Mary McAndrew's Nature Sketching and Painting

NEW HOME for my BLOG!!

2009-05-15T16:39:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone, just letting you know I've successfully moved this blog over to my website. You can now visit my galleries, read more about my art and visit my blog all in one place. Please sign up there so you can get updates from that site now.
Many of my friends here have never seen ALL of my artwork and may be surprised at the variety. I encourage you to visit. www.marymcandrew.com I have a new blog post up there too.

Free Talk and Demonstration on Nature Sketching!

2009-04-01T10:37:00.003-04:00

This coming Saturday April 4, 2009, I’ll be giving a free talk and demonstration about nature sketching in the field. It’ll be held at the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge from 1pm, at the refuge headquarters building, 1101 Casey Road. I’ll be showing my personal sketchbooks, art supplies I use in the field, how I carry things and demonstrating some basic drawing techniques along with how to make a simple field sketchbook for yourself! Please come and meet me and see my sketchbooks and be inspired to go drawing in the field after!

Here’s some links to past entries from this blog about hikes around the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge.

http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2008/08/swallow-hollow-iroqouis-wildlife-refuge.html

http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2008/07/iroquois-nature-refuge-5-25-08.html

http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2008/06/spring-birding-at-iroqouis-5-17-08.html

There is also a link for the preserve there you can go to their site to have a look around. I hope you join us!

"Everlasting Valentines Bouquet" 2-23-09

2009-03-01T16:57:00.007-05:00

A Valentines Day bouquet from your sweetie is very nice...smells so sweet, warms your heart..but doesn't last forever no matter what you do. Unless you get out your paints and do some studies! After a week of enjoying the blooms...then watching some slowly fade, I picked out the freshest ones and moved them into another vase up to my studio. As I did the tulips dropped their petals in a flourish, woosh...all over the table. I picked some up and looked at them, thinking how beautiful their individual forms and colors were.

I decided to do studies of the petals and laid them on my paper with a strong little lamp above me. I should have titled this post "How to Paint Through Pain"...that is, how to cope with painting while in pain. I painted these on the floor, my lower back has been hurting and sitting in a chair was too much to bear. So, I put it on the floor and kept moving around...kneeling, laying on my stomach...what ever I could. I got a bit messy with some areas of these studies, but then it was hard to concentrate! I started each with a basic gesture of the shape very lightly drawn with pencil. The shadows were the most fun to paint, studying the colors coming through the petals. A tip here, to keep the petals fresh until you're ready to work, put them in a ziplock sandwich bag with a sprinkle of water, then put them in the refrigerator. Tell everyone NOT to eat them!!

Oh yes, the other thing is I did them with just my waterbrush...see above picture. You can see the petals laying on my paper and waterbrush in my hand. (PS. this was really late at night...actually I think it was 1am!)
So now I can look at the little study and always remember my Valentines surprise bouquet! I wish I had time to do more studies..I had planned to, but you know how that goes!

"Derwent Water Marina" 9-13-09

2009-02-22T20:06:00.014-05:00

Today I'll take you to the Marina at Derwent water where I stayed overnight at The Derwent Hotel. It's a gorgeous place to stay all newly refinished, the bedroom was just sumptuous! And oh yes, I really liked that they had internet so I could catch up with the folks at home and let them know I wasn't lost somewhere in the English countryside!
This is the front lobby, coming down in the early morning to have my oatmeal made with cream and oh boy was it rich!

Then I made my way across the street and just down a driveway and there you are...the marina. A small, uncomplicated, peaceful place so early in the morning. http://www.derwentwatermarina.co.uk/Walking toward the water...I took note of birds I saw, almost all were new to me, how exciting!

I love when the mist is lower than the mountains around it, the puffs were making their way up each 'valley' from the lake. Small coots were chugging across the still water looking for fish...I did some small sketches of birds and wrote my bird list on the sketch page shown below.

Click the page to read my notes.

These are simple sketches done while walking around, this is typically how I draw birds in the field. Not much to them, just identification notes, and I had my Altoids watercolor kit with me and did some simple coloring. I think one of my favorite birds was the wood pidgeon; with a flash of white on his wings when he flew from the deep trees where hidden. They are quite big compared to 'our' rock doves or pidgeons.

Later in the day I walked up the hill behind the hotel. It was very chilly and damp as I sat and worked. I did a small sketch of the lake view over the hotel, trying to get some color notes on it so I'd remember how it looked. I think my friend Gary arrived just in time though as my fingers were getting quite stiff! Time for hot tea!

I just finished the sketch,(back home in the states) working from a dull photo because it was a dull day. I sat in a coffee/lunch area in the grocery store on a nasty snowy day and worked on it...then finished it in the comfort of my studio. I perked up the color a little trying to keep in mind the original colors I had on the paper. I signed it Lake Derwent before I learned that it's called Derwent Water. By the way, I did the entire painting using one waterbrush and my travel palette. I'm trying to practice using the waterbrush so it'll come naturally in the field.
I think it's a nice little painting!

I think the painting will always mean something different to the artist who painted it in the field. As I sat and sketched, then painted...I absorbed all around me. My eyes studied the colors, my ears heard wrens and thrushes singing, the wind blowing through the pines, my fingers felt the cool rain drops and mist, my face felt the breeze and my nose smelled the wet leaves and mosses in the undergrowth behind me...and the smells of the kitchen below. As I look at that little painting...I can remember it all! THIS is what makes painting outside in nature so rewarding, and it's why I do it. I hope you'll join me someday in experiencing this feeling.

"My Travels from Grasmere and Ambleside to Derwentwater" 9-2-09

2009-02-22T14:42:00.014-05:00

River Rothay in Grasmere, a wonderful little town in the Lake District.

I'll tell you from the start, this post has NO drawing in it! I feel a bit guilty but what can I say? I loved my travels between the places I stayed while exploring the Lake District and I wanted to share some of the photos with you. I must declare here and now, I fell in love with England when I visited the Lake District! It has swept this artist's heart away and I won't be truly happy until I return! Happily that'll be soon, as I plan to return to England this Summer for more exploring and painting. I also hope to teach some outdoor nature sketching classes while there.

I thought this was a Merganser but here they call it a Goosander, it was working it's way up the river fishing...turning around in circles sometimes then diving. What a beautiful bird!

Wonderful Celtic crosses in a churchyard right in town. I love the different colors from the moss and lichens growing on them.

Another wonderful thing I discovered in England was flapjacks. When I went with my friend Gary to buy goodies for our journey he said "how about some flapjacks?" I looked at him like he was crazy...how rediculous! Who carries flapjacks around with them?? haha....To the American a flapjack is a large flat pancake you eat with butter and syrup for breakfast, you don't take it in the car to nibble on. (Though I have been known to nibble on cold ones for a snack from the fridge!) He kept pointing to stuff in the bakery case and I kept looking for the pancakes! Well, to the English a flapjack is a wonderful healthy snack made from oats and whatever you want to put in it like raisins etc. It's like a chewy granola bar. So in the picture, here I am enjoying my first flapjack! Just check out those hills behind me; the reddish color is from the Bracken turning color in the fall.

Me taking some shots before we moved on, it was hard to leave this spot it was so beautiful.

A farm in the valley where we stopped.

This is in Ambleside, the "Bridge House" set right over the river or "Stock Beck" (Norwegian name for river is Beck); this was to escape the land tax at the time. It was used as an apple store and at one time had a family with six children living in it!

That's a Jackdaw on top of it; Jackdaw's are a common bird much like our House Sparrow or Starlings are...both came from England originally by the way. So as I was excited to see the Jackdaw about everywhere, no one payed any attention to them. It's something to remember, things in your own backyard can be really fascinating to others. So take a closer look at what you've got and appreciate it.
Hmm...that could have meaning on several levels ;-)

"Rydal Water Hike" 9-11-08 painted pg 1

2009-02-20T12:57:00.005-05:00

I've been trying to go back into my sketches I did on my trip to England and add some color or finish what I've started. On this little sketch I scribbled it out in 5min....and added some notes on color right on the page. So to keep practicing with my waterbrush and watercolors I added some color while looking at a photo I had taken that day. It's different using the waterbrush alone and not an assortment of brushes. You have one tip to work with and a different kind of flow of water. I'm liking it more and more, but it still has it's limitations, most especially when wanting to lay in a large wash of color. You have to mix a puddle of color first on your palette, squeezing the barrel to make drops of water come out.

Here's the sketch as it appeared in my original post about my hike. To read more about this hike go to my post: http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2009/01/rydal-water-and-cote-how-bb-9-11-08.html

"Another Snowy Day" 2-1-09

2009-02-17T17:29:00.006-05:00

The cardinals I did looking at the little feeder that is stuck to my studio window. I wasn't concerned with a fantastic drawing, just practicing the gesture sketches of it. I added a touch of color with a waterbrush and watercolor.
Then I decided to take my sketchbook, watercolors and a simple waterbrush with me when I went out to feed the chickens. It was really cold and windy, so it was hard to draw, but I donned the flip top mittens and went to it! Ok..it was worse trying to paint, but I did some simple color studies. It's very hard to sketch chickens as they move so much!

Then I headed outside the barn and set my pad on top of a tripod that I attached a piece of wood to, it was very windy! The mount isn't a very strong one, it loosened up sometimes, but it allowed me to set everything down in front of me. I'm always experimenting with ideas.

Above you can see the some chickens that were roosting in the rafters. I painted them with Chinese ink...from a dry cake I keep in a tin; it used to be liquid I just let it dry and can use it like dry watercolors. Below that is the little landscape study with some notes. The hawk sketches I added today actually. I saw a hawk through the window and tried to do a sketch using my binoculars. I'm pretty sure it's a red tailed hawk.
My landscape was pretty far away from me, but I was after the colors of the field. You can see the picture below. Oh yes...and then there's Ginger, always waiting for me to walk on somewhere else! haha....

That's it for now...stay tuned for more updates about my trip to England, sign up your email in the box in the right column. Bye!

"Spring 2009 Nature Sketching and Painting Classes"

2009-02-14T19:40:00.015-05:00

photo courtesy of John Rusak-Clarence Bee News, teaching at the Burchfield Nature and Art Center Spring 2008, 5th grade class

Indoor and Field Classes

Join Naturalist Artist guide Mary McAndrew in sketching, painting and experiencing nature through art.
Mary McAndrew (716) 741-4544 mary@marymcandrew.com

Free talk and intro lesson! April 4, 2009 1pm
For full article go to this entry: http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2009/04/free-talk-and-demonstration-on-nature.html

Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama, NY

Mary McAndrew, naturalist artist guide, will be giving a FREE introductory talk and lesson on "Nature Sketching in the Field" at the Iroquis National Wildlife Refuge. Please bring a sketch pad and pencils; the time of the program is 1pm at the refuge visitors center 1101 Casey Road. To read more about the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge visit their website: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/iroquois/ mary@marymcandrew.com

My students trying watercolors for the first time, it was so much fun!

"Rydal Water-Last Day" 9-12-08

2009-02-05T09:30:00.012-05:00

In the morning looking out my window, I was greeted by an unusual sight, sheep in the courtyard! I guess it would be very frustrating to have a garden here as the sheep kind of wander where they like, especially if their gate is left open. The owners of Cote Howe B+B told me it was hard to protect the garden and they try to put fencing around it.

This morning I was leaving Rydal Water, I was sad to say good-bye. I went out behind the B+B to wait for my friend Gary to come, it was chilly and damp. I climbed up on top of a big wooden gate with huge stone posts and did a balancing act as I swung my legs to the other side. The stone wall is fascinating in itself to study, notice the huge cap stone at the end on the left...I don't know how deep it goes into the ground, but I'm sure it goes down a few feet at least. This is how the stones were set for Stonehenge and the other stone circles around England and Ireland. The big stone here is used as the post, the wall being built up against it and also gates can be hung on it. The wall has a niche in it, I forget what the owner told me it was for? Does anyone know?
Above you can see some beautiful forms of fungus's and moss. It seems anything that wasn't moving in England this fall, was covered with mosses! I'll try to identify these later from my field guides, if anyone has some good identification, leave me a comment please!
There were sheep in the field, an occasional hiker and just a beautiful view looking towards Rydal Water and the path I took yesterday for my hike. I sat and sketched the sheep and pathview, the bunny is from when I was standing by the garden and saw him there. I added a short video clip at the end of this post showing the sheep I was sketching, I was sitting so still and quiet that it came to eat right under me! When I started to talk it got suprised and walked away. That's the neat thing about sketching in nature, you sit so quietly engrossed that wildlife will come around you.
Below you can see my original page, this is what I did as I sat on the fence, I painted it in while looking at the photos on my computer screen, using my tiny altoids watercolor kit and just one waterbrush. You can see my tiny color tests in the spiral area of the paper.

"Rydal Water Hike" 9-11-08

2009-02-04T08:57:00.005-05:00

Not too long ago I posted about my hike around Rydal Water in the Lake District of England. I did sketches as I went, some being quick as the day grew short and chilly. Below is a sketch I did with a permanent micron pen, I just couldn't resist the view. I wrote notes on it about how I felt and even some abbreviations for color notes.
Last night, quite late actually, around midnight I found myself in front of the computer with a photo I had taken on the spot up on the screen. I used my tiny altoids watercolor kit and one #8 round brush to color in the sketch. I went over the words in a heavier line because they started to get lost. I think it's a bit distracted looking if that makes sense, I think because I was in a lot of pain (neck and lower back! ohhhh!). But I wanted to do this up...I may go back into it with a micron pen to scribble in more forms. But at least I practiced with my colors and what I could produce with my tiny kit.

I have another post coming soon that I colored after also, of some sheep, a bunny and a little view of my path.

"Robert Burns Day and his poem "To a Mouse"

2009-01-25T10:57:00.009-05:00

I hesitated to put this study up, it's nothing gross to a naturalist, a dead mouse. Some people would say "oh, gross!" but all through time, man (scientists and artists in particular) has learned by studying from dead creatures. I love animals and things of our natural world and have a great respect for them even when dead. This mouse was very beautiful and being the curious naturalist that I am, I studied it, sketched it and painted it. It's fur was soft and shiny, and it's tiny paws amazing. Someday I'm going to have some pet mice again, (had them when a teenager) then I can study and paint them all I want.

The top painting was done first with a light pencil gesture sketch then I used watercolors, his whiskers being added with a Chinese white watercolor and tiny brush. The bottom left study was done with a brown micron permanent marker and the right one was done with non permanent brown ink, that I touched with a waterbrush to create value washes.

And now about Robert Burns, he was a poet from Scotland and they commemorate his life by having a Burn's Supper on January 25th, there are formalities of speeches, whiskey toasts and haggis. Here's a link to Wikipedia to learn more about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns_Day

And why I mention Robert Burns...Scottish poet? I heard a poem on Robert Burns day (Jan. 25th) and it was about a mouse and it went with my mouse study; here's a link to UTube to listen to a reading of his poem "To a Mouse".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTUHBhZZJwE

I like that he calls the mouse lucky, because he doesn't look back at his past or worry about his future, he lives in the here and now unlike man. Sometimes when I'm feeling overwhelmed or stressed out, I'll look at my dog rolling in the grass, trotting freely around the yard and think...how lucky you are! To be as simple as an animal and live for just this moment.

