Another Field Sketch Transformation

 

The Ledge at Calmes Neck. colored pencil, 14"h x 10"w.

Having obtained permission from one of the homeowners who lives there, I went back to Calmes Neck the week following the Virginia Native Plant Society's excursion to do another field sketch. I wanted to capture the red Columbines growing on the rocky ledges, with the idea of doing another piece on the unique plants that are found there.

I arrived mid-morning and was given a wonderful tour of their art collection by the owners of the gorgeous custom log cabin home. After that, I walked down the hill with my gear to find the best spot for my field sketch--there wasn't any level ground, so the best I could do was to balance my portable chair between the ledge and the steep drop-off, using my feet--a rather uncomfortable position, but the best I could do.

 

My gear on the ledge.

As I began to draw I saw that the ferns and rue anemones growing nearby might make a nice frame for the red Columbines, so I included a few of those as well as some of the moss-covered rocks, to give the impression one was really sitting right there. I had to keep getting up to look closely at the Columbines, in order to properly draw their complex petals and spurs, alternating looking with sitting and drawing. It takes a lot of energy to do this--at one point my sketchbook slipped out of my lap and almost ended up going over the cliff!

 

Field sketch in watercolor, 8"w x 10"h.

 

Once I had the pencil sketch and had started putting some color down, I took my lunch break--it was around one o'clock. While eating my sandwich, I could get a closer look at the flowers of the tall Pawpaw trees growing under the cliff. A light breeze from the river below cooled the otherwise hot afternoon--too hot for April! And too dry--after I was finished and was picking up my gear a couple of clumps of dry moss peeled right off the rocks! I guess the moss will grow back eventually once the drought breaks. Despite the discomfort of my position, it was a rich and useful field trip for me.

 

Pencil sketch of the ledge - Stage 1

I generally wait a while before I decide how I'm going to develop a sketch into a finished painting; it's always good to think about it as much as possible before one commits. Pencil sketches are the best way to practice and test out ideas for a composition. I decided to include the ferns and rue anemones and add a tiny purple cliff brake on one ledge--this fern was actually farther away on another rock ledge. I decided to go with the sketch above.

 

Pen and Ink sketch on tracing paper - Stage 2

The next step was to trace my drawing with an ink pen, and transfer it to the paper for the final project. I decided that colored pencils would be the most appropriate medium for the amount of detail I wanted on this piece, and to try rendering it on a sheet of  Bristol 300 vellum finish. 

Before doing the tracing, it occurred to me that this would be a good chance to include a pollinator, and that a ruby-throated hummingbird would complement these colors well. My first sightings of  hummingbirds in my garden had taken place just a few days before, and all of these were males. I understand that hummingbirds migrate solo, and that the males precede the females by two or three weeks, to allow the vegetation they feed on to recover, as they follow the same migration paths every year

 

Pen and Ink sketch on tracing paper - Stage 3

I cut another piece of tracing paper to attach to the first, and added a hummingbird sipping nectar from a Columbine flower. At this point I noticed that the purple cliff brake was too large in relation to the other plants, so I reduced it a bit by using my copier to scale it down to about 85% of the original drawing.

 

Colored pencil drawing - Stage 4

 

Working on Bristol 300 vellum finish is a bit different from the Fabriano Artistico HP paper that I prefer--the surface is much smoother, and one has to build up the layers of color gradually. It took a while to get the drawing to this stage (above) where I could begin to develop the darker tones. But this was only half of the area to be covered.

 

Colored pencil drawing - Stage 5

 

Unfortunately, I didn't take any other photos of the intermediate stages beyond Stage 5 above. By now all the various plants and their colors were clearly articulated, and it was just a matter of deepening the tones.

A Walk in My Woods

I really miss the Virginia native Plant Society (VNPS) hikes this spring, so on 4/29 I decided to do a spring walk in the woods in back of my house, to see how many plants I could identify on my own. I usually don't go in there after the trees leaf out because I fear the poison ivy and noxious insects, but at this time of the year it's fairly safe.

There are several dogwoods in bloom that can be seen from my back yard. The big trees are mostly black and northern red oaks in their dotage, with some hickories (Bitternut and Pignut). The fact that there is a quite a diversity of plant species leads me to believe that my patch of woods is a small strip of native vegetation that was left undisturbed when the neighborhood was built, probably because the slope down to the drainage ditch is so steep.

