No hiking this week as the weather returned to cool and rainy. The mushrooms like it though, pushing up through the backyard lawn in a thick clump like I've not seen before.
Nearby a different variety.
And this lone one pushing up through the dirt nearer the house, amusing me with its tuft of grass making it look more like a leek emerging upside down.
The birch I view from the studio is succumbing to the shorter days.
But not without a fight - note the two leaves that are part yellow, part green while others on the same branch remain one or the other.
I'm very much drawn to the richness of these yellow leaves this year, the first streaks against the green a sign of the coming end to a cycle, much like the first streaks of white in our hair as we age.
I puttered more with Masks, finishing the beading on a section, trying to visualize other additions, and experimenting with how I can give this button more presence. I can also see I need to add another round in the "hat" itself but not sure which quilting lines to follow.
So I put another disc from my audio book in the laptop (I'm now into the last book of the 5 book series) and turned to my sketchbooks. The very rough sketch of my Blizzard treat was more easily transformed with watercolor than I'd anticipated. The red and blue in my small travel set were exactly the right shade and it didn't take much mixing to match the little bit of orange on the cup. All that was done with a tiny travel brush without wetting the paper. The shadowing around the outside and along the "surface" the cup is sitting on is diluted Paynes Grey. Ooo I like Paynes Grey a lot! The black outlines and lettering are done with a pigma pen. I'm encouraged by how enjoyable this process was and a growing sense of understanding how to work with this medium.
And yes, I couldn't leave well enough alone, nor convince myself to spend time re-sketching the steeple, but got out my colored pencils to transform it a bit. I definitely like the way the steeple now stands out from the background and that the roof is now darker. And I am not unhappy with the trees greened up, but this whole matter of foliage is a place where I need to improve. You can compare this version to the original here.
6 comments:
Hi, Sheila. Congratulations on the Sacred Threads publication. How wonderful! I'm always interested to see what you're sketching these days. And I can't even imagine "cool and rainy" at this point as I remain glued to the AC with temperatures over 90°.
best, nadia
Your powers of observation are always inspiring……and push me to stopping a bit more to ‘take it all in’!! Calm reflective time is so evident in your work……a lesson for all of us!
I like your trees...a suggestion of leaves rather than the reality. very nice.
Thanks, Nadia! And I too am always interested in seeing what YOU are sketching. In fact, you are one of the influences that convinced me to write a narrative along side the sketches in the comforts sketchbook. And I too did a double take when you mentioned your 105 degree temps while we are pulling on our sweatshirts! It's so fun and educational to have blogging friends from all over the world.
Thanks, Mary. I have to admit that how I observe the world now is different from years ago. For one thing, I don't have the distractions of another person or pet that most people have while they are both out and about or home. For another, use of a digital camera helped me to look deeper and closer at the world. I often think my dad would not believe it since he was always pointing things out right under my feet that I wasn't seeing. He'd get so frustrated with me! Perhaps his own incredible powers of observation are just now coming out in me!
I think I've always been a "deep thinker" (but not necessarily calm) but now have even more leeway for what you call calm reflective time (although sometimes it just feels like staring off into space!) So interesting that you see the effects in my work. I guess I do too.
Yes, Susan, a suggestion but I need to get better at suggesting! Thanks - I may not have moved ahead on this if you hadn't sent me your altered version.
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