"Hiking on my Land" 1-23-09

2009-01-24T10:15:00.020-05:00

Today as the sun shone and the temperatures climbed to a balmy 30 or so degrees, I felt a very strong urge to just grab my field kit and go for a hike with Ginger. I notice whenever I go out field sketching or work on a painting in the studio, it's like having a visit to the therapist! I feel like I've just had some kind of adjustment, and all is right in my world! Troubles melt away as I stop to catch my breath and listen to the wind gusting through the trees. Today was no different. (click on any picture to see enlarged view)

First small sketch done with a micron 05 permanent marker, it's along the path that's called "Long Lane" on my farm. To warm up and to see if drawing with my fingerless mittens would feel comfortable, I did the top of a small oak tree, then turned and looked down the lane where Ginger was disappearing down, and did a quickly scrawled sketch. It's ok that it's not beautiful and meticulously drawn, I can remember the scene in my mind just be looking at it. Sometimes the field sketch can have more movement and show more excitement than a carefully executed studio drawing. I also find that being able to work loosely in the field keeps my studio painting fresh and lively looking.

Just me in my dad's old wool hunting coat that I treasure, using the fingerless mitten ok. I picked up this pair in England at a regular clothes store at the mall, I made sure they had wool in them, and I like the dark brown color (to hide the dirt of course silly!). At this point I think my fingers were cold, sometimes I worked with the top pulled back and sometimes closed. I'm using a waterbrush here and watercolors, I put my kit in a new bag to try out, an over the shoulder binder type thing, but no room for apples or water bottles. Extra things had to go in the back secret pouch on the hunting jacket, made for carrying dead birds that the hunter (dad) would shoot. It's actually a handy pouch...I slid my sketchbook in there when I would get moving on my hike.

This is a page with a simple color study of the red bark on bushes and the little fern heads coming up through the snow. Their forms, almost silhouette because they're so dark, are wonderful to study.

The photo above shows a leaf I found in a tiny birds nest that was tucked into a tangled bush. It's small things like this that if you take time to notice the subtle beauty your enjoyment of the natural world and simple walks would be much more memorable. This leaf is a simple shape, but I love the mixture of subtle colors, there's a promise of green there that makes me think of spring, it's almost as if the green was frozen from the fresh times of summer. The pattern of the veins and cells is really something too, the wet sheen on it's surface reflecting a cool light.

Then turn the same leaf over and it's a whole other leaf! This side has a network of raised veins showing, like fine meshwork netting and the contrast of the color of vein to leaf is at once noticed. The fall like colors are not showing on this side. When you pick something up, turn it over and explore everything about it; if you draw it, you will study it deeply, noting it's every interesting detail. Sometimes this is good to do once you get back home and can sit in the warmth and take time to study it.

Here's another nest I found that almost looks like it has an ice cream scoop for an egg waiting to be hatched by the warm spring sun. (It'll have to wait awhile still!) Walking in winter is a good time to look for birds nests, just look at bushes or trees for clumps of dark areas, usually made by leaves and small branches. It's fun to look closely at them, how the tiny branches are laid criss cross and woven, and imagine two birds picked up ever single twig and made that. Some nests are tiny things..some larger and could even be for grey squirrels. I don't ever disturb the nests...I feel they are there to be used somehow by other creatures, mice, bugs, etc. and I just let it alone. I will carefully pull some leaves out of a nest to see what the cup might look like.

Now this page has notes you can read, but I'll explain a bit more. I went to a part of my land that has huge old oak trees on it, and one in particular that is dead. This dead tree had all kinds of funguses growing on it and was great to study.

I learned something new that I didn't expect, there was an interesting type of fungus growing on the underside of all the large branches. It was a beautiful natural yellow with some orangey colors in it, but very muted. The funny thing was I noticed the snow beneath it had yellow spots following the branches, NO Ginger didn't do that! haha...but as the snow piled on top of the branches melted, the yellow color in the fungus was dripping down to the ground. I wonder if the Indians or settlers used that as a color for something?

Here's a close up, if anyone can help me identify this I'd be grateful. I looked it up in my mushroom and fungus books but can't find it specifically.

This fungus is as far as I can tell, a "Redbelt" shelf fungus. I did a painting in the field while looking at it and looked it up when I got home. (The painting is below). The odd thing was, as closely as I thought I looked at this, I still missed something interesting. When I got home and uploaded my photos, I noticed on some close ups there were little blackish bugs crawling all over the place!! Ewww....I have to admit, I like studying bugs, but the idea that there were bugs all over this fungus and tree and I didn't know it kind of made me uneasy! But the fascinating thing was that there were bugs out doing their thing in the middle of the winter! You would be surprised at what you'll see on a mild winter day!At this point, at the end of my hike after being out two hours, my toes were frozen and getting numb. This is when the idea of hot cocoa creeps into my mind and Ginger's happy face asking, "Can we go home yet?" starts to distract me.

This last page I finished at home while drinking that hot cocoa; the tree and fungus I did in the field. I brought home a stick with neat fungus growing on it, the leaf I photographed and a dead leaf. This stick was very interesting to look at under a magnifying glass, the black fungus was shiny and the rose colored had a velvety sheen almost. I made a stab at identifying the rose colored as Hypoxylon Fragiforme, any experts out there can verify this? I added color notes too so you could see what paints I used.
I hope you enjoyed our hike today in the winter chill! Sign up your email in the right column to recieve updates when I post new things. Happy Hiking!

"English Wetlands" 1-19-09

2009-01-19T13:31:00.005-05:00

Today I painted this miniature watercolor of some wetlands in England. It measures only 2.25" x 4.25", yes it's a wee tiny thing! I have some pictures from England I want to work from sitting on my kitchen table; so this morning as my oatmeal and coffee got cold, I did this little painting.

Here's a picture of one of my tiny travel kits, this one is set up with my 'Altoids' watercolor kit. I have small watercolor brushes that I cut the handles off of so they are short and fit in my kit. The watercolor kit or box is stuck into a metal pencil case that I can use to mix my colors and hold the paper and watercup at the same time. It's a great little set up, and I like keeping it handy at the table. I did the Snowy Egret in the last post using this kit, but just drew with my inktense watersoluble pencil, not watercolors.
This painting will be up for sale soon in my Fine Art Gallery Blog, please email me if you'd like to make an offer for it unframed, ready to mail!

"Snowy Egret" 1-17-09

2009-01-19T12:35:00.004-05:00

This is a miniature painting of a Snowy Egret done in Inktense Watersoluble Ink Pencil, black. It's very small, 2.25" x 3.25" and I used just water and a small brush to wet the pencil as I worked. I wanted to keep it fresh looking with pencil scribbles showing and blotches of ink. I like the dynamics of that, reminds me more of nature sometimes rather than a perfectly and meticulously painted peice.

When you work with inktense pencils you can either rub at the lines with a wet brush to eliminate the pencil marks or brush lighter to leave them there. Also if you draw on wet paper be forwarned it will draw very dark and quite permanent! The properties of these pencils are such that if you let the worked area dry it will be more permanent than watercolor pencils or watercolor. You can work over it without lifting the colors. I enjoy their boldness and the mixture of water media and dry media.

Nature Sketching and Painting Classes

2009-01-17T22:02:00.014-05:00

Indoor or Field Classes

Join Naturalist Artist guide Mary McAndrew in sketching, painting and experiencing nature through art.

Mary McAndrew (716) 741-4544 mary@marymcandrew.com

Come explore nature with me as we work indoors or out from real nature subjects and photos. Whether it's a weekly class or one day workshop we’ll learn drawing from life techniques that will improve your artistic skills in the field and how to draw from photos in the studio. We'll learn how to identify subjects in nature and how to draw them. We’ll learn foundation drawing skills and how to use pencil, color pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolors. I’ll also introduce NEW materials on the market (water soluble graphite and the waterbrush) and how to use them. This is a fun class that will teach you how to capture nature on paper and help bring your skills to a new level.

I can offer my class to your group, whether it's school children or retirement homes, everyone loves my classes and has a good time learning! Please call me if you'd like to talk about the possibilities of what we can arrange.

What we’ll do in class:

Create your own Nature Journal (mostly for field classes but we can do this for indoor class also).
Create your own Art Kit.
Work with pencil, color pencil, watercolor, watercolor pencil, ink, watersoluble graphite.
Learn how to do studies of plants, flowers, birds, leaves, trees, clouds, bugs...you name it!
Identify local wildflowers, plants, birds, trees and more from our sketches using field guides.
Introduction to landscape drawing and painting
Learn basic drawing skills– value, shape, texture, gesture, shadow and light
Learn how to see “Simple Shapes” + use “Comparative Measurements”.

my email: mary@marymcandrew.com

Adults and Children Welcome in ALL my classes!!

email me to inquire, I'd love to talk to you about our next adventure!

Mary

"Rydal Water and Cote How B+B" 9-11-08

2009-01-13T11:54:00.015-05:00

After a long night time drive from Muncaster, I arrived at Rydal Water and settled into my room at Cote How Bed and Breakfast. I had only one day to explore as I spent an extra day under Muncaster's spell. I spent the entire day hiking, taking photos, sketching, talking to people and video taping. Every few steps I had to stop and exclain "wow"..."oh!"..."beautiful!"...I couldn't stop taking pictures. I wish I had a week so I could really go out to draw and paint. I'll do work from the photos in the studio and try to return there perhaps to teach a class as we hike around the lake?

After a wonderful breakfast at the Cote How b+b, I came down a path and this is the view of the lake as I approached. The day had a promise of rain; I had my rain gear in my backpack, some snacks bought on the way to Rydal, bottle of water, and extra art supplies. My video camera was hanging from my waist in handy reach, 35mm around my neck, and my art kit hanging from my waist also. Umm...I felt a little like a pack horse but believe me I tried to keep it light! I always try to not carry too much, my back just can't take it.

Sometimes the path veers away from the lake but always followes along through woods and over hills. Every gate I came to was set in a different scene, mood and lighting. I saw wooden gates and metal, all attached to ancient stone walls with lush green moss on anthing that wasn't moving!

Once I got out and walked next to the lake, I did a really quick sketch looking across to the other side. I put color notes on the sketch and wrote about some nice walkers I met along the way.

Another gate, this one is for the cows who are lazily lounging along the lake. I put a video clip at the end of this post that shows this view with the wall. Can you see the other side across the water? That's where I'm eventually headed, this hike today will take me around the entire Rydal Water lake.

Ok...no one said the hike was super easy! This is one part of my walk that took me up the mountain on the other side of the lake. Sometimes I was following a dry creek bed for a path.

After that part of the hike I smartly decided to sit and have lunch, maybe it was a cover so when people walked by they wouldn't notice my heavy breathing! haha...I sat and did a micron pen sketch of the gate on the path. I added notes about color and things so I could remember later if I do a painting. Just as I finished the sketch my favorite little European Robin landed on the gate! I had to sketch him in.

I'm on the other side of the lake now...looking back and down the valley at the sheep in the fields. They were everywhere, wandering about even on the paths were I was walking.

Along the way I met all kinds of nice people, this is a group of photographers from Scotland. I knew they'd be friendly if I chatted with them, I have friends in Buffalo who go shooting and they love talking shop. As we talked standing along the valley stone wall, a friendly European Robin came and started looking for handouts. One of the group put some crumbs out and we became instant friends with the little bird! Here's a picture taken with my tiny camera on zoom, not so great for clarity, but it works!

I love when you're hiking along and if you keep your eyes open, really take notice of what you see, you may see something almost underfoot, literally! I was chatting with an older gentleman while up on the far side of the mountain, a good thing to do to catch your breath. I pointed out a dung beetle crawling along on the ground. I took lots of photos...it's just great to look at later and notice all the cool things you don't see at the time. His feet had long 'toe' parts, his antennae were a beautiful color with several parts to it, his legs a gorgeous deep purple. When I looked at him from above he was just like the ancient scarabs the Egyptians used in their jewelry. Ok..yes, he's still a dung beetle, as I studied him...he crawled directly across the path and found..umm...dung! I spared you the picture of that!

This I did while up at the highest point, looking down at the b+b I came from. I stradled a cold, damp stone wall and tried to sit on my coat. I had to hang one leg over the side towards the valley, it was a pretty big drop off. People passed by and I just tried to do my best with my small set of oil pastels, smearing the clouds as the weather changed and mist came in.

This quick sketch was done on the fly...the weather was changing and I was a little worried about how long it would take me to finish my hike. I did take pictures so I could do a little color study later, if I can I'll post it.

And this is the last page of my sketchbook for today that I wrote while at the Badger Pub. After my hike I freshened up at the b+b then walked the back path to cross over the bridge to the pub. The dinner was excellent and when 9pm rolled around, we were invited to go out back of the pub to watch the badgers get fed! I counted at least nine of them! It was really cool, my only experience with badgers was when I was a zookeeper, his name was Boris! You had to keep a shovel between you and him to keep from being nipped!
I hope you enjoy the video clip below of the lake from my hike. It was a fantastic walk that has filled my memory with wonderful things. I hope you come along with me on the rest of my journey in England!

"Muncaster Castle Day Three, The Owl Centre" 9-10-08

2009-01-11T13:20:00.002-05:00

My third day at Muncaster was so full, I did two posts to cover it, this is the second half!

The following pictures are all from the World Trust Owl Centre at Muncaster Castle on September 9th in the late afternoon after a busy day filled with hiking and exploring the castle. At the end of my day I walked around the owl yard and sketched a little...I was quite tired so I didn't sketch too much! It was raining gently so I limited myself to a few brown watercolor pencils and watersoluble graphite pencils, a brown micron pen and a sepia micron pen. I listed the owls of England on my sketchbook page; Long Earred Owl, Short Earred Owl, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, White Breasted Barn Owl.Above is a Buzzard that is being brought out to take part in the Bird of Prey show they put on everyday behind the castle.

This is a Buffy Fish Owl, they have a funny sort of look with their 'ears' flopping out to the sides many times.

This is a Mackinder's Eagle Owl...the Eagle Owls are some of the largest owls in the world. I just love the sleepy look of this bird...I really want to do a painting of this one!

This gorgeous bird is the Oriental Bay Owl; I just love it's patterns and colors! I feel another painting coming on!

This is a video of Red Tailed Kites flying around in their pen. Such a beautiful bird, it's centres like this one that help educate people about Birds of Prey so they won't kill them in the wild or take their eggs.

"Muncaster Castle Day Three, Morning Hike and Castle" 9-10-08

2009-01-11T01:20:00.020-05:00

I started this busy day by meeting my host Patrick and spent the entire morning walking the property with him. We left my backpack in a tiny little room with a tiny door to the outside of the castle and a spiral staircase that went up. Here he is standing in front of the castle looking out over the valley.

Below is the view we had that morning of the valley below the castle.