Over the years I've managed to identify some of the understory trees. The distinctive flowers of the Witch Hazel trees (Hamamelis virginiana) are visible in the fall and winter months; there is a large patch of them on the east corner of my lot extending into my neighbor's.

Witch hazel

Another understory tree on the opposite (western) side of my lot is the American Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). About three summers ago I noticed a particularly abundant crop of the characteristic hop-like fruit on several trees in back, which allowed me to identify them. My explorations this spring reveal that these are growing all over.

Hop-hornbeam 

Pignut

There are several hickories too--Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) and Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)--the nuts fall into my yard and the squirrels bring them too. There's also the ubiquitous red maples, perhaps silver and other maples I have yet to identify, bird cherries (Prunus avium), a few dogwoods, and possibly a Serviceberry that bloomed sparsely earlier on.

Further down toward the forest floor are a bunch of what I believe are Late Low Blueberries (Vaccinium vacillans)--much browsed by deer--and some shoots of bedstraw.

 Blueberries

Going down the steep slope towards the drainage ditch I found a few Lady ferns, (Athyrium filix-femina) and patches of Winterberry (Gaultheria procumbens) and star chickweed (Stellaria pubera) on the forest floor. There were also goldenrod shoots, blackberries, and the usual annoying honeysuckle vines.

Chickweed with Wintergreen

At first I wasn't sure what the plants below were, but farther down I found one plant with flowers and was able to identify it as Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum). I'd seen two lovely specimens of this plant farther up the slope a couple of days earlier, but when I started to look for those, they'd vanished. Eventually I located two decapitated stems--the deer had eaten them!

Solomon's seal

The day was so warm and lovely that I continued downhill crossing my neighbor's woods towards the creek that flows from a neighboring farm. There is a small clearing here where more sunlight reaches that can host moisture-loving species typical of our area: Golden Alexanders (Zizia aptera), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), and Bluets (Houstonia caerulea).

Golden Alexanders

Spring Beauty

Bluets

Walking along the spongy creek bed I noticed a distant clump of shrubs and small trees with bunches of white flowers. These looked so familiar, I got closer to confirm my suspicions, and they were native Black Haw Viburnums (Viburnum prunifolium), exactly like the two planted in my yard.

Viburnums

Doubling back towards the drainage ditch, I found a plant of Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), a clump of Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum), a Buttercup and more Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum).

Golden Ragwort

May-apples

Rattlesnake Weed

In my own back yard again, I continued through my woods toward the other end of my property, coming across lots of patches of Squawroot (Conopholis americana). This plant lives as a parasite on oak tree roots, and has no leaves.

Squawroot

I also came across a small woody plant with unfurling leaves that I thought might possibly be a native azalea, although the leaves seem a bit large for such. I'll try to keep track of this one as it grows to see if I can identify it.

Unidentified

I continued walking through the woods under the Hop-hornbeams before emerging onto the grassy hillside on my other neighbor's property for the conclusion of a fruitful afternoon exploring my woods.

Calme's Neck

The Shenandoah River at Calme's Neck

A few Saturdays past I joined the Virginia Native Plant Society's Piedmont Chapter on a walk at Calme's Neck. This site is registered by VNPS as a unique area full of native plants, some quite unusual, and is on private land. One of the VNPS members who lives in this development hosted the group.

After driving up and around some steep curves on a gravel road for several miles, I arrived a little later than the announced 10 AM meting time. Our hike leader, Gary Fleming, a gentleman who has been mapping the flora of Virginia for the past 30 years for the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora, was about to conclude his introductory talk. There is probably not a corner of the state that he has not covered at some time or another. There were about 25-30 of us in the group--some of the VNPS chapter members have been visiting this particular site for the past 21 years.

Gary Fleming with VNPS hikers

We started our hike near the top of a hill and walked towards some rocky high bluffs overlooking the Shenandoah river. The just-budding trees were bare enough to allow spectacular views of the farms on the other bank and the distant mountains on the other side of the valley.

The rock ledges sheltered a variety of mosses, early Saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis), and ferns, among them walking fern, which I've only seen once before in Maryland.

Flower Buds of Early Saxifrage

Rock ledge with mosses, walking fern (on upper left ledge) and saxifrage

Rare rose moss (Rhodobryum rosea)

Beyond the bluffs, the hill sloped down and the trail parallelled the river. Virginia Bluebells grew thickly along this floodplain, but with spring so late, their flower buds were still pink and rolled up tight. There were also both Dutchman's Breeches and Squirrel Corn plants here and there, and one of the ladies on the hike (they were all so knowledgeable!) explained the differences between these two very similar plants: the "breeches" of the Squirrel Corn are much tighter, resembling the Bleeding Heart, the leaves are bluer, and true to their name, the Squirrel Corn has a small underground tuber that resembles a grain of corn (we didn't dig one up to verify this).

