Tag: trees

Track

Sometimes things just catch my eye or interest and, as someone who paints, makes me want to practice doing them – not just with a sketch, but with a painting. Some people practice but my practice wants a result. Not perhaps the best way to learn, but my little Puritan heart always wants my time to be productive and the productive part falls into a “finished” painting. Maybe a bit sinful for a Puritan, but . . .

So, roads and tracks. Straight lines through a woods, a track over uneven back country here. Also, a suggestion of a water puddle or two reflecting a bit of the stormy sky above. Wet, green, verdant land. Sea or mountains in the distance. I want to walk that road.

Watercolor, 11×14 Arches CP paper.

Another Bit of Snow

Today I played around with the same subject of the other day – a covered bridge with a bit of snow. The goal for today was a much more direct use of the colors, with very little returning to fix this or that with a glaze. Consequently, it is more casual and not especially refined – such as the bridge itself – but I like its simplicity and clarity of color. I met my goal in this painting. Below is the original from the other day.

I may choose to do this same picture a few more times – pen and color as well as another one more direct but done more carefully. It’s a good subject overall.

Watercolor, 10×14 Arches 140# CP.

A Bit of Snow

It is this time of year, the end of October, when I dream of autumn fading away and the first snows of winter arriving. I was born in mid-October, and my mother says she went into labor with me on a warm, sunny autumnal day and came home in a blizzard. I always remember this story, and as a kid loved seeing bright autumn leaves and berries still on the trees and bushes breaking through a fresh layer of snow. Weather like this was always a birthday present from Mother Nature!

Covered bridges spanning creeks are still in existence in various bits of the east coast. I imagine they were welcome resting spots for those on horseback or in open carts or wagons, out of the wind and snow or rain. For me, they are part of my own nostalgia for “the good old days” – and really lovely bits of historical architecture.

It has been a long time since I have witnessed the autumns and winters of hardwood woodlands. They always linger as some of the most beautiful memories. The mid-west and eastern states of New York north are where I want to be this time of year. But, where I live, in sunny SoCal, this is not the case, even though the Sierras have much to offer this time of year. And, admittedly, I am glad I don’t have to deal with chains and mukluks and woolies and long johns. I will admire the change of seasons from afar, more so in my dotage.

Watercolor, unknown watercolor paper with poor sizing, 11×14.

Trees in the Back Yard

For the past few weeks it is as if I fell down the rabbit hole – nothing made too much sense! The main thing was getting the walking boot off and getting used to being a bipedal organism after weeks of sitting around, walking here and there in the house or at the market, only taking minimal steps. It may sound weird, but for me, actually walking became an almost surreal experience. I am doing fine, too, but my mind and body had to coordinate it all once again. Jumping away from a moving car to save my skin was great, but spending 2 months recovering, and then some, from a badly bruised and messed up ankle is something else.

Doing nothing much sort of leads to a torpor and little desire to do much. I admit, I watched a ton of TV and movies, and played bits and pieces of music, but the motivation to do much of anything was very much missing. But now autumn is in the air, cooler days and cooler nights, light shifts and just that wonderful sense of change that comes with seasons – and being able to gad about – have me emerging.

Classes also help! A couple of painting classes, a ukulele class, and digging out my pen and watercolors have got me moving. Today, my ukulele class is at 5, so I decided to just sit out in the back of the house with pen and ink and pan paints and a waterbrush and sketchbook. As the season changes, leaves change color and drop.

This is my first sketch. We have a beautiful crepe myrtle tree with a rather vase-like base. Large branches spread out from the trunk like a V. It’s the prettiest of the local crepe myrtles, I think, because of this shape. Its flowers, too, are not the usual bright pink but a deep red violet. I decided to sketch with its flowers even though they are mostly gone. The leaves turn an orangish green with the end of summer. I made them greener. At the base of the tree is a small bush that has pink flowers in the spring.

These are podocarpus trees which line the back fence. They are ridiculously fat and poorly spaced – I am innocent! I didn’t do this! – and way too tall. I need to get them removed. They are really rather messy trees, and drop leaves year round as they are not deciduous. Despite these drawbacks, I really rather like drawing them as their trunks have an abundance of texture and the leaves seem to appear in clumps so that colors vary in shades of green depending on the light.

And there we are! I think I am beginning to feel like my life is returning to normal, and for the past year it really has been odd. Breaking and injuring my bones seems to be this year’s theme, so let’s hope it is not going to become a tradition. I would rather spend my time rambling around outdoors, enjoying what there is!

Later . . .