We went out into the garden, then into the woods and followed many paths and sometimes left it for the woods, Patrick knew it all like the back of his hand. This 1800 acres was his backyard!

A beautiful magical path.

Above a most gigantic Sycamore tree, the trees here are old and immense. Their canopy spans huge areas that Patrick said was a problem for the Rhododendrons trying to get light from below!
Below Patrick showed me that to tell the type of Rhododendron you flip the leaves over and look at the underside! His Rhododendrons are from all over the world and he keeps records of all their growth habits, failures and successes. He is a true master gardener.

We wound our way up the mountain, sometimes catching a glimpse of the valley through the trees, and then before you knew it a gate appeared before us.

This is the gate from the other side...it's called a kissing gate and is designed to keep livestock from pushing the gate open but people can easily swing it one way the back the other to allow them through.

Then I looked up and this is what I saw! The Irish Sea!! Wow, how amazing it was...this part of England looks out to the Isle of Man and past it Ireland. It was such a wonderful surprise to come out of the woods and an open expanse of beaches and water!

This is a road that leads to an old church on the castle grounds.

This is a view looking back down the terrace at the castle, it was extremely wide and immensely long.

This view is looking up the valley away from the castle, it gives me a chill even now to remember how it felt to stand there looking at such beauty.

These pictures of the paintings I actually took this morning as we prepared to leave the castle. Patrick had some things to attend to and I took some shots while I waited. I love portraits and these were incredible, some were by Gainsborough, Titian and Reynolds.

Just look at how dark and rich the colors in this man's face looks! I think he was a Pennington.

"Shooting Star" 1-3-09

2009-01-04T20:44:00.007-05:00

Last night as I walked out to the barn, I paused to admire the stars, it being a clear night with a small crescent moon. My dog Ginger was bouncing around me waiting for me to continue to the barn for feeding time, I had to watch awhile. I watched them twinkling and thought again about how people all over the world are connected when they look up at the stars and moon. I noticed too how the light cast from the barn made the trees glow against the dark sky, the lighting from below was haunting. It was just then I saw a bright shooting star fly over the trees...with bright sparkling colors behind it; it didn't have a long tail, but a very brilliant short one.

This is the painting taped to the table (it's 5"x7"), I used a liquid friskit with the pen tip to quickly sketch the trees on. They are a little clumsy but I meant to do it as a quick sketch, and have some liveliness to it. The stars came out a bit too big so later I had to paint them in a bit.

After the liquid friskit is dry and only then, is it ok to do liberal washes over it. The friskit keeps the paper white, I should have taken a photo to show you how bright and 'garish' it looked when I rubbed it off. My son Paul loved the look, kind of modern but a bit too stark for me. I brushed over the trees liberally with browns and then used a damp brush to lift color around the tree tops...a softening effect to suggest the finer branches and glow.

This is my tiny kit with the Altoids tin of watercolors, I mixed my paints on the metal pencil case. The last thing I did was put a little color in behind the shooting star, I took note of this right when I saw it and that's what I found fascinating about it.
So that's it, a little sketch of a shooting star...and oh yes...I DID WISH UPON IT!! (but I'm not telling! ;-)

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2009-01-02T11:38:00.002-05:00

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"Eurasian Eagle Owl" 12-31-08

2009-01-01T19:16:00.005-05:00

Another bird of prey you say?? "YES!" say I!

Well I decided that I'd concentrate on birds of prey amongst all the other nature stuff I'm painting. It's great to concentrate on a particular subject for awhile; you'll learn more information as you read about it, visit locations where it can be studied in real life and ask questions of those who know more than you about your subject.

This little (3.5"x3.5") watercolor painting is a warm up for a larger painting I want to do in oil. I am working from photographs by my photographer friend Gene Witkowski (of Buffalo) from when we went to the Sterling Renaissance Festival three years ago. (wow has it been that long??) After that I became a full time artisan there but never had time to go visit the acts and see the owls or joust first hand. So now I use the invaluable photos. The oil painting I'm going to do is a full size pose of this owl named Boo, sitting on the gloved hand of his owner Jenn, who did the bird of prey show.

She told me he was an African Eagle Owl, now that I read about the Eagle Owls, I've learned he is indeed an Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) and that the ones found in Africa would be smaller and greyer as he is. I wondered because as I read about them it says they are brown mostly, and mine was not. Another fact I never knew, our Great Horned Owl is an Eagle Owl, Cool!

Below shows my set up as I worked, I put a masonite drawing board on top of a tv tray table and this is where I plunk myself sometimes to work near the woodstove. Ahhhh, you can't beat that heat when it's freezing outside! I limited myself to my field palette of watercolors and yes, I had to use the reading glasses! An invaluable tool when working on tiny paintings!

"Two Barn Owls"

2009-01-01T15:59:00.013-05:00

In this post I bring you two owls, both are Barn Owls but look very different. The first is a sketch of a Barn Owl from the United States, the typical light heart shaped face and brown markings on the feathers. I think the same species is what you see in the UK, but theirs are slightly different in color or size. I need to research this further! (a note from me...I did put this up in a post back in August, but this shows it scanned in much clearer and the framed version.)

I used watersoluble graphite (graphitint) color pencils to do it, and a waterbrush to blend and make washes with the drawn lines. The property I like about watercolor type pencils is how you can leave the drawn lines if you like, it give a certain texture. If you don't like that, just rub it a little more with the brush tip and it will all go to wash. The original sketch is only 2.5" x 3.5" big; it's already been sold but I do have mini framed prints of it available, note cards and 8x10 handsigned prints.
The original sketch is only 2.5" x 3.5" big; it's already been sold but I do have mini framed prints available (shown below), note cards and 8x10 handsigned prints.
This owl below is an Ashy Faced Barn Owl, an owl I never heard of until I visited the Kielder Water Bird of Prey Centre in Northumberland England. The owner let me take pictures of their owl, telling me it's an uncommon bird even in England. It's a young owl, you can see some of the down poking out from the feathers still. It's dark face contrasted by it's golden feathers were fascinating to look at! I looked it up in my two huge owl books and can't find it in there, time to research this one more also!

This tiny painting was done exclusivly with watercolors and a tiny brush, it measures 2.5" x 3". The original has sold but I have tiny framed prints (shown below) available and note cards. Just email me to inquire: mary@marymcandrew.com

"New Year's Eve Morning" 12-31-08

2009-01-01T11:39:00.005-05:00

This is a tiny little watercolor painting I did on New Year's Eve morning, while drinking my coffee and looking out the back studio window. It measures a mere 2.5 x 3.5". You can see below a photo I took while working, but I put the tin down to take the photo. I painted it while standing and holding this little set-up in my left hand. It's a pencil case that I stick my "Altoids" watercolor kit in using blue tack or sticky tack, and the same for the tiny watercup. I also use the tack to hold two brushes at the ready on the side; I use the metal area under the paint kit to mix colors. This set up works well for small paintings and studies.

"Moon Meanderings" 12-15-08

2008-12-17T08:33:00.005-05:00

It was a full moon a few nights before, so tonight as I saw the glow of the moon trying to come to fruition behind the clouds...I was hopeful of some good moon gazing. Hmmm....no such luck. It started to show promise as I saw a curious yellow glow in the clouds, so I grabbed my tiny Altoids watercolor kit, my reading light and very small watercolor field kit.

I set up in my bathroom where it's extra dark when the door is closed and tried to paint quickly in the dark. I didn't have anything to put my piece of paper on, so I held the little thing in my hand and the watercolor kit also; it was not a great set up but I was in a hurry!

Yes, it was quite dark, I could hardly see the colors I was using but I wanted to really see the moon and didn't want the distraction of the light. So as it slipped quickly away behind a dark veil of clouds, I just painted from memory and it was ok. It's only after when you turn on the lights and let the colors and wetness finish their 'melding' that you'll see what you've got. It's kind of fun! This one is only 3.5"x2.5" on watercolor paper.

"Muncaster Castle Day Two" 9-9-08

2008-12-11T21:39:00.012-05:00

Today was my second day at Muncaster Castle. I've uploaded a video for you to listen to at the end of this post, don't miss it!

I was invited by Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington to visit he and his wife Philida for coffee in the morning at the castle, they are the couple who own the stately castle. How wonderful does that sound? I was also invited to bring my sketch book and my prints to share with them. Patrick had to meet with the woodsman who oversees the property so Philida, a wonderful person to share time with, and I sat on a silk covered couch in the library and enjoyed hot tea. We chatted about my artwork and the castle. The picture below shows some of the library, it was filled with wonderful paintings, antiquities and memorabilia. I like the miniature chairs on the table. Since it was before the general public was allowed in, I was left to wander freely about the library on the 'other' side of the rope! I wish I had a whole week to spend wandering around and drawing the interior of the castle.
Below is a little painting I did while up on the balcony of the library. The library is round and if you look up you'll see there is a balcony with iron railings that goes all around it way up above. Well I was given a big old ancient key and told that I could use it to unlock the door to the balcony at my leisure! I did go up there and it was a little scary, you had to watch your step, the floor boards were old and the ramp around was quite narrow! But I'm adventurous...I wanted to explore! About the little painting, I had my painting kit on my waist, my small field palette, little bottle of water, small brushes and held the sketchbook while I worked. I set some things on the window sill and looked out over the valley through the very old and very drafty windows. It was blowing up a gale and very chilly outside, so I was glad to be in. This is a cherub statue with more antiquities and wonderful stained glass. I was walking down the stairs, a wide expanse of marble...and tourists were milling about with wonder in their eyes, and appeared Patrick. Patrick is a talented poet bard...and not shy. He stood on the stairs of their castle and recited one of his wonderful poems to all the visitors. He is genuinely interested in all who visit his castle!
Another view out a window in the great hall, everywhere you turned there were beautiful things to look at.

Then I picked a window just outside the billiard room to draw. I was in a narrow hall way outside it, so people were walking by, but I stood up as I drew this with my charcoal pencils, a stiff brush and tortillion. It was so chilly, but one of the ladies that worked at the castle, Candy, brought me hot tea! How nice was that? Very nice!! The perspective on this window was tricky, you have to remember when drawing NOT to draw what you think, but what you SEE, in the end it will (or should) come together. It's funny how when you stop to draw other people stop and look, wondering at what is so interesting! I like the way the blustery clouds came out through the window.
This last photo is from the Tapestry room and shows a Tudor carved fireplace, it commemorates the victory over the Spanish Armada. I just loved looking at all the carvings throughout the castle. I really do wish I had more time to draw what I saw, but relied on taking photos to use later for drawing.
This is a video clip taken at my window sill which overlooked the owl yard...every morning I was greeted by the song of a European Robin singing.

"Sunrise Studies" 12-3-08

2008-12-11T20:17:00.006-05:00

The sunrise was just too beautiful to ignore. While I was making my morning coffee, I kept looking out the studio window at it. Knowing how fast a sunrise will change, I ran and grabbed my camera (literally!) to catch some photos. All the fantastic colors can bloom to unbelievable brilliance, then it can fade as the sun comes out so bright you can't look, or it will slip behind clouds.

After taking some photos, I then grabbed my watercolor pencils and worked very quickly to sketch out some colors. I used watercolor pencils, watersoluble graphite and inktense watersoluble ink pencils with my waterbrush to blend and wet them. These are all Derwent brand pencils I used. I played around with drawing on the paper wet and dry when I did the trees. At first I drew them on dry...then ran the brush over bringing out the darkness of the color, but it also washes it out or softens it. Then I tried drawing the trees on wet paper and they were dark and intense from the start. This is good for trees in the forground. You can use both methods to your liking.
(Below) I liked this one better, though it's more simple, the colors are so pleasant. When I do a sunrise sketch, the colors shift very fast so I work on the large color impressions and cloud patterns, then try to work from memory. This leads to a lively painting but don't be surprised if you look at the photos you took at the time and they look very different!

"Muncaster Castle - Day One" 9-8-08

2008-12-02T12:24:00.016-05:00

Imagine the most beautiful valley you can. The mountains surrounding the valley are covered with rusty reds of Bracken changing color in the fall, and rich, deep greens from the excessive rains and some parts have exposed rock face a pink tint in certain light. Now imagine a perfect winding lazy river meandering across it's deep valley and the view from where you stand is so perfect, you can see for miles down it's center, the distant mountains turning blue with the atmospheric mists. Now you look up and realize there are Buzzards (Hawks) flying up the valley, floating on the drafts that carry them.
You turn and look just behind you and there is a great castle, standing like a strong old soldier. This is Muncaster Castle, built in 1258 partly on Roman foundations. A Roman coin from AD380 was found there!

So, onto my adventure! You can see below I'm standing on the road that winds around the castle, sketching the view of the valley. My art kit is strapped to my waist, at the ready to grab my waterbrushes or pencils, and my backpack with extra supplies in case I need them, including my 35mm camera, rain pants, extra art suppies and snacks.

Below you can click on my sketchbook page to read the notes I wrote. I talked about my first English Breakfast, and my first impression upon seeing the castle. I was surprised when I turned the bend and saw it, wow! The color scribbles on the page are just that, I was testing out colors there for another sketch.Below, here I am now sitting at the top of Cannon Bank, the castle is right behind me again. I did the small watercolor below the picture, working with my little travel palette. It's from this bank that every afternoon they feed the wild herons...more on that later.

The "Eskdale Valley and Muncaster Bridge"

Below is a view of the back of the Castle, I'm now headed up the hill for a walk into the expansive woods. There are 1,800 acres with the property, I think that'd keep me busy exploring for awhile!

This is a great shot of a back door into the castle, what a great drawing this will make!

Everyday they hold an owl demonstration behind the castle, with the birds being flown to educate people about them. I think this might be an Eagle Owl.

I added this picture just so you could see (and enjoy) the fantastic wing span of this beautiful bird.
Here is another page from my sketchbook, not too many sketches here, but lots of notes about what I was seeing. I then headed into the Owl Center they have on the grounds to take pictures. I listed the owls I photographed for further reference.

Next..well you gotta eat sometime! I sat and had a most enjoyable hot lunch after all that exploring. There is a phenomenal cafe on the property with so many choices. I tried the carrot and marrow soup because I never heard of marrow and it's an English vegetable. It was great!
I have notes on the page about meeting the owner of the castle himself! Please read it and see!

As the day wound down I took an adventurous walk down the hill along a path that I had no idea where it went. All I know is it went down and I was curious to see if it got anywhere near that gorgeous valley? I had my trusty L.L. Bean rain hat with light in the brim so I could see if it got dim, and with the surroundings always noted, I began. The photo below shows the 'picture perfect' top of the hill path, this is a painting waiting to happen!

The path meanders down from there...crossing a noisy little brook on a wooden bridge, and many large stone pavers.

I made it all the way to the bottom and walked off to the left following the path. It ended suddenly at a big metal gate and the view I had was wonderful, yes it was my valley floor I was looking for! There were sheep grazing in the distance and as the light faded I did a small sketch with my watercolor pencils. It was getting chilly and hard to draw as my hands were stiff, I saw a bat flying overhead and then....the clock tower bell tolled 8 times...eight o'clock, time to pack up and go before it gets dark suddenly and I can't find my way back!