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Squirrel Corn (Dicentra eximia)

After a while the floodplain narrowed out and we turned inland to walk up a very steep hill that was covered with spring flowers. Twin leaf, a low-growing plant with star-shaped white flowers that I had never noticed before, grew all over the slope. There were also trout lilies, but only one of these in bloom. The more knowledgeable members of the group explained that trout lilies must develop two leaves before they will bloom, and the individual plants found in these woods don't do this very often, although in other regions they do bloom profusely.

Twin Leaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)

At one point on the slope I found something among the carpet of leaves that I though might be a dead bird, but upon closer examination it turned out to be a huge owl pellet, with tiny bones imbedded. It was relatively fresh, indicating a large own had been here recently--a barn owl, or something more picturesque?

Owl pellet

Back at the top of the hill, I eventually saw our parked cars through the tree trunks, so we had hiked around in a big circle. I was among the laggards at the rear, and most of the other folks had already driven down the gravel road to have our brown-bag lunches by the river. Our picnic site was a lovely grassy spot  by the banks of the Shenandoah where the residents of this private enclave had placed a picnic table. It was nice opportunity to get to meet the other members, and quite by coincidence, one of the young ladies in the day's hike turned out to be someone I had been corresponding via Email at the botanist's office in Shenandoah National Park.

Cormorants perch on trees along the Shenandoah River

Our hostess, Blanca, had been born in Argentina, and naturally, we spoke a bit in Spanish.  As we ate our lunch, we were amused by a group of cormorants flying around on the other bank and diving into the river. I didn't know that cormorants strayed this far inland from coastal areas, but was told that they come regularly to the Shenandoah during their molting season.

All the folks I met were very congenial, and I will definitely be joining VNPS for more hikes in the future. It's a great way to get to know the many beautiful natural treasures in this area!

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

The Ridge Trail at Daniels

Patapsco Valley Heights, watercolor, 14" x 10."

Continuing my exploration of the Daniels Area of Patapsco Valley State Park, the other day I found my map of the park and decided to hike a new trail. This trail climbs up behind a hill by the parking area and runs along the top of a rocky ridge on the southern bank of the river. There are several scenic overlooks where one could still catch glimpses of the river and the valley beyond through the emerging leaves. In another week the vegetation would be too lush to see much until the leaves come down.

This particular spot, with a clump of ferns perched on a huge boulder seemed perfect for a painting so I looked no further. I wedged my camping stool on another rock ledge and worked from this precarious vantage point. After the painting was almost complete I ate my lunch, enjoying the play of light and shadow cast by the puffy clouds. I put the finishing touches on the painting and waited for the paper to dry before repacking my gear. A breeze from the west cooled the unseasonably warm afternoon.

The trail continued along the top of the ridge for another half-mile and then descended a bit. A pair of woodpeckers were calling each other through the forest, and I caught a glimpse of one red head and a flash of speckled wings--probably a red-bellied woodpecker. I saw an old abandoned house I had passed by the week before, but the trail didn't lead there--instead, it continued diverging away from the river.

Further down, a side trail ascended again to another scenic overlook. I went up to orient myself and glimpsed the railroad tracks on the north shore--this must be about where I'd been the previous week when I painted along the river. I went down the hill and back onto the main trail which began to wind along a creek lined with skunk cabbage plants. This trail eventually met up with the riverside trail, and I hiked back on that.

Close-up of Wild Columbine

I looked for the spot where the Columbines had been and there were even more blossoms open this week--several clumps spilled farther down the rock and there was one plant right at ground level so I could take this close-up. Such a beautiful flower!

The Dutchman's Breeches seemed to have finished blooming--I couldn't find a single flower--but the fern fronds were starting to unfurl, and I found Maidenhair ferns, Miterwort, and Star Chickweed on the shady hillsides.

Ferns

Miterwort (Mitella diphylla) and Maidenhair fern

As I was nearing the parking lot, a bluejay screeched at me, and there were two bluejay fledgelings flitting near by, recognizable by their tiny crests.

For more photos of the Daniels Area of Patapsco Valley State Park see my Flickr album here.