Signs of Spring

Crocus buds growing with red thyme.

A few warms rains in mid February brought out the first crocus buds in my front yard. The first crocuses are always a hopeful sign of spring, and over the years mine have been spreading nicely under the cherry tree, in spite of the voles and squirrels that eat the bulbs.

Crocus clumps under the cherry tree.

Species crocuses.

This year a few of the yellow species crocuses actually bloomed--this color seems to be the most frequently eaten by wild creatures, oddly enough.

Below is a drawing of a bunch of radishes in color pencils that I did as a demo for a workshop at the New Day Art Center in Martinsburg, WV a couple of weekends ago. It has nothing to do with spring crocus,  but when I see lovely bunches fresh radishes like these and other produce arriving to our grocery store, it seems like another wonderful sign of spring. At this time of the year when fresh flowers are hard to come by, I rely on my grocery store to find botanical specimens to use in my botanical art classes and workshops.

Bunch of radishes, color pencil drawing, 7"h x 8"w.

Speaking of the New Day Art Center, I'm offering another workshop there on March 28 and 29: "Sharpen Your Drawing Skills." Talking to other artist/instructors I find that drawing is the skill most of our students are weakest in. Drawing directly from life is a challenge, but one of the most useful skills in an artist's toolbox.

Gallery 3, a New Teaching Studio

River Bend, color pencils, 9"h x 12"w.

Last weekend I had the honor to teach the very first class at Gallery 3 in Sperryville, Va, our new local art space--a teaching studio/gallery. At the end of last year, a group of us former instructors at the now-defunct Art in the Valley gallery in Front  Royal got together under the guidance of Sperryville artist Carole Pivarnik, who had a connection to another artist already using the space. Carole has done wonders to set up our teaching studio, creating a website, remodeling, and furnishing the space. I'm so happy to be part of this exciting new venture!

My workshop on Landscapes in Color Pencil was scheduled for the first weekend of the month, which happened to fall on the first two days of February. I had only one student signed up, which isn't really enough to be profitable, but decided to go ahead and hold the workshop anyway, just to try out the new place and get the ball rolling.

My student was a delightful lady of Japanese origin, married to an American, and already had considerable artistic skills, so the unique situation gave me plenty of time to develop my own piece, which I normally use to demonstrate the techniques in the workshop.

I had neglected to check on the paper supply in my portfolio case beforehand, and when I got there, found I only had one quarter sheet of Fabriano Artistico--my preferred medium for color pencils. I gave that to my student, and ended up using a piece of Bristol paper from a pad for my own demo piece.

It was a challenge using this smooth, rather slippery surface, and it took quite a bit of time and effort to build up the colors, but the scene--based on an old photo of the Potomac River taken one spring years before--was so evocative, I was determined to make it work. After the workshop was over, I continued working on it at home, and was surprisingly pleased with it.

I've gone ahead and submitted it to Art at the Mill for this spring's show, we'll see if they accept it. This year, Art at the Mill asked me to do a demo during the first weekend of the show, which I'm looking forward to doing. It's going to be a busy weekend for me, since Gallery 3 is having its official Grand Opening on the same weekend, to coincide with SperryFest 2020. We artist instructors are planning to do demos during our grand opening, there will be live music and lots of fun stuff, including the traditional Sperryville Rubber Duck Race down mighty Thornton Creek.

Please check out my other classes and workshops offered at Gallery 3 Events on the website--I'm offering a variety of botanical and landscape classes in watercolors, color pencils and pastels. Remembering that old TV show from the early 1960's: "Have Gun Will Travel," I'll be doing a "Have brush, will travel" weekend!

Twinleaf

Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla), color pencil, 8"h x 6"w

The Blandy Sketch Group is planning their 2020 Spring Show, and the theme is "Small Works." The size of the pieces allowed is a maximum of 6" x 8."  I usually don't do art works this small, so I've been trying to produce some pieces I can submit for this show.