I don't have a picture or drawing to tell about the last adventure of the day but it was exciting. After dark, I grabbed my 35 mm camera and tripod and headed outside. It was pitch black and not a soul was about, absolutely quiet! I wanted to play around with getting some photos of the sky, it was just full of stars! I heard a deep hooting from the owl pens just near me in the owl center, I imitated it and then...I heard the same call answer but not from the pens...but from up the hill in the woods!! How cool is that?! I tried to imitate it as best I could and we called back and forth.
After this I walked down to the side of the castle that looks over the valley. In total blackness I sat on the same bench that I had sat upon that day, listening to the sounds of the night. I heard a very large bird (of prey) give an alarm call from the woods below. If I hadn't ventured out at night, I would have missed so much!
Please come back for the next post about Muncaster, I have so much more to tell!

"Peregrine Falcon" watercolor

2008-11-29T10:07:00.028-05:00

This is a watercolor study I did to as a demonstration for my fall Nature Sketching and Painting Indoor class that just finished up. I used it to show the stages it took to make a simple study, step by step, layering washes, values etc. Posted below are the steps it took to make this 5"x5" study head, be sure to click on pictures to see larger views! Enjoy!

Detailed sketch - Shown below, first I started with a light gesture sketch of the shape of the bird, then rechecked placements of things and refined details.

Darkest Darks-This is one approach to watercolors, start by laying in your darkest darks and blacks. If you start with a confident sketch it should work out fine, when you work this way you set out from the beginning with a defined dark end of the value range. You can then judge all other values against it as you paint. You won't have to go back and keep "pushing" your darks to make them pop.
I also painted the eye, being carful not to touch the highlight area, black for the pupil, and brown put into the wet black for the iris. (I think I put my reading glasses on for this step! haha).

Below I started to lay in more darks of the cheek, as my brush was drying out I would 'sketch' areas I wasn't sure about...just to start to lay in some value so I could see where I wanted to paint. Color Wash-Here I laid in a bluish grey, ultramarine and black thinned with water. After it dried I laid in some small lines for feathers.

Changeing the drawing- A pale yellow ochre wash on skin of eye area and nares. A wash over the eye highlight to tone it down and soften it. Here I also made a decision about the beak, now that I was putting values down, I thought the beak looked a bit too heavy. So before committing to paint, I erased! I reworked the curve then I painted keeping all areas soft and blended slightly.
Feather details-I brushed on more feather details here, laid in more darks with repeated 'feather' strokes to top of head and all around eye. Nice spotty look at right edge, I like when the watercolor can been seen for what it is, it gives it a looseness. See the photo below for this step, just repeated tiny strokes.
Yellow of beak and eye-Here I laid in the yellow on the nares and eye area, and it's completed! See it on my Art Gallery Blog soon with prices for note cards and prints!

"Saw Whet Owl" water-soluble graphite (October 2008)

2008-11-29T09:01:00.004-05:00

I did this little sketch (5"x5") in October, but wanted to post it before too much time slips away! I did it while waiting for my car to have it's oil changed, at a small dirty table in the car garage waiting room. I used water-soluble graphite pencils in three softness's and a waterbrush to wet it. I really am having fun playing with these pencils, they're new to me. I did most of this sketch in one hour...finishing it up at home. Hope you like it, I'll have note cards and prints of it available.

My Journey Across Northern England 9-7-08

2008-11-23T17:15:00.019-05:00

This is about my first day in England and the drive across the country through the Lake District to Ravenglass, West Cumbria. Forgive me for not having sketches for this entry, I kept busy with my camera recording what I saw, and being so exhausted it would have to suffice. Everywhere I looked, all was new to me and exciting, so the camera clicked away! Let me tell you about my travels with the photos below.

This first one is the view I had upon waking on my first day in England. It's outside Alnwick in Northumberland, (Northeast England) a gorgeous countryside just bursting with fresh greens of all sorts and rolling hills. I had a hot cup of tea with a biscuit, parted the curtains and there you go...lovely. The stone structure across the street is a bus stop.

The next picture shows a view from the other window, looking down the street. The mist hung heavy across all the houses in the tiny village, you'd never know there were very tall hills just behind the houses! I love the mystery in the roofs disappearing into the fog.

The next picture below is just outside the door, I went for a walk with my host Major Bullman and his very old dog "Bracken". It felt good to shake the travel fog from my mind and breath some clean fresh air, I had to pinch myself to remind myself that I was really in England! haha...

Then my friend Gary and I set out to cross England to the Lake District. Along the way I saw amazing sights, beautiful lakes and views. The red fungus below is from our stop at Ulswater Lake; I haven't tried to identify it yet, but would love to do a watercolor sketch of it. It had the neatest golden thread all over beneath it, like spun gold fibres, a spiderweb that perhaps had pollen all over it? Or spores from the fungus?

This is a picture of a VERY tired me (!!) at Ulswater. You can see how much rain the area had been getting, the little islands behind me were under water!

This below is Ulswater, it was placid and peaceful, the sun was just coming out in spotlights upon the distant hills...it was so dramatic and inspiring!

This is a breathtaking area that we stopped to take in the view at, a valley near Brotherswater on the way to Kirkstone Pass. I just couldn't get over the prettiness of the view here, but it was getting late and we had far to travel still!

The view below is an unbelievable place, looking down the Kirkstone Pass towards Lake Windemere with the woodland around Hawkshead in the distance. If I remember right, the b+b and pub here are at the highest point in England. (I'll check on that!) I joked with my friend that we should have a pint of beer here just because of this! But alas, we needed to press on, can you see the darkening of the sky?? We still needed to cross some mountains to reach Ravenglass on the West coast.
Below is a stone wall, a stone wall you ask? Why? Well I found it interesting that as for many things, when you take the time to notice, there is an art and beauty to it. Gary explained to me that those who build the old style stone walls, with no mortar, all have their own style when they create. This one shows the rows of flat stones laid in between the big round ones, a mark of this wall makers. I snapped this picture out the window while Gary was asking directions!

We stopped here at a cafe parking lot with a great view, as you can see! Here we're looking down Hartside Pass in Cumbria, towards the Solway Firth. You can see the Irish Sea and Scotland in the distance! That ribbon of road is where we would drive next...a long and winding road. You can just see a tiny white cottage on the right side, that is an open cottage for travelers who may get stuck in bad weather. It makes me wonder just how bad the weather gets here? But I like the idea of the shelter for travelers.

Well I guess that's it for this entry! Next will be sketches and paintings from Muncaster Castle in Ravenglass!

My England Adventure 2008 - "The Flight There" 9-5-08

2008-10-24T19:59:00.009-04:00

Well, I'm finally home from my big adventure in England and Ireland! I have so much to share about my hikes, the people I met and of course my sketches and photos. It's taken me awhile to get back on track with the time changes and catching up on things around the house, paying bills etc. That'll never change!

This is a sketch done while waiting at Gate 6, Buffalo Airport, it's watersoluble color pencil. Oh it was so cold, the air conditioning was on too high. I wrote a note on my sketch, "I'm glad for my wool hoodie I made". For my trip I designed a nice pull over wool hoodie, lined with cotton, it came in handy on the flight. I could pull the hood up to help block out the noise, light and keep warm. My flight leaves at 5:40pm.Backing away from the gate at Philadelphia airport, on the way to Gatwick airport in London. It should take 6 hours or so. I sleep a little, it was nice and dark. At 1:33 am (my time) I woke and saw the sun coming up. It was almost surreal because we floated above the clouds and the sun colors were below...while the stars were still up in the dark sky. I could see the Big Dipper, it was odd because we were above it more than I'm used to. (I learned in England they call it the Great Plow, I would point to it and say..."oh, look at the big dipper!...I'd be corrected and told that it's the Great Plow.) I pulled out my sketchkit, my pad, watersoluble colorpencils, waterbrush and my little reading light. I hung the reading light on the collar of my hoodie and did my sketch by it's light only. The whole plane was very dark and quiet, everyone was sleeping. I felt like a kid awake in bed at night with the little light on, trying not to wake anyone else!Oh what a trip it turned into, I had to wait so long in line at Gatwick that my plane for Newcastle upon Tyne left without me! After waiting a few hours while they looked for my misplaced luggage, I had to catch a train, then a subway, then another train all the way up to Newcastle. Needless to say I was exhausted when I hit the other end. There was extensive flooding in Morpeth nearby and the trains weren't running, lucky I made it! Below is a picture from the plane, as we come over England...Oh gosh I was excited!Well, I'll try to get more about my trip up soon. I'll start with my adventure at Muncaster Castle in Ravenglass. Keep checking back to read about it all...better yet, leave your name in the box at the right and you'll get an automatic email when I do.

"Swallow Hollow" Iroqouis Wildlife Refuge 8-12-08

2008-08-23T20:19:00.006-04:00

What a day I had at the Swallow Hollow nature trail, part of the Iroqouis Wildlife Preserve. The above photo was just one of the many beautiful scenes I saw that day; the trail follows the water in a nice loop, sometimes going through woods, mostly near the marsh or some natural looking water canals. Much of the trail is a boardwalk to keep you up from the very wet ground, especially after such a rainy summer!

This is a picture of my new sketchbook cover, it's a sketchbook that I designed and made myself with a long format. I thought it'd be fun to put some pictures of my paintings on the cover, to show people I meet some of my work. I can add or take pages from the sketchbook as I want to.

This is the first page of my sketchbook from my day out. I stopped at a nice area in the Tonawanda Wildlife Management area, Elizabeth Hilldurger Estate project. I was so happy to see two Great Egrets (or in my old Peterson guide American Egret) flying around. The one roosted in a tree far away, I tried to do some little sketches by looking through my binoculars.
The watercolor of the water scene I did using my little watercolor 'altoids' field kit and just a water-brush. It's pretty simple looking but I did it quickly while standing up.

This is me pausing to sketch along the boardwalk. You can see I have my art kit bag on my waist and a backpack with other supplies on my back. Almost all of what I draw, I draw while I'm standing and looking at things.
Along the way on my walks I usually meet some nice people who are curious about what I'm doing. I met a couple walking their dogs, Papillions...Pudgie is the puppy furiously digging the hole in the back...Max is the one gazing up at his owner. Maybe this is the kind of dog I should get to keep me company in the house? I've seen them before and thought about it. Their owner told me Papillion means butterfly in french....well at least it's their names meaning, I guess because of how they look with their ears perked.

Next is another page from my sketchbook, click it to see it closer. I met a little Leopard frog along the way and did quick little sketches of him, then painted it at home using metallic watercolor paints. He really had a metallic look to his skin, so beautiful! At the end of this post you'll see a little video clip of him!

I saw many Harvestman spiders in the woods and did a sketch of one on a dying milkweed leaf. I also took photos so when I got home I was able to paint it with watercolors. I took step by step photos of the painting, perhaps I'll get to post it separately later.
I did some reading about Harvestmen Spiders, which are only distantly related to spiders, they are not venomous, lack fangs and do not bite. They use their legs to walk, breath, smell and capture prey! There are 5,000 species, about 235 known in North America, most are drab brown or grey, but a few are rusty red, mottled spots or have a stripe down their back. Now that I know that, I know I was lucky to see a rusty red one, and the one I painted had a mottled kind of dark stripe on it. One more interesting detail to keep my eyes open for while hiking! I hope you take a closer look next time you meet one.

This next page shows a light pencil sketch I did of the path, I also took some photos so later I could color it in. I haven't gotten that far yet! The mushrooms at the bottom of the page I went specifically to Swallow Hollow to try to find again and paint, I saw them there just a week before. I could use some help indentifying them if anyone has expertise in this area?? I have become fascinated with mushrooms and fungi...when you walk in the woods, just take a close look at the ground or on trees or dead logs, you'll be surprised at what you might discover! I've seen gorgeous yellow or orange mushrooms that I didn't expect. The picture of the orange mushroom I could use help identifying too.

I set up my stool in the woods and I painted this study from life. It was difficult because the lighting kept changing, first direct, raking light, then very dark shadows. As I painted a Harvestmen Spider crawled across my sketchbook, pausing over my painting to 'taste' the wet paint! Before I could get my camera, he crawled off down my leg....he being a spider that he was I helped him hurry off me! I don't mind them too much, but don't want them lingering. At least I can say, knowing they are harmless helps me not to react like Little Miss Muffet! Remember her story?

This is the last page from my outing...while I was in the field I sketched the tiny mushrooms in pencil...kneeling in the pine needles to gain a closer look. They're done at life size. Then while walking later I went over the lines with a sepia colored Micron Permanent ink pen. Later at home I printed out the photos I took of them and added the watercolor. I have found that when I do something in graphite pencil in the field, I get disappointed at how it will smear or fade with all the use the sketchbook gets, so I like to use my micron pens a lot to draw.

The while fungus is fascinating...they are hard to notice...you might just step right past them, but you have to be aware of everything and look everywhere when you walk. These are also drawn at life size, aproximately 2" tall and coming up like delicate white filaments from the forest floor. A mystery to me, if anyone can tell us please do.

The butterfly was a type I saw all day, following me it seemed, to see what I was doing in their woods? I sketched it in the field on a leaf, but later painted it from a photo. Can anyone help me with identifying it?

I added a short video clip of my meeting with the Leopard Frog along a sunny path, check it out!

"Wandering by the Niagara River" July 25, 2008

2008-08-23T13:54:00.003-04:00

Well, it's time to play 'catch up', this is from July, but better late than never! If you click on the pictures you'll see an enlarged view, where you can read my notes.

I did these two pages in my sketchbook following a very upsetting visit to a surgeon. I left the office in tears because he said I needed surgery on my discs from my car accident! He told me the symptoms to watch out for, all very nasty and debilitating, and then about the surgery and recovery. It was a little too much for me to handle after all the months of trying to recover from the car crash!
So....on my way home, I pulled over at a nice little park by the Niagara River and was determined to look at birds, do some sketching. It was hard but, as most artists know, once you get started there's nothing better to take your mind off pain and worry. The reason I share this with all of you friends around the world, is to let you know, it's not always as it seems. That is, I've seen other doctors since who believe I can make it without surgery (Yay!!!) and my hopes for proceeding with my life fall back into place. How awful those kind of days are that throw us for a loop of self doubt, or "how will I ever cope?"
The page above shows some sketches of water plants, and I think Purple Loose strife, considered an invasive weed here. Two bugs, including one of my favorites, the milkweed beetle and notes about birds and flowers seen. I was sitting on a rock that had waves splashing up on it, jutting into the river a bit. What a gorgeous day!
The second page was more plants, a close up view of some kind of sedge I think...I love the seed pods on this, all pointy and green, and as I studied it and drew, all of a sudden I realised there was a furry catapillar hanging on under one of the leaves. At the bottom of the page you can see a tiny landscape sketch of Niagara Falls in the distance.
I wish the pictures were colored in but I didn't have time or the energy to stay and do that. Just so you know, All is Well with me!!! I'm getting ready for my trip to England and Ireland now, I'll be blogging from there I hope, keep tuned!

