallows the fish whole like Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings. And then the heron waits like a fat anaconda until another fish wanders nearby. The mallards meanwhile have paddled over to other riffles and eddies to snack on whatever floats their way.

Riverscapes

May 16
conté pencil

May 21
charcoal

May 22
colored pencil

May 22
colored pencil

May 23
hard charcoal pencil

Catch and Release

The South Natick Dam: this one little place sustains my interest and is just the right size to explore with my pencils and chalk. I know, it's probably very repetitive to you by now. After all, I've made several hundred drawings of it. Perhaps you've stopped visiting my blog because, really, how many times can you see the same old birds and aquatic geometry? Of course, for me, that's the challenge.

I can't add water or wildlife or change the course of the river or the shape of the dam across it. But I can monitor my approach and keep moving forward despite mental blocks or my occasional lack of enthusiasm. You might agree that the real subject is not the mallards or the level of the water. I'm just an angler or lepidopterist trying to catch hold of something unexpected in my very own consciousness or the actual world. And then, catch and release!

A heron prowling at the dam
09-26-13
conté pencil

Mallards and a heron in the shallows just below the dam
09-26-13
charcoal

Seen through the railing, a mallard looks feeds on top of the inclined wall of the fish ladder
10-1-13
colored pencil

Low water on a chilly morning
09-30-13
charcoal

Mallards and Herons and Sandpipers, Oh My!

Mallard on top of the dam
Aug. 22, 2013
conté pencil

Mallards and a heron below the dam
Aug. 25, 2013
colored pencil

The mallard ducks have returned. With the low water now, they are able to rest and dabble on the top of the dam. And below the dam. And all along the river. They are frequently joined by a Great Blue Heron and a charming but shy sandpiper. It's nice to have all the birds back!

Sandpiper
Aug. 22, 2013
colored pencil

Great Blue Heron
Aug. 28, 2013
conté pencil

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron
08-13-13
charcoal

Great Blue Heron
08-14-13
colored pencil

Great Blue Heron
08-18-13
charcoal

Me: Bird Brain

Great Blue Heron
May 23, 2013
charcoal, colored pencil

I wanted to tell this Great Blue Heron that I'd seen a big fat trout swimming upstream at the base of the dam, about 80-90 feet away from where he was hunting. But I had to be sneaky and patient enough to get him to pose and I didn't dare spoil the moment by trying to speak Heronese!

After ten fruitless minutes of peering into the rushing spray, the heron let out a squawk and turned toward me. It took a drink of water and then settled his feathers and started his vigil from a slightly new position. I think the tension must get to watchful herons and they need a little moment to regroup. Even this didn't work and soon the majestic bird flew downstream under the arches of the bridge only to take up the hunt again in a quieter section of the river. I wonder if it ever gets boring being a hunter like this? Who says that philosophy is a luxury?   A heron's worldview must be quite circumscribed and fishy but we humans could probably learn much from their patience and attention to detail.

Vanity & Breakfast

Great Blue Heron preening its feathers
ink, charcoal

Great Blue Heron preening its feathers
ink, ink wash, charcoal

Great Blue Heron looking at a fish
ink, charcoal

Some days, there are no animals at the dam when I visit. The next day, same time there are animals. Today, I saw a Great Blue Heron. There were no mallards or really, any other wildlife at all. The heron saw me and started to move to the opposite side of the island and out of view. But it had a few feathers out of place that needed to be rearranged or a flea to be evicted so it stopped, mid-stream, and dealt with this personal matter. And I was able to draw the gesture --like Degas almost --at some damsel's toilette!

The heron disappeared from view for a while then reappeared as it hunted along the opposite shore. I even saw it catch a fish. But then it did an uncharacteristic thing: with the fish in its beak, the heron jumped up to the top of the stone wall and let the fish fall to the ground. It then made several attempts to sort out the geometry of the fish and its beak and sinuous neck so it could swallow the darn thing! It makes me think of those days when the cream has gone sour, the toaster doesn't work and you've accidentally poured orange juice on your cereal.

It all worked out, and the heron disappeared into a swampy spot where I couldn't observe it any more. It was just a little show.

Bonne journée!

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

Ink Drawings

Great Blue Heron

detail

detail

drybrush detail

mallard (detail)

two mallards feeding on the vertical face of the dam

mallard preening, getting ready for a morning nap

mallard feeding on the face of the dam