I chose this native spring ephemeral plant, Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) because it's small enough that I could depict it life-size and still meet the size requirements.  The plant emerges in early spring and its elegant white flowers resemble those of another early spring bloomer, Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). The leaves are distinctive, and both the common name Twinleaf and the Latin word diphylla describe their appearance: two leaflets that unfold from the stem.

I worked from a set of photos taken during my spring hikes in our local forests. Using a white pencil to draw the intricate veins of the leaves first--this acts as a resist that prevents the darker green color from covering the white--made it easier to maintain the vein structure. The complex colors of the leaves were achieved by layering a variety of green shades with the red-purple of the stems and edges of the leaves.

I'm now looking for another suitable small flower or plant for a companion piece--there are so many lovely natives to choose from! The question is, what do I have in the way of photos to work from?

Winter Blossoms

Zelkova tree with snow blossoms.

A few inches of snow fell some days ago--the kind that clings to everything, transforming branches into fantastic sculptures of snow that look like blossoms. I was busy painting in my studio when all of a sudden, near sunset, I noticed the quality of the light change perceptibly--the clouds had lifted to allow a sunbeam to illuminate the scene! Such rare beauty is not an every-day occurrence in our area. I quickly got my camera and coat and ran outside to capture the magic.

My back yard in the snow.

In my haste, I didn't take the time to get a tripod, so the focus is not too great in these shots, but time was of the essence, as the effect lasted only a few minutes before the sun went back behind the clouds. The colors and forms of the snowy branches are so lovely, I decided to post the photos anyway.

The front yard.

The west side yard.

Front yard the next morning

It's interesting to study my garden covered with snow in the midst of winter--it allows me to plan for future landscaping by seeing how the plants give structure to the space: where evergreens could be used to advantage, or where there's a need for a bit of color, or an unusual form. I wish my winter berry hollies (Ilex) would fruit, their red berries would be a welcome color accent, but alas, with such alkaline soil, it's a constant battle to keep these acid-loving hollies happy. Eventually, I hope to create a balance that will satisfy both the plants and the eye.

In Celebration of Trees

Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica purpurea), watercolor and graphite.

Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore is presenting a show, "A Celebration of Trees" that opens on January 24 and will be on display for only two weeks. The theme of the show is--of course--trees, and the idea was for artists to focus on the many unusual species of trees found in the Cylburn Arboretum.

When I lived in Columbia, MD I visited Cylburn a few times, and enjoyed painting in their beautiful gardens. Preparing for this show, I visited the Arboretum once more last spring. This time, my focus was to study their trees and select one or two to illustrate. I chose two European Beech varieties on the grounds: a lovely Copper Beech shading the carriage house behind the historic home, and a huge old Fernleaf Beech shading the lawn approaching the home.

Copper Beech photo

If you look closely at my photo of the Copper Beech above, you can see a couple of the small reddish beech masts (the fruit or seed of the tree) at the ends of the branches reaching towards you. I'd never seen a beech mast close-up, and wanted to include one in my illustration. I was allowed to cut a small branch to take home for my work, so I cut one with a mast. The dark color of the leaves of this tree comes from the fact that the epidermal layer of the leaf is not transparent, and doesn't allow the color of the green chlorophyll underneath to be seen.

The branches of the Copper Beech appear very graceful individually, but overall, the tree's shape is considered somewhat awkward by horticulturists who prefer the more sinuous lines of the American beech.

Fernleaf Beech (Fagus sylvatica var. heterophylla 'Aspleniifolia'), watercolor and graphite.

The Fernleaf Beech (Fagus sylvatica var. heterophylla 'Aspleniifolia') is a rare variety of the European tree with finely divided leaves. This specimen must have been planted sometime in the late 19th Century (construction of the home began in 1863), maybe by owner Jesse Tyson himself. Its enormous, multi-stemmed trunk bears a resemblance to the American Beech's smooth and muscular trunk.