"On the Road" Watersoluble Graphite 8-9-08

2008-08-10T14:21:00.009-04:00

I brought my small art kit with me while on a road trip to the Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling NY. , of course I wasn't the driver! I experimented with drawing with my new graphitint watersoluble graphite pencils, They are colored but not as intense as watercolor pencils. I did the drawing then wet it with my waterbrush, this brings out the intensity of the colors. You can manipulate the values this way and if you like, work back into the drawing wet or dry. They're very interesting and I am looking forward to trying them for more drawings. I took a couple pictures of them with my tiny digital camera, since I'm nowhere near my scanner, forgive the not so great color and clarity!
The "Barn Owl" measures a wee 2"x2"! It was a bit challenging to do with the bumpy road.

This little landscape measures aproximately 4"x5" and is of the road we traveled. It was a great day for clouds, the only problem I had was making the line on the road. The set of pencils I bought has no yellow. You can notice that I made little color tests along the margins of the drawing.

"Treeline Oil Pastel" 7-26-08

2008-07-26T21:18:00.005-04:00

5" x 7"

This is a little oil pastel I did while eating breakfast on my back deck, I started it the other day and finished it today. Done on canvas paper, I laid down the first layer by drawing sky color and grass and then scrubbing lightly with a bristle brush and mineral spirits. I then sketched in the tree trunks as thinly as I could in greys and light browns. I added clumps of light green for the leaves and then added darker green under to make them stand out. I put the grass colors on, and the dry grass color, which I then used the rubber pastel blender to drag the grass up into the green. I also used the rubber blender to smooth over the tree trunks, this helped to get rid of the canvas texture.
The sky was laid in darker colors at the top and lighter towards the bottom, I put white very heavy where the clouds would be, then I was able to blend into the cloud with sky color a bit. This was all a very 'back and forth' process, I thought it was finished then picked up another color and added leaves, then added back to the sky, and so on. I used a paper clip to scratch grass into the field, and then my initials into the painting.
I used my tiny Olympus camera to take pictures of this so I could upload it with my laptop. This is to test how I can update my blog while I'm traveling, so far so good!
Hope you enjoyed todays updates!

"Watercolor Moon in the Middle of the Night" 7-21-08

2008-07-26T17:31:00.014-04:00

Sometimes it's hard to be an artist. Let me explain, I have been thinking about how much I want to try to paint the moon at night, in the dark using a tiny light. I've never done it before so the other night when the moon was streaming through my window, I had to get back out of bed and go to the studio to get my paints!! Yes...it's difficult to be an artist, but fun!! For the above painting I used liquid mask to block the moon, which I don't use much but wanted to play with. Then I worked wet into wet with the colors. Now keep in mind I said before I wanted to work in the dark so I could see the moon still, so I took a tiny reading light and clipped it onto my neck collar of my t-shirt. (Um...did anyone ever tell you artists were kind of nuts? haha) I pointed the light down at my painting, it was a neat experiment.
Above you can see my tiny watercolor kit I put together. On the left is a pack of assorted brushes that I cut the handles down on so they are smaller and fit in my field bag, above that is the reading light. In the center is my field kit of watercolors that I have tucked into a tiny Altoids tin, I use the lid for mixing my colors. Above the kit is a plastic vitamin bottle that I use for water; I like this container because I can get my brushes down into it for swishing around, but it also fits in my waterbottle holder that I can put around my waist for field work. And next to all that, on the far right is a new little invention of mine, it's a tiny cigar case my friend Mark gave me. I told him I like little containers to play around with for field stuff....I know, I sound like a little kid! Well....if you don't think creatively and play, you don't think of great ideas!
I cut up little squares of watercolor paper to fit inside the cigar case, it holds about 14 sheets of paper, I also put in some bristol board to play with. The sheets measure only 3 1/2" x 3"....kind of fun to work on if you keep it simple. I then took two paper clips and bent them so they go over the edge and hold down the paper while you work. You can see how tiny the kit is as it fits right into my hand! Below is the tiny moon painting I did, I like it!! For this one I didn't use liquid mask and it show the moon for how it really was, it wasn't full like I showed above.I hope you enjoyed my post about my experimental moon painting! Remember I did it in the dark, it was fun! I will bring this kit with me when I travel to England and Ireland and play around with it. Please let me know what you think and leave me a comment!

"Hot Painting Day in July" 7-10-08

2008-07-26T16:26:00.006-04:00

It was a very hot day when I decided to scoot outside to do a quick little painting. I used my a square sketchpad because it's a fun change. The painting is only 5"x5" big. I first sketched with a micron pen then I used my tiny watercolor kit. Because the day was so hot, it dried very quickly as I worked. I like the stroked look of the sky, it gives it movement.
Of course Ginger had to be right next to me! She was smart and hide from the hot sun under the table! I stood at the picnic table and put one foot up on the seat, resting my sketchbook and arm on my knee.
This little painting is of Birds Foot Trefoil, it grows wild here and there in my, ahem...kind of wild yard! It has lovely little yellow flowers and it's called 'bird's foot' because the pod cluster that grows looks like a bird foot. This flower grows in Europe and that's where it came from, now quite common here. The painting is a bit pale because I painted it in full sun, it got hard to look at the white paper after awhile. I used a little trick to make it go faster, I held the flower so the shadow fell onto my paper and then drew the stem lightly with a pencil. Then I was able to just look at the flower and work on my drawing, fixing the details and proportions.

"Common Toad" 7-8-08

2008-07-17T22:06:00.009-04:00

While walking in the woods at Stiglmeier Park in Cheektowaga, NY, I happened upon a toad...almost stepped on the little guy (girl?) because it blended in so well with the dead leaves on the woodland floor. I took pictures, usually very hard to capture a frog or toad because the just don't sit still while you focus etc....they have other ideas! Above is a little tiny sketch I did after I caught a few pictures, noting the light stripe and other markings which helped me identify him later. There are so many toads and frogs for me to learn!
Later I sat late at night and drew this sketch above, from a photo with a micron permanent ink pen. You can see, I didn't start with pencil drawing, I just drew in a sketchy manner to block in his shape. Sometimes I like the looseness of that look, some pen lines showing at the end of the drawing. You can also hide unwanted lines by adding the dark lines for background.
Here I added a light wash in watercolor of yellow ochre + sepia, just a touch. I was careful to leave the light stripe and light areas of his body, and add more wash layers to the darker areas.
Here you can see, I added green by mixing olive green + a touch of sepia to dull it. The brown spots are sepia and permanent rose. The background is prussian blue + ultramarine blue + black. To make his bumps or warts stand out a bit, I tried to use the tip of a very small pointed brush to outline them a little with the brown. Then some spots were just painted with the watercolor, which made a softer looking wart than one that was drawn with ink. When I was finished I felt I should have made his mouth or nose, stick a out just a little more, it looks a bit short...but it's done.
These are pictures I took of the little guy...um...girl? in the woods. Hope you enjoyed looking at my little sketch and the pictures. More on that walk later....

"Allegany Nature Pilgrimage" (Thunderocks) 6-1-08

2008-07-11T07:50:00.015-04:00

Well here I am the last day, the last hours of my time at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage, spending it at the most beautiful place I found all weekend, Thunderocks. Before I left the park I drove up by myself to visit this wonder I kept hearing about, wow! it was well worth it. You drive up the hill, make a left turn at the four corners and just ahead, very easy parking and you are right there. It's quite accessable for everyone.

The whole area is a bit unique as it was untouched by the glaciers so I've been told. The rocks are enormous, some as big as houses, and what a great place to bring your kids to let them marvel at this natural sight! (and climb a little!) You can see I'm wearing my binoculars and my sketchbag, I also had a video camera with me and took some nice videos. The little clip at the end is just with my tiny digital camera.

Here you can see a family climbing up, which helps to show the immense size of the rocks.

I just love the dapple effect of the sun on the rocks. It'd either be a painters dream or nightmare. The views are gorgeous, but the sun dapples ever moving and disappearing.

Though the ground was well worn around the rocks, there were still many pockets of wildflowers and ferns. I saw Clintonia, Wild Lily of the Valley, Star Flowers, and ferns.

Another beautiful view, showing mosses, ferns and trees. I'd love to sit up on one of those big rocks in the middle of the night and just listen to everything around me. I wonder what the Indians thought of these rocks? Did they use them as landmarks? Climb around on them as children too? Who knows.

This one reminds me of a green waterfall~ so lush!

I took the time to do a really quick little sketch before I left. You can see I put notes about a bird and bird song on the page. Below a short, corny video clip for you...but what can I say? I loved being there and didn't want to leave!

"Allegany Nature Pilgrimage" (frogs, salamanders, and snakes) 5-31-08

2008-07-10T20:27:00.007-04:00

A quick post here, to show you some more pictures from my Allegany weekend. Actually all these pictures are from the all day hike I went on led by Tim Baird, it's his hands holding the slimy salamander and the snake. We were walking right along and this little guy almost got stepped on in the dirt road, so well he blended in with the leaves and dirt! It's a Wood Frog, I had to really move quick to catch some pictures of him! What I love is his 'robbers' mask and the way the stripes on his legs line up when he's crouched, it breaks up his body form so he blends into the ground better. It sure works! I'll definitely be doing a painting or drawing of him.

I'm pretty sure this is an Eastern Newt, the adult stage of a Red Eft, the common little red salamander you see in the moist woods. They are a very important part of the food chain in the forest and I think protected, at least in some states. I think everyone should be aware of them and try to keep them from harm to help keep their numbers up.
Here Tim is holding a tiny Ring Necked Snake, it looked like a bit of wire laying on the road, he's got good eyes! The belly of this snake was a pale yellow. I looked it up in my "Audubon's Familiar Reptiles + Amphibians of North America", it says that it grows 10-30" long and can have a yellow, cream or orange neck ring and a yellow to red belly. I'd love to see a full grown one. It's a docile snake that will curl and show it's belly when frightened, also emitting a foul musk.
Well, only one more entry to go about my Allegany weekend, until then I hope you're enjoying the pictures! I did a few little paintings yesterday and today and will put them up soon.

"Allegany Nature Pilgrimage" (moss, lichens, fungus, dragonflies and moths) 5-31-08

2008-07-10T19:27:00.010-04:00

This is a continuation of my weekend at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage at the end of May. This post I have some pictures of fungus, lichens and moss from the non flowering plants hike I took led by Alice Brown.
This is a fungus I've seen growing on my land in Clarence Center NY, in the Adirondack mtns. and at Allegany. It's a fungus I identified as Trametes Versicolor, the common name is Turkey Tail, so named because of the variable bands of color. I've seen it in all seasons which makes it kind of fun to look for, check dead trees and branches on the ground etc. I read on a website that a tea can be made from it and that it's used to fight cancer and hiv. Don't quote me on that but it's what I read, I do know that mushrooms can be very good for you. I wouldn't recommed going out and eating these though...my mushroom book (Simon and Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms- Excellent Book!) says that it's inedible because of texture.
This is a flat fern type of moss, I don't know my mosses yet so if someone can help me out here. I have to look for a good field guide, you know...tall, dark, handsome! haha...no really, the kind with pages is fine!
This is a picture of mosses on the side (type?) and in the center is a type of lichen, foliose type I think. I've always liked the cool color of lichens..like the green patina copper gets when it's out in the elements.
Then there was the night I was headed to bed, enhausted from all the hikes and early mornings, but saw this show-stopping Luna Moth! Wayne Gall had a simple white sheet up each night with a really bright light to attract all kinds of bugs. I never imagined I'd ever see a Luna Moth and there it was! Wow! It caused quite a bit of excitment. I definitley have to do a painting with one of those in it. Notice the antennae...so large.
This is a page from my sketchbook, just some quick sketches of the dragonfly talk led by Jeremy Martin. Below is a picture of a dragonfly that just came out of the 'Exuvia', or shed skin. That's what I did the small sketch of above. I have written in my sketchbook that I took a picture of a Springtime Darner...maybe that's the type below.
Well as I said, not too many drawings on this Nature Pilgrimage...I needed the whole following week to stay there and digest all that I learned, and go back and sketch things. Be sure to check my post about Thunder Rocks coming up!

"Allegany Nature Pilgrimage" (Birding and Bird Banding) 6-1-08

2008-07-09T19:32:00.014-04:00

This is another 'catch up' post about the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage at the end of May. This post I put up pictures of birding hikes and the bird banding demonstration along with a video clip of the demo.

This was the very first nature hike I went on the whole weekend, it was led by birding expert Frank Gardner. We wound our way through some beautiful woods by a stream, to me it looked like a 'Faerie Haven'. It was considered an advanced bird walk because most of the identification was by bird song. We kept hearing a Blackburnian Warbler up in the trees...ok, this is one of those birds that I'm dying to see. If you remember I did a little painting of one in my sketchbook this winter, click here to see it. Well, I had to leave the hike a little early to catch another hike that was starting soon, guess what everyone in the entire group saw after I left? A Blackburnian Warbler came down to take a bath in the creek!! Oh boy...they teased me a bit because I made such a big deal out of wanting to see one!

This is the 'All Day Birding Hike' I took with Tim Baird as the leader. I was worried that we'd be hiking all day long and I wouldn't be able to do it, but it was actually very pleasant as we took several cars and drove to different locations in the park, then walked. This is a page from my sketchbook, click it too see all my notes on the different birds I saw or heard. I put a little dot in front of birds I heard, and a check mark for ones I saw too. I did a tiny sketch with water-soluble graphite of the lake and hills from where we stood by the lodge, Allegany Park's main office. The water-soluble pencils are by Derwendt and I just love them. You can do a simple sketch when you're in a hurry and just worry about the values, use a water-brush to wet it while you're standing there. In a later post I'll put up the sketch pages with complete lists of every bird and flower that I've seen here and in the Adirondack Mnts. Believe me it's long!!

This is at the bird banding demonstration on Sunday morning. If you've never seen a banding demo please make sure you try to some day, I had no idea it'd be so fascinating! The above picture shows Jerry blowing on the breast of a yellow warbler to expose the breast. It's a way they check for a brood patch or check the general weight of the bird for health.

To catch the birds they raise fine nets up in the early morning and leave them up, the birds fly into them and get tangled but not harmed.This is a hummingbird in the hand, amazing!

Here's a Chestnut Sided Warbler that Jerry is holding, it's amazing how they hold the bird by the upper legs, above the joint I think, and it doesn't hurt it. I've included a video clip, you'll see how casual they are about holding the birds, and get a good look at Bob McKinney holding a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. Jerry is holding a Catbird, though he seems extremely casual about holding it, believe me they've done this thousands of times and no birds are injured. A funny trick Bob would do with the kids, when he was ready to release a bird, he'd carefully lay it on it's backside on top of someone's head. Then the bird would get it's bearings and fly off...it was really neat! You'll see Bob measuring the bird, blowing on it's breast to look for a brood patch and then he unceremoniously plops it into a tumbler to put it on the scale for weighing. With smaller birds he used an empty pill bottle! Up above on my double sketch page you can see a tiny sketch I did of the Cuckoo in the tumbler. Enjoy the video!!

"Allegany Nature Pilgrimage" (Wildflowers) May 30, 2008

2008-07-09T18:32:00.016-04:00

Well where to begin? This is a very late entry about my weekend at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage, May 30, 31, June 1, 2008. I wanted to make sure I share it with you because it was such a fantastically wonderful weekend filled with great people and plenty of new things to learn about nature. I've decided to break it up into several posts so it's not too long. This one will be about the wildflowers I saw. Below is just one of the fabulous views in Allegany State Park.

I feel giulty for not having more drawings, but let me explain what it was like. From Friday until Sunday you could show up for hikes or classes lead by experts in their field, all day long! There was one after the other, some at the same time, it was so hard to pick and choose which I wanted to go on. I filled 13 pages in my sketchbook with notes about birds, flowers and plants! We were constantly walking as a group so it was very hard to draw, the small amount of sketching I did was while I was walking! Seriously...you have to watch the ground so you don't trip! haha...

This page of my sketchbook shows a drawing I did while on a guided birdwatching hike. It was lead by Tim Baird of Salamanca, he's a retired science teacher who knows more about birds and plants than anyone I know! He has such a wonderful casual manner when you ask questions about everything you see....well um...that was me! I asked him about everything I saw! He was so patient!! haha...must be the teacher in him. Most of the flowers, plants and birds I learned about this weekend were from his walks. Thanks Tim!!

Dwarf Ginseng, shown in the little sketch above, a pretty little woodland flower.

I learned about this flower on a wildflower hike led by Mary Alice Tock, down by the lakeside. It's Cinquefoil, cinque (5) as in five leaves, five petals slightly heart shaped. Mary told us some things to look for when identifying wildflowers: 1. color 2. shape of leaves 3. # of petals 4. arrangement of leaves on stem, and how they're connected to the stem.

This is Clintonia, a woodland lily, also called Yellow Corn-lily or Blue Bead for the fruits it bears. I took this picture up at Thunderocks on my last day...more about that amazing place in another post!

This is Golden Alexander, shown in the sketch I did above while walking. It has a complicated flower head like Queen Anne's Lace, I forget the technical term...I'm sure someone can remind me in the comments.

This very pretty flower is Golden Ragwort, looks just like something that'd be growing in your garden.

This is Star Flower, found in the woods also, like a hidden gem just waiting to be noticed.

And this is a very well known wildflower, Trillium. I was lucky to catch sight of it in bloom here and in the Adirondack mtns.

"Golden Eagle Watercolor" 7-7-08

2008-07-08T16:58:00.008-04:00

I just finished this 12" x 15" watercolor of a Golden Eagle yesterday. I started it a few months ago and then put it aside. I used watercolors and a few touches of permanent ink pen. I wanted to leave the edges looking washy so you could definitely see that it's a watercolor, and therefor keep some of the freshness. I stroked the feathers on directly with my round brush to show the pointy shape that the Golden Eagle has to his feathers.

Later...some months I should say!... I sat down to finish it, he's been waiting around too long for me! So I just looked for what needed to be made darker, stronger shadows under feathers to make them start to pop a little. I worked on the eye, the most important part of any painting I feel, I added more golden color then lifted out some highlight area with a damp brush, then when it was dry I carefully scratched out a tiny highlight with a razor blade.

I will have prints available of this painting, without the shipping:
note cards = $5 each (8.5"x5.5")
8x10 hand signed print = $20,
matted 8x10 print = $35,
I'm not sure about limited edition prints yet, I'll wait and see about them.
Please just contact me if your interested, I can take credit cards or personal checks. The original painting will also be available, not priced yet or framed.

A bit more about the Golden Eagle, when I was in college I worked as a zoo keeper in Binghamton, NY at the Ross Park Zoo. My favorite area to work was in the aviary; it was up in the woods on the mountain. Each bird had a cage, of course they weren't big enough, but the zoo has made huge improvements over the years, as so many zoos have done. I never forgot the Golden Eagle(s), there might have been two? All the birds of prey they had were brought there because of injury, some wings, some eyesight. The eagles were huge, and yes, their feathers on their head and breast were more 'pointy' than other birds. It was only at feeding time that I didn't really enjoy it, their diet was fresh killed rats from the lab over at SUNY Binghamton. Ok, Ok...I won't go into details here!...but being a zookeeper wasn't all fun and games!

A little more reminiscing...last night I watched a old movie musical called "The Pied Piper of Hamlin"...ok..so I like old musicals!!...anyways...I noticed the feather the pied piper had in his hat was a very long, black and white striped feather. I never noticed it before, but now it popped out at me, it's a "Lady Amherst Pheasant" feather! We had several types of exotic pheasants also in the aviary at the zoo, one of my favorites was the Lady Amherst...wow, so beautiful! I should do a painting of that one!

Perhaps when I go home for a visit I can do a sketching and journaling day at the Ross Park Zoo where I used to work. It's a really nice little zoo, if you're in the area go visit and tell them I sent you! haha...they won't remember me but it'd be fun. PS. I should mention that they have an amazing little aviary now where you can walk in amongst the birds! It's beautiful, has water features, plants, birds everywhere..some hiding, it's very well done!
Please leave me comments below, I'd love to hear from more of you, as I have readers dropping in from around the world!!

"Oil Pastel Sketch of Northumbria"

2008-07-08T16:44:00.003-04:00

This is a 5" x 5" little sketch I did with oil pastels from a magazine cover about Northumberland, England. My friend in Northumberland sent me these great magazines so I could get to know the area a little better, as I'll be visiting it in Sept this year.
The difficulty in the sketch was just that it was so small, but I want to do more on a 5"x5" format so I can get a collection that would look nice hanging together. To do details I used a razorblade to cut angles on the ends of some of my crayons...and used it also to scratch off details on the house. You can especially see it where I signed my initials.

Hope you like it, I can't wait to get there personally and so lots of nature studies and landscapes!

"Iroquois Nature Refuge" 5-25-08

2008-07-05T21:46:00.015-04:00

It's a gorgeous day! 65-70 degrees, sunny and breezy. The first journal page is done with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush...I found it hard to get the greens I wanted.
A gorgeous bird, the Black Tern; I took so many pictures of them swooping over the water, with their very elegant coloring. The other picture is a bit more sad but shows the real life of nature, it's a Red Tailed Hawk being chased by Red Winged Black-Birds because he's stolen a youngster from the nest! I saw him land into the tall grasses on the marsh, and noted the huge commotion of the Black Birds. When he took off I figured something was up, and sure enough he was carrying a chick.

I spotted this little butterfly in the field as we walked and I've narrowed it down to two butterflies-either the Pearl Crescent or Gorgone Checkerspot...anyone help me with an ID?

This painting was done with watercolors. I used my little watercolor kit that's tucked into a tiny "Altoids" tin if you can believe it! I'll have to post a picture of that soon.

Some bird photos I took, two of a male Tree Swallow that was sitting by it's nest box. A picture of a Song Sparrow on the left, and a Swamp Sparrow on the right.

This flower was drawn with a micron pen then colored with watercolor. I had to wait till I was at the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage (more on that later!) to indentify it, showing it to some wildflower experts...they told me it's a Evening Lychnis.
Click here for the link to Iroqouis Nature Refuge.

"Reinstein Woods" 5-23-08

2008-07-05T19:32:00.014-04:00

This is about the morning I spent at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve in Cheektowaga, NY. It's from back in May, but I wanted to put it up to keep my posts in order. The very first thing I saw, well heard, was a House Wren...busy little thing! I kept watching it flit around until it showed me where it's nesting hole in a dead tree was. (Don't forget to click on my sketchbook pages to see the enlarged views.)
I did a really quick sketch of a fern leaf and flowers on mint. I looked in my wildflowers book and still haven't found a 'blue' flower, they say it should be pink. I need to find some more books!

May really is the month to see and hear birds when you're out walking! Some of the birds I heard or saw: Catbird, Yellow Warbler, House Wren, Canada Geese, Baltimore Oriole, Mallard ducks, Turkey Vulture, Red Winged Black Bird, Nuthatch, Wood Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher.

I also took a few pictures of the gorgeous wildflowers including the pink ones with the bee on it, those are Honey Suckle, the pale lavender ones are Dames Rocket if I'm not mistaken. You look for the four petals it has, not five.

I came upon a Baltimore Oriole that had just had a bath in the shallow area of the pond. He was up in the branches at my eye level, just preening and shaking off. I took some pictures with my tiny camera but he was really too far away; but what in inspiring sight, I can't wait to do a painting of one.

Then down by the wooden bridge on the Lily Pond Loop, I shot a short video clip just to show how gorgeous the day was. It was sunny but cool, the lily pads were out, no flowers yet, and birds flying everywhere. Check it out because I have another video clip taken on July 5th to show you soon...lilie flowers in full bloom!

"Spring Birding at Iroqouis" 5-17-08

2008-06-27T22:04:00.012-04:00

Today I went birdwatching with the Audubon Society at Iroqouis Wildlife Refuge in Gasport, NY. This is north of Buffalo. a very beautiful area to hike around. The weather today wasn't gorgeous as it rained off and on and was quite cold...but we saw birds. There were a few expert birders leading the informal outing, they were so good at naming birds just by their song.
I'm using a new bag that my friend in England sent me. It's a military bag that feels really comfortable, holds my drawing supplies but not the sketchbook. It's nice because it takes the weight off my shoulders.
I had to put up one of my sketchbook pages so you could see, just how little sketching I get done when on a hike like this. There is no time for stopping to sketch when you're with a group of determined birders! haha...that's ok, I have listed most of the birds we saw and heard. The check mark means I saw the bird not just heard it.

Here you can see the group coming to the area where Ospreys are nesting. We had a good look with a scope on a tripod. There were areas in open fields with chicken wire around them, I pointed out to everyone that they (the Wildlife Refuge) were trying to grow lupines there, a very important host plant for butterflies, and beautiful too! Here's the link for the Iroqouis Nature Refuge: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/iroquois

"Dandelions for Mother's Day" 5-11-08

2008-06-27T21:43:00.005-04:00

It was mother's day and gorgeous...I had a chance to go out and just sit in the soft spring grass and draw. So I thought I'd just play with a non permanent ink pen and a waterbrush to do a little demo on how simple it is to make a nice value drawing. The pen is just a typical non permanent writing pen from an office supply store.
By the way, I didn't just get dandelions for Mother's Day...my boys brought me beautiful tulips!

"May Hike on My Land" 5-7-08

2008-06-27T19:39:00.015-04:00

This post, and the next few from me, are being put up late...but I wanted to keep the hikes I took in sequence....more exciting things coming soon!
I couldn't resist starting off with Ginger coming up the lane...it's so green and lush in Springtime! You can see the buds are just coming out on the trees.
Well, it was a very wet, rainy day as you can see by my raingear and barn boots! I always keep a plastic garbage bag in my pocket when hiking, this makes a great surface to kneel or sit on when the ground is damp or if you want to put your camera or bag down, it protects it. The page below shows a very, very quick sketch of moneywort...it grows all over my land in damp or wet areas and in spring + summer it'll have the prettiest yellow flowers. You can click on any picture to read my notes closer...yikes the mosquitoes were rampant!!

This is a video clip about the Mayapples and one of my old oak trees.
This is another one of my old oak trees on "Oak Lane". I love walking up to each one and checking on them, touching their bark, feeling their power and strength.Growing under the oaks were these plants that I think are Adderstongue...I didn't get to make a final identification yet. What I did was sketch the upper leaf at actual or life size in pencil. I shaded then smudged with my finger then used a kneaded rubber eraser to 'wipe out' where I wanted the light spots. Because the leaf had a mottled look I thought I'd try a little watercolor technique to recreate it. I painted the leaf green then as it was drying I dropped water onto it, this makes a nice mottled effect. It also had a fruit that was green colored. Sorry to say I didn't get back out there to see what the plant did as far as flowering. You can see where I tested my colors in the corner of the page.At the end of my walk I came to the only Crabapple on my property, what a pretty sight when you find it in Springtime! It's hidden in an out of the way place in the "Maze", a field I have with paths that go all over like a maze. I didn't get to finish the painting properly, I tried to work on it as rain was starting. But it was good practice anyways! I do have some 'sweet' pictures of the blossoms for future use. By the way, this was done with watercolor pencils that I then wet with a waterbrush.

The final video clip below is a nice bit of music by one of my favorite singers...the Wood Thrush!!

"New Chicks" 4-30-08

2008-05-19T22:43:00.001-04:00

I was at the Farm Center where I go to buy corn for my chickens, hardware type supplies and new mud boots when I need them. Well, they had new baby chicks! What can I say? I have a barn, I have chickens, I love chicks and being the little kid in a big kids body that I am...ahem...I bought them for myself!! It was to cheer myself up because I'm still hurting from my car accident.
Usually I would put them directly in the barn, but it is still quite chilly and I don't have a heat lamp set up yet or a pen. So I put them in the 'old' bathroom in the bathtub! Ha, what a surprise when my boys saw them!
I looked at it like an opportunity to draw them and do some studies, the dedicated artist that I am!

So the first page was sketches with a graphite mechanical pencil...it's hard to draw things that are constantly moving! The other page is watercolors that I played with. At the bottom you can see where I wet the paper first and touched it with my color on my brush tip. It makes fuzzy blobs that are fun to play with, but you have to be careful as to "how" blobby it gets. Watercolor has a mind of it's own, but that's what I like about it. You can play with this technique, just wet the paper first...let it dry a bit to lose some sheen, then touch paint to it and let it go. It will grow on it's own. Experiment with this to see how it reacts when your paper is wetter or drier. Then let it dry totally before you try to add details or they will be fuzzy too.
Go here to see my new Nature Sketching Class schedule! http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2008/05/nature-sketching-classes.html
or there's a link in the right hand column for my classes.

"Marsh Wren and Wood Thrush" 4-26-08 + 4-30-08

2008-05-19T14:22:00.017-04:00

I've told you before I'm not the kind of person to waste time when I'm waiting around. Well, I started this sketch of a Marsh Wren while sitting in Regal Cinema waiting for the live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera to begin! I put my sketchbook, a mechanical pencil and a small book with photos (it's listed on my sketchbook page) all in my purse. It was kind of low lighting but I was able to get it started, then later I finished the details. I hope I can see one in real life soon, I've heard their songs on bird tapes and it sounds so beautiful, like something from Walt Disney!

The Wood Thrush just happens to be one of my favorite birds, oh how I love hearing them sing when I'm near the woods! Especially near evening time. This one I did using Graphitint Watersoluble Pencils, they're watersoluble graphite. I only have two colors to experiment with, cocoa and chestnut, this one being chestnut. I really like these pencils and have to pick up some more to play with. You can sketch then wet it to make washes or bring out the vividness of color, then rework into it wet will give you VERY intense value or rework over it when it's dry. It's a lot of fun to play with and I love working in monotones. See three of my Goddess paintings on my website that show this...Autumn, Twilight, Etain. Someday I'll do a finer painting with these watersoluble pencils...ahmmm...when I have more time!!
I've added a short video clip that I took while hiking on May 7th, you can hear a Wood Thrush singing as I point it towards the trees. (no, you won't see any birds, just hear them!). ENJOY!!