Fernleaf Beech in spring

I sketched this tree on site and again was allowed to cut a small branch to take home. Over the next week I struggled to quickly paint a watercolor study of each branch before the leaves drooped and began to curl. My intention then was to use these two color studies for larger, more complex pieces that showed both details of the leaves and the form of the entire tree. As usual, time got away from me while I was trying to decide on a composition, and I never got around to producing those pieces.

Instead, with the show deadline rapidly approaching, it occurred to me to present my two sketches for each variety of beech in a single frame--it would have a similar effect--and that is what I've done. I'm also including a couple more of my original field sketches in the show--the field sketches have a liveliness that is sometimes lost in the more finished works.

Field sketches of the two Beech trees.

If you have a chance, please visit "A Celebration of Tress" at Cylburn Arboretum.

Blatant

Bearded Iris 'Blatant', watercolor, 20"h x 12.5"w.

I finally got around to painting this bearded iris variety called 'Blatant' that re-bloomed in my garden this fall. Painting from photos is not ideal, but since the cut flowers had faded long ago, it was the only way to do it. I think the painting comes close to, but not quite, the amazingly rich red-purple color of the falls, with that touch of gold-brown at the edges--nature's perfection is so hard to imitate. Still it was a lot of fun to try. I used a dry brush technique for the subtle shadings on the flowers.

I can't wait for spring, when the irises bloom again. I hope to be able to paint more irises direct from life then--so many colors to choose from, such lovely flower forms!

Transformation

Transformation, color pencil, 9"h x 9"w.

With the winter solstice rapidly approaching, I wonder if we'll get a lot of snow this coming winter. Last winter (early this year) we had only a couple of snowfalls. In January we got about 6 inches of very wet snow one Sunday. I stopped to take some photos of it while driving--amazing how just a little bit of snow can turn a familiar landscape into a magical world!

Recently I finished this small colored pencil drawing done from one of those photos. An ordinary roadside clump of trees covered with tangled vines transformed into a lovely sight! I used some silver and gold colored pencils to enhance the monochromatic hues, but my drawing was still lacking something, so I dug up some old Daniel Smith Interference paints, and put a bit of Interference Silver over the snowy branches. These paints have ground pigments in them that refract the light to give them a metallic iridescence when viewed at different angles.

Unfortunately, you can't see the luminescence in this photo of the drawing, since the effect only shows up when viewed at less than 90 degree angles. Still, the iridescence and the composition make this drawing special.

Autumn Still Life

Autumn Still Life, colored pencils, 10"h x 13"w.

This is another demo piece from my colored pencil drawing class that I finished at home. The lighting here is the reverse of the usual, because I was sitting facing most of my students. I generally ask my students to sit at the tables so that the light from our classroom window is on their left. This is an established convention for drawing by right-handed people so that the hand won't cast a shadow on what one is drawing. Doing the opposite makes is difficult to see your work, but it is possible, particularly if there is another source of light such as overhead artificial lighting.

To reproduce the same lighting conditions in my home studio I placed a small LED lamp to the right of the objects, to try to replicate the lighting in the classroom, but of course, an identical recreation was impossible with such different conditions. My home studio has wonderful natural light coming from a double window that faces north, and my drawing table is positioned so that the window is on my left; I had to try to ignore the double shadows and some of the highlights that this unusual set-up produced. I like the way the apple came out (this was drawn first), but I'm not convinced that the highlights in the miniature corn and the pear, which were added later in my studio, match exactly that of the apple. Hopefully, the discrepancy is not too noticeable at a glance.

The back yard in late November

The colors in the still life echo the fall colors in this photo of my back yard taken in the past week--late November. Interesting how the black oaks have retained their foliage so late in the season, but again, these leaves hadn't started to turn until the early part of the month. Less sunlight reaches the back yard at this time of the year, and there are parts that will be shaded by the house until the Spring Equinox rolls around again. I wonder what kind of winter season we'll have.