" Evangola State Park" Brandt NY, April 25, 2008

2008-05-19T12:58:00.018-04:00

Well I'm finally getting some pictures up from my day of exploring at Evangola State Park, in Brandt NY. (it's near Angola) My photographer friend Mark Baker and I are picking areas around Buffalo to go explore, he concentrates on photography while I grab some pictures and then try to sketch. It is nice to spend time with a friend this way but it is a little harder for me to settle down and draw things. I guess as we explore more together I'll get more comfortable with just saying, "I'll be sitting here for awhile while you go shooting". He got some neat shots of me working and I took the ones of my hand holding the palette in the creek bed and the cool "hanging by a root" photo.

It was a very overcast day, windy but pleasant enough. Sometimes that's a great kind of lighting for photography or drawing, no glaring sun to deal with. I sketched the covered bridge and wanted to work on it more at home, but never got time. That's why I waited so long to post this!, ah, the best laid plans of mice and women....ahem.
The picture of me standing in the stream, I'm sketching the scene very quickly using a permanent ink pen, then the close up of my hand holding the palette and pad shows how I hold it to use the watercolors. I just kept bending down to rinse my brush in the water flowing past me, no watercup necessary!

Then I sat down on the bank to do a quick watercolor of the lake using my Chinese brush, the colors were really dull because of the type of day it was. But I wanted to experiment and practice painting outdoors. You can see in the picture that Mark took looking over my shoulder that I've spread my bag out in front of me, but all within quick reach in case I have to pack up suddenly and go. Um...rain, creepy men ...you ladies know what I mean! haha...another good reason to have a male friend on the exploration trip with you. A side note here to my painting, drawing, exploring lady friends, ALWAYS pay attention to what's going on around you!! Don't be naive, believe me you don't want to run into trouble out by yourself, better to be paying attention to who's around you.
Ok, back to more pleasant thoughts! I've also included an OK clip of the lakes waves. It was my intention to get a clip of the sound, but my friend Mark was diddling around next to me with his camera...made some noises. I'll shoot a better one next time!
Here's a link to Mark's phenomenal website www.mhbaker.com and Evangola State Park link: http://www.evangolastatepark.com/

"Bluebirds and Yellowflowers" 4-23-08

2008-04-28T22:14:00.013-04:00

Today I've uploading my sketchbook pages that I did the other day (4-23-08). It was my first day going outside to draw since my car accident...what a great day to be out there! I got to observe the bluebirds trying to nest in one of the bluebird boxes I put up. A Red Spider Mite came and visited, then crawled all over my paint box. I tried to note the bugs I saw, one I need help identifying, the little brown one with tan spots.
The thing I wanted to draw most were the little yellow flowers, I still have to figure out what kind they are.

Check out the pictures I added, the Red Spider Mite was crawling over my white watercolor block, I photographed it through my magnifying glass! The other picture shows my field bag and it's contents...also my palette. I kept the little binoculars handing so I could keep checking out the bluebirds.

"Butterflies in the Doctor's Office" 4-15-08

2008-04-28T21:22:00.006-04:00

If you click the picture you can read my notes about when I drew these butterflies. I was in an awful lot of pain from my car accident and waiting to see the Chiropractor. The day was sunny and gorgeous so I tried to occupy my mind by drawing. I brought my small field bag, sketchbook, and a small butterfly book. I did the initial sketches one day then worked on details another day. I listed the colors I used as usual, they are Inktense Watercolor Pencils. For the Eastern Tailed-Blue I tried laying down an even base color of Leaf Green and Field Green then wet it with a waterbrush. After it was dry I experimented with layering Violet on the left, Deep Indigo on the right and Leaf Green on the bottom. Doing the background first made the butterfly really stand out white so later I could just come in and very lightly add some colors for shading. To do this I touched the waterbrush tip to the pencil then I used the color that it picked up.
For the Zebra Swallowtail I laid in Ink Black for the stripes lightly then built it up till it was darker. I used lively colors around it to brighten my sketchbook, it was fun to experiment with layers of color. I touched up around his tail with a micron 005 permanent pen.
I just love using these Inktense Watercolor Pencils! The color is so vibrant! I would love to see one of these Zebra Swallowtails in person.

Car Accidents Can "Set You Back" ! 4-22-08

2008-04-22T19:10:00.013-04:00

Well as my title alludes...I was in a car crash a few weeks ago, that's why I haven't posted. I was rolling right along preparing for my classes, going out hiking, getting ready to do plein air oil landscapes again when I got hit by someone who ran a stop sign! Sigh...well, thank God I wasn't hurt worse, my car was totaled and I got out myself but I did take a ride in the ambulance to the hospital. I joked with the EMT's that I guess you need to experience everything in your lifetime. I thought I'd be back to normal again right away but just as friends warned me, the pains and problems might show up later. Yup...they came! I won't go into detail about all the pain and suffering, I'm trying to focus on the positive.

The killer is the weather turned absolutely gorgeous in my area of the world, and I just didn't feel like going out to draw. What I did do was carry my sketchbook with me to the doctors offices, I've never ever been one to 'waste' time sitting around waiting.
I threw my field guide into my small field bag and my sketchbook, my inktense watercolor pencils and waterbrush. So...I nursed my interest in drawing along as I nursed my body and nerves. I even drew a chair while waiting for the Neurologist, chairs you know, are very good to practice drawing skills on. Think perspective!
I have a few pictures that show stages, with more to follow. If you take note of the dates, I did them about one week apart...wow I HATE moving so slow in my work, but I have to be patient everyone says. I am WAY behind on my drawing! I will also upload on another entry about the wonderful two openings I was in at the Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca. Lots of great photos from those events. So for now...here's some pages from my sketchbook, though unfinished still, please forgive my taking so long!

This last sketchbook page is from a butterfly field guide, it's an Eastern Tailed Blue. I did do more work on it since this was scanned, I'll upload it soon.
I hope to take you on a walk with me this Friday, I'm going exploring with a photographer friend of mine and I will post about it after.

The Burchfield Nature and Art Center Open House 3-28-08

2008-04-21T21:09:00.003-04:00

(I'm posting this late because of the car accident)
This is the Open House of the Burchfield Nature Center where I'll be teaching Nature Sketching (for kids and adults), plein air Landscape Painting (oils), and a Fairy class if we can squeeze it in! It's a gorgeous gallery and many acres of grounds to walk on and discover, located right outside the city of Buffalo, nestled alongside the Buffalo Creek.

Each teacher had an area to display their work, I brought some oil landscapes, watercolor birds, and a few of my Goddess oil paintings to show how I combine my love of nature and mythology. I brought my field bag and actual supplies to show people who were interested. People were very curious and loved being able to look in my sketchbook, like a glimpes into someone's personal world. Well it 'IS' a glimpse into my personal world, parts of it! Every page I've shared here on my blog they were able to look at in person, it was great. Three times during the night, new student sign up sheets had to be printed for my Nature Sketching class!! Wow, looks like I'll be busy!

Some guests and friends checking out my display, (me talking with my hands as usual!), Dave, an old friend from college, Ken Morgan and Gene Witkowski, some of my photographer friends. And a picture of me and Cy Alessi ,
from "Art Voice" magazine.
The last photo I'm talking to an interested student, sharing my sketchbook with her.
Check out the website for the Burchfield and view the grounds, classes etc. I'll post pictures as I teach and explore the grounds myself.

"Hiking on my Land" 3-26-08

2008-03-26T21:19:00.018-04:00

Today I couldn't resist the sunshine, it was a 'balmy' 40 degrees so I took my field pack and told Ginger we're going for a hike! She, of course could barely contain her excitement! If you click on any picture you can see the enlarged version, and read my actual notes. There were Red Winged Black birds calling from the tree tops and some Turkey Vultures sailing overhead silently. I sketched a tree with a hole that lookes perfect for something to have a nest in, I'll have to watch this spring.
The second page is further out, in "The Maze", a place on my land where I cut all these paths that intersect. It's a great place to explore. The sketch at the top of the page was done first with permanent marker then I used Derwendt Inktense watercolor pencils and a few Prismacolor wc pencils; I noted the colors used on the page. I noticed the buds on the trees coming forth...like pussy willows...all soft and grey, but smaller. I did some sketches on both pages, very small.
The next two pictures show me holding my sketchbook. Now it's impossible to take a picture of oneself while both hands are occupied, I told Ginger I wish she could take the picture! So, first picture shows my hand holding the pencils and sketchbook at the same time.
The second picture shows me drawing with the wc-pencil and holding the waterbrush at the same time. The small buds I painted using the watercolor pencils and a small watercolor brush. The waterbrush gets frustrating, it's a bit large and the water amount is hard to control.

The next 'cute' picture is Ginger fetching a stick, she was bored while I was setting up my supplies for a picture so I had her play fetch.

The next picture is of my field bag with the contents laid out. I numbered them so I could describe what they are. 1)watercup attached to strap 2)sandpaper block 3)watercolor pencils 4)sketchbook 5)watercolor field set 6)natural sponge 7)paper towels 8)square magnifier 9)eraser 10) slide holder for composition 11)retractable knife 12)watercolor brushes 13)tiny tripod 14)pepper spray 15) various pencils, pens, waterbrush 16)palette watercup 17)biscuit treats for Ginger 19)garbage bag to sit on.
Then there's a picture of the ice and bubbles, I had to stand in water to take it and YES, my boots leaked! Even with the plastic bags my sock got very wet and squishy! Oh the adventures of a Naturalist Artist!
Then there's a picture of a fern head ...I love these things. Then a picture of the 'tools of the day', my sketchbook, watercolor pencils, waterbrush, watercolor brush, and permanent ink pen. The last picture is a Turkey Vulture that flew over, I know it was checking us out! It circled, riding the updrafts, and kept coming back over us. I'm really surprised I could catch a picture with my tiny camera.
I hope you enjoyed the walk with Ginger and I, "Come Walk With Me" again soon!

"Saw-whet Owls" 3-24-08

2008-03-24T21:44:00.007-04:00

Well, I finally had time to work on some small sketches in watercolor of Saw-whet owls. I did them in my small 5.5" x 8.5" Raffine sketchbook. I was inspired by the Owl Prowl I went on with the Buffalo Ornithological Society on March 15th. I did get some good photos to work from, but haven't printed them out yet. These were done from very small pictures in field guides and a book I picked up on birds of prey.
I experimented with lifting color that I didn't like...on the first owl (top first page) I had painted his eyes too close together. Now I'm a perfectionist, I thought, "I can leave it and just start another and call it practice"...but NO...so I wet the eyes, rubbed with my round brush, and pressed a clean paper towel on it, I repeated this over and over until I lifted a lot more than I thought I'd be able to! Then I let it dry and repainted it.
The little one under it I first drew with permanent ink first then colored it with watercolors. The page looked a little boring so I loosely painted green around the edges.
Page two, the owl on top came out nicely. I say that because as I started it, I didn't like it very much. If I wanted to take more time and make it more detailed, I would add white to the face feathers with a guache or used liquid frisket to block it (retain white).
The little owl at the bottom is actually very tiny, it's straight watercolor with no preliminary pencil drawing just like the others. It was so small I had trouble doing his pupils, they should be a tiny bit smaller so his eyes look wide open.
I really liked doing these little owl sketches! I love it's coloring and it's wide bright orange eyes!
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"Owl Prowl" 3-15-08

2008-03-21T22:55:00.020-04:00

On Saturday, March 15th, I went on an "Owl Prowl" with the Buffalo Ornithological Society. We started at the Niagara Airforce base..looking across the field (through chain link fence) trying to spot a snowy owl. All we saw was a coyote..looking for some lunch! Then we drove all over Niagara county, pulling over sometimes to look at Snow Buntings or Horned Larks. The stops were so quick that you'd no sooner pop out of the car, and they were ready to drive on again! I didn't even get to see the Horned Larks to add them to my list.
We tried to spot a Great Horned Owl on the nest, but I think with so many people walking into the woods to see it, it got spooked. A few crows were chasing it around in the near by field. We left right away so it could return to it's nest. The photo of shadows on the snow is from the woods where the nest was. I just loved the dried golden leaves with the cold shadows on the snow.
The big disappointment of the day for me was that I had no time to what-so-ever to stop and do sketches! We were constantly on the run. I seriously hope to do some small watercolor sketches from the photos of the Saw Whet Owl.
The next stop was to see a Short Earred Owl that was known to roost in a pine tree next to a house. (see the picture of the owl with the dead branch in front of it) It was quite difficult to see without the experienced members pointing it out. When he did fly off, I was amazed at how large his wings were!
The next photos are of the Saw Whet Owl...oh that was exciting! We went to see it roosting in a pine tree at the Wildlife Preserve in Gasport. I read in the field guide that these owls will roost in the day and be very docile, it's true. I was amazed at how it didn't budge with all these people photographing it, talking quietly, creeping around. The darker picture of it I took while laying on my back in the snow! Well, sometimes to get a good shot, you have to be creative! Lucky I had my snow leggins on that day. What I find interesting, is if you look at the owls markings, his head blends in with the pine needles. His breast is heavily streaked and you'd think this would make him stand out, but no, it 'broke up' his profile, made him sort of disappear. It was really amazing how hard it was to see him at first. I was about 15' away and had to look very hard, I looked for his shape to stand out from the tree branches around him. Once you had him spotted, if you moved to get another view, even just two feet, you'd lose him again. Everyone struggled with this and I thought it was pretty interesting, as we are all experienced birders! By the way, this is a tiny owl, measures 7" and that is from head to tail tip! He's a very cute little thing! I will definitely be doing some kind of painting of him.
The last little picture is on our way home, taken at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. As we came out of the woods where we viewed the owl, the sound of the Canada Geese was deafening! Wow! We had to pull over and just experience it firsthand, you can see in the picture they were swarming...the sky was alive with them. The picture reminds me of a Vincent Van Gogh painting, I can almost see the curls in the sky of where the geese are flying together...it looks like they're moving when you stare at it. Maybe I'll do a painting of that too. I hope you liked the photos, sorry there's no sketches, I'll have to work on some soon. There is a small video clip of the group also...
Don't forget I have nature sketching classes starting in May, email me for more info. I'll be teaching at the Burchfield Nature Center, Reinstein Woods, and at three nature centers in Clarence. mary@marymcandrew.com

"Snowshoeing on My Land" 3-6-08

2008-03-10T01:22:00.002-04:00

Today I felt like I just had to get out of the house! There was a bit of snow on the ground so before winter weather leaves us completley I decided to go snowshoeing with my dog Ginger. I decided to leave all the colors behind (watercolors, color pencils etc.) and just bring some non permanent ink, micron permanent pens and my waterbrush. I really like sketching with a NON permanent pen because you can create some nice effects with a little water and a brush after. You can rework or redraw on top of it after to add details or more value. The ink I'm using is called Brilliant Brown by Pellican. I put it into an expensive little Rapidograph pen, it has a very fine tip for details. The ink is nice though it gets a bit 'pinkish' when you wet it, but I still like it.

Page one of my sketchbook I talk about wearing my dad's old hunting coat, oh I love that coat but mostly because it makes me think of him! When we were kids he'd dress up in the red plaid overalls and coat and chuckle like Santa! We'd all laugh!

The sketch shows a little deer path across my field that the foxes have been using. Then I used 'comparative measurements' to draw an exact size of the track. This is something I teach in my Nature Sketching classes. The branches were rubbing in the wind and they sounded like frogs calling!
The picture of me I took myself! I experiment all the time with my camera, this time using my trusty Olympus FE230. I hung it in a tree, on a branch, by it's little strap. I turned it on, and checked to see if it was pointed in the right general direction and then set the auto timer. Once you set it RUN!! and get in the picture. Then you can check to see if it came out. I was lucky and this one came out first try! haha...

Page two of my sketchbook (click to enlarge) shows a drawing of Ginger's footprint. I did this to compare to the other print I drew, and to show that a dog will have claw marks. The other print I couldn't see any. The other drawings on the page were done with a Graphitint water soluble pencil (cocoa). I like the color of this a lot! The clouds were high and puffy, I tried to draw them, but it was hard! Then I sketched a flock of geese going over, at first they sounded like yipping coyotes in the distance.

Page three I switched back to my rapidograph pen and non perm. ink. I found a tiny nest and on the page I indicated it's actual size by measuring with my pen. Then using my sketchbook, starting at the ground and going up I counted how many sketchbooks tall it was. Knowing the size of my sketchbook I was able to very closely estimate how far off the ground it is. 21". This is using comparative measurements in another way. The oak leaves are still hanging on, still pretty in their dry form.

The two photos (click to enlarge) are from my return walk home. The one shows a view of what it looks like when you hug a tree and look up! It's pretty cool!! TRY IT! The other is a view of Long Lane on my way back home. Ginger is actually up ahead in the bushes on the left, can you spot her? I have a video clip that I'm goint to attach, lets hope it works!
I really enjoyed sharing this walk with you, please leave me your comments and questions.
I have classes starting in May for Nature Sketching, please email me for more information mary@marymcandrew.com

"Clarence Nature Center and Escarpment" 3-3-08

2008-03-08T23:42:00.015-05:00

Today after my trip to the pet shop...it was so gorgeous I had to swing by the Clarence Nature Center and then the Clarence Escarpment. The temperatures climbed to an unseasonable 63degrees or more. I had a hard time finding much to draw at the Nature Center, I think I was distracted by the awful noise from all the construction trucks! It was deafening especially because I was still nursing a headache...it didn't improve believe me.
I found some interesting tracks to draw and some beautiful hawthorne branches. I walked around the path and spooked two white tailed deer.

Next stop was the Clarence Escarpment, now there's a little jewel! The Escarpment is on Greiner Rd in Clarence just East of Goodrich Rd. You pull into a little paved area and just walk down the slope. There's water held at the bottom of the escarpment (cliffs) where you'll find waterfowl in breeding season and other assorted critters.

I found a wooden railing to sit on and sketched using my micron pen. I pulled out my field watercolor set and did a tiny sketch of the shadows in the woods. It's a relatively peaceful place here, you can hear the traffic a bit but you can also lose yourself just looking, drawing, listening, smelling and hearing. I say hearing because as I stood very, very still drawing the burrs...I heard a splash right near me and I saw a muscrat running along in the tiny stream! I let out a big "OH!" in surprise and it scared him, he dove under the water and disappeared!

Some local kids have found a good use for the ice as long as we have it, can you see the hockey net on the ice? It's not a deep area so at least it's safe for play. I can never resist the heads of the ferns, fascinating.

As I painted with my field watercolors, I dropped the lid to my jar off the wood deck I was sitting on. Thank goodness the water was frozen, as I reached down to retrieve it, I got caught up in finding the most interesting forms in the ice! There is frozen life under that thin shelf of winter.

"Pet Shop Visit" March 3, 2008

2008-03-08T23:23:00.005-05:00

Today I found myself at the mall, not usually where I find myself but I needed a haircut. So I decied to visit the pet shop because the last time I was there one of the employees had a gorgeous green boa snake wrapped around himself. I would love to paint it, but I learned he's no longer there, along with the snake! I'll have to go searching it seems for snakes. I remember when I was a zookeeper sometimes I'd get to walk around with a huge but tame boa constrictor wrapped around my waist. This was so people could touch it and I would talk to them about the boa. It was really cool.
So while I was there I pulled out my sketchpad and did some small drawings. Even with a nagging headache it gave me the idea that this would be fun on a day when I'm more in the mood! I thought it would be good to share with you all, it's a great place to see lots of animals up close for free. The goldfish were a kick, their eyes are soooo weird, like blobs or half deflated balloons. The frog I drew at life size, it was so tiny! I did the sketches in pencil then at home I used a simple writing pen that when it is wet, will run. So I was able to make it like a wash.

"10 degrees Means Quick Sketches!"

2008-02-28T12:42:00.007-05:00

Well, as you gather from my title, it is cold outside today! The past two days it's been in the 'teens'...today only 10 degrees F. But it's been awhile since I did some outdoor observations so I threw my little 5 1/2"x 81/2" sketchbook into a gallon ziplock bag and three micron pens. NO playing with color today, I knew it'd be too cold to get into that, especially with wearing big gloves and my water freezing!
I mostly drew with a .02 micron pen, wearing huge mittens! I forgot my flipback pair that my English friend encouraged me to wear, so I was stuck with the big, cumbersome old leather pair of mittens that I wear when I do barn chores in the winter. I should post a picture of them so you could have a laugh...they have duct tape around parts because of wear! haha...
So, about my drawings, the first was a small clump of weeds by the barn with snow on top of them. It was really beautiful, even the colors were nice. Then I walked over to the garden where my flowers are all standing dead but looking interesting with their bareness of form. I especially liked the Black-Eyed Susan's because they were almost like abstract black dots against all the white.
Then I used my micron brush pen, which I think is a bit dried out, but that can be a good thing. I sketched the Blue Spruce and some trees next to it very quickly. I was running out of space here. So then I flipped the page and did a very quick rendition of a group of trees that I like to draw in the summer. I used the brush pen again for that.
Oh a side note here, I'm always trying out new things..today it was an old thing. I had a pair of battery operated heated socks that I pulled out of the closet. The kind that you put a huge D cell battery in the top side of the sock, I wore them today but I think they don't work! Well they're old, I have a new pair still in the wrapper, I plugged them in when I got back inside and they seemed to work, so next time I'll have to try them out. They're not the most comfortable as the battery jams against your leg if you're wearing tall boots like I do. I'll have to test them again to see how they work.

"Cooper's Hawk" 2-21-08

2008-02-21T22:26:00.028-05:00

I was inspired on Tuesday (19th) to paint a Cooper's Hawk when I saw one (or a Sharp Shinned Hawk) swoop over my bird feeder. I talked about it in my post on the 19th. So I did this small study from a field guide in my 5"x81/2 " sketchbook. First I did a "Gesture Sketch" then added some details when I felt the drawing was correct.
I started first with black watercolor in various values to 'draw' more details in, feather markings, wing values and shape. Then I dabbled on with my fine pointed round brush, a light value of breast color. While it was wet I sprinkled on salt to see if it would help break it up, in a random way, I love the way salt does this. I also put in an orange red for the iris of his eye.

In the third picture I have laid on more breast value, defining more of the 3d shape of the hawk's breast and body. I put a pale wash of purply pink under his tail and touched it to his wing feathers and by his eye. I put a tiny bit of blue on the beak and behind the eye to shape his head more. I also colored the branch, legs and put some browns up onto wing feathers.

The fourth picture I added some more colors here and there on the hawk, more color on the grey wing feathers and around eye. If you notice the longest tail feather in the last picture I rubbed out in this one. If you need to change something, wet it and repeatedly brush it and dab with a papertowel. I wanted to shorted in because it was making the whole tail look too rounded. I used my favorite little Chinese brush to make the pine needles in the background. I have a picture below about this.
The final picture of my painting shows another little Cooper's Hawk study, this one done with Inktense watercolor pencils, Prismacolor watercolor pencils and one Graphitint water soluble pencil. You can see the difference between the transparent watercolor painting and the wc pencil painting. I like the grainy look of the wc pencils, it has a softness to it. On my sketchbook I've listed the actual colors for those who like to know! You can click any picture to see it larger.

This photo shows how I used a plastic bag to block the birds breast so I could brush right from his breast out, without getting him green! It's a little trick you can do to protect your areas you've painted. I would be holding it down with my fingers normally, but I had to hold the camera! (I need a camera man!) Then I show how I use my little Chinese brush by splaying it out, to make pine needles, it works great! The next photo shows me putting the needles on with the brush tips.
Now here's a little tip that I just put to good use, you can see in the last photo I have two pencils in my hand. You can brush the tips of your wc pencils to get a limited amount of color for light washes. But this time I held two, an Antique White and Tangerine. I brushed the Tangerine then the White to make an opaque wash of orange. I used this very nicely on his eye as it had gotten a bit dark. Then I used the white alone to dab repeatedly to make a highlight on his eye. Besides the Chinese brush, I used the one small brush to do all of the painting on both, a round, cheapo brush from Walmart!
I hope you enjoyed my painting today as much as I enjoyed doing it! Please leave me your comments if you like and you can sign up to receive email announcements when I do a new post!

"Lunar Eclipse" 2-20-08

2008-02-21T20:02:00.011-05:00

Last night I went out at 10pm to catch the Lunar Eclipse. I bundled up as warm as I could, I brought my Canon 20D on a tripod, my tiny Olympus FE230 in my pocket and so I could see what I was doing with settings on my camera, I little reading light that I clipped to my coat near my neck. Um...yeah, I looked like a total photo geek~haha.
The sky had clouds coming and going, passing over the moon then totally clear for long ranges of time. I just couldn't get over the beauty, solitude and peace the stars, moon, clouds and trees gave. I stood 'night' dreaming about how it would be to watch these same stars in Ireland or England; are my friends there looking at them too? Then I wondered if I could go there and longed to be there...as these feelings were on me, I saw a huge shooting star, right where I was looking to the North!! It went right into the cup of the Big Dipper, no kidding! I was so excited. This was between taking pictures of the moon and trees, I couldn't believe how bright and starry it was. Then as the excitement ebbed, I felt another emotion of loneliness. Sometimes when I look at a vast night sky with gorgeous stars, such a special moon and clouds, I have a feeling of infinite aloneness. These same stars have had countless people not unlike myself, over thousands of years, gazing up in wonder, perhaps feeling lonely too. My warrior "Orian" stands above my house waiting to follow me on my journeys.
Today I talked to my very talented photographer friend Gene Witkowski, who is also an avid Astronomy buff. I told Gene that the moon looked like it was part of a big S, he told me it is in the lower part of Leo. Leo being the 'backwards question mark'. In my first large picture you can see a star directly over the moon, that's 'Regularus' (in Leo) and the bright star to the lower left is not a star at all but Saturn! Saturn moves so slow that it takes 2 years to go around the sun, so it will be a part of a constellation for awhile.
Gene told me an interesting story about Christopher Columbus and a Lunar Eclipse. I guess when Columbus and his crew landed here in the Americas, they started to run out of food. This was a serious problem obviously, they were in dire straights. He had seen in his star charts that there would be a Lunar Eclipse. So he told the local Indians that he would make the moon disappear if they didn't feed him and his men. They didn't believe him until the moon disappeared!! So they gave them food and it is what saved their lives.

Moral of the story I guess is be learned, be aware of the changes of nature around you, it could save your life! Hmmm...I wish more people would pay attention to nature and what's going on with it.

"Field From My Window and Hawk" 2-19-08

2008-02-21T19:49:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd do a little color practice using my watercolors, to sketch the field in Winter. I just love the brown, soft tans and red of the bark on the bushes in the far field. My studio is on the second floor so I have a good view.
As I was sipping my coffee and playing around with the field sketch, a hawk swooped down right in front of me over Ginger's head and across the yard. It was going for the birdfeeder I'm sure, looking for a light lunch of juncoe or sparrow! It landed up in a tree on the side yard and I had to look quickly with my binoculars, hard to see much as it was turned away and not close.
It is hard for me still to tell the difference between a "Sharp Shinned Hawk" and a "Cooper's Hawk", and being a stickler for correct identification, I can't say which it was.
I feel it is a Cooper's hawk, but need to see more to learn about their size and see the tail better.
If you look at my blog coming up...I did a nice little painting of a "Cooper's Hawk", inspired by today's sighting.

"Backyard Sketching" 2-16-08

2008-02-17T10:26:00.006-05:00

Today I decided to sketch some tracks before we have another snow or melt. I'd prefer a melt...but I don't have any control over that! So I bundled up and after feeding the chickens, started drawing. My dog Ginger is a maniac, as I said in my sketchbook, but really smart. When she sees that I'm wearing my field bag, she goes nuts, she thinks we're going for a hike! She spun around in circles, rolled in the snow, ate some snow!...Poor thing had to be content with my company in the yard, which was probably boring to her because when I draw, I stand still. Not much fun for a hyper dog. (She's an Australian Shepherd btw)

I sketched with a permanent ink marker, (Faber Castell) so you have to be careful as it's not erasable. I drew the tracks of a little bird from under the bird feeder and what was interesting were marks left from it's wings when it took off. The snow was soft so there wasn't any detail of toes, but out front on the walkway there were great tracks. Now that I'm sketching all the time, I'm in the habit of looking around me all the time! Then before Ginger jumped all over them, I drew the bunny tracks that crossed the yard. It was really cool to imagine how I think the rabbit must have been hopping, sometimes fast and long hops? , sometimes short and looking around? This is a great time of year to study tracks, every season has it's good points, so even though it's cold, get out and find some tracks to draw!
I brought my Derwendt Inktense color pencils with me. I tried to put just a hint of shadow in the tracks to show the depression better, but it's really hard to control the value. You have to use a really light touch, not too much pencil because when you wet it, it gets very strong. Then I did the small landscape view of my field. Instead of my waterbrush, I used a regular watercolor brush and a small jar of water that's attached to my field bag strap. Besides the cold of my fingers, it went ok. I added two photos, one is the field I painted, the other is looking south with the sun behind a cloud. The sky was the most intense blue, like my painting, the photo didn't capture the intensity. Hope you enjoyed looking my day in the backyard.

"Sunrise Photo" 2-16-08

2008-02-17T10:13:00.004-05:00

I had to add this picture just because it's so beautiful. I just love watching the sun rise...the time between it's first color hitting the clouds, then a straight column of light shoots straight up from the horizon, as if to say, "Here I come, watch me!" The column lingers quite awhile as the sun gets ready to peek over the horizon. Then you see the glare of the sun, but it's not quite the real thing yet! You can see in the photo, the top of the actual sun is the rounded bit below in the trees. I smiled when I took it, thinking how it looked like the sun had a bald head and was going to look over the trees any minute at us. Sorry, always thinking of something silly, must be the little kid in me!