Groundnut

Dried Groundnut pods have the curious habit of twisting up like corkscrews when the pods split open. How do I know this? While settling in to wrap up last night's sketch I accidentally leaned on the pod. That did it! Seeds went flying. The pod ended up in two twisted up halves. So, what I present below is remembrance and imagination. :-)

A New Development

Today I enrolled in a botanical art drawing course! I am very excited!

Upon asking my instructor, Marcia, what she thought about blogging my course experience, her reply was, "That sounds like fun! What a great idea!" I'll take that as a "yes". ;-)

The course starts in two weeks, but the first week is general orientation with interfaces and a test upload. I just got logged in today; I'll have more to say in the near future.

I started a groundnut pod drawing last evening. It was very lightly sketched in with a 4H so Photoshop did the value enhancement here. I'm thinking that just a few lines with varied weighting can hold a lot of information.

Goldenrod Gall

My first try with this gall a couple of nights ago proved a struggle so I opted to simply spend time on shapes and shadows within the specimen. I think the strategy of study and easy exploration paid off. Last night after some trouble placing in the overall shape I used dividers to measure out key points. After that, things began clicking.

I used the 600 sandpaper for pleasing points, mostly with HB, some 2H. There is very little 2B in this drawing. It took less than two hours for this little piece.

A Gold Pencil

I recently came upon a 14 karat gold mechanical pencil and thought I'd share it with you. It's the first time I see anything like this but have since found a few similar pencils for sale on ebay. Some info refers to this as a pendant. Cool, eh?

Here's a closed up view.

Now tugged open a bit.

And here fully extended.

The tip twists to extend and retract the 2mm graphite.

Fully twisted out reveals an inner collet for mounting the graphite.

Here's the manufacturer's mark.

Making a Point

Between being a bit under the weather and struggling with a gall specimen, I didn't get in much drawing of substance. But I did recognize that I'd need a really tight point for some sharp-edged shadows. This evening I picked up a hundred pack of razors and some 600 grit sandpaper. I wasn't sure about the grit grade--I want to make a fine point without loading the paper. The 600 makes an awesome point and I'm not sure yet how quickly this paper will fill in. Sometime I may try out 400 and 320 grit but for now I couldn't be more content with my new sharpening aid.

After a few days with the Canson and Strathmore papers, I really enjoyed going back to the Stonehenge. I'm using only pads so far but I think I want to try out some sheets of Stonehenge--it comes in some nice-looking colors.

A new entry for the art library arrived today: Leonardo Da Vinci: 1452-1519: The Complete Paintings and Drawings. I'll be up late tonight! :-)

Rhododendron - All Done

Well, that's a wrap. A bit of cleanup and a few buds seemed to do the trick.

Hmm...what's next?

Rhododendron - Closing In

Getting close... Maybe one more night...

Rhododendron 2

After posting last night, I spent hours absorbed in this drawing.

Here's how I set up this drawing.

I've Got An Idea

I've been poking through my bags of twigs and leaves with nothing jumping out at me. Tonight I shoveled out a path to the crab apple tree for a branch. Still nothing. I've had a rhododendron branch tip in water for a while... I cut out a round hole in a sheet of heavy paper... I think I have the makings of a fun drawing...

And a couple of hours later, I have an initial sketch using my very first real setup--lighting, branch, and mask all set in place! :-)

Snowy Weekend

Beech Leaf

I did well this time not to indent the paper, and that sure made adjustments a whole lot cleaner. Now I must remember to leave plenty of room around my drawing. It wasn't until I was nearly finished that I realized that the leaf tip was just a half inch from the perforations.

This piece is on Canson Classic Cream 90 lb with perhaps a bit more tooth than I'd like for smoothness and detail. Of course, this is merely an initial impression and could easily change.

I tried to be more "light source and shadow" aware with this piece. I was also trying for roundness between the leaf veins, something I may have missed a bit by not placing the highlights above center.

I like leaf studies. I often read that a set of objects--blocks, cones, cylinders, and balls--are useful for learning dimensional drawing and shading. I'm thinking that I can achieve the same effect with dried and curled leaves. Besides, aren't leaves just a wee bit more interesting than a bunch of styrofoam or wood cutouts? :-)

Hmm...maybe basic shape studies would be useful. I'm thinking that they are the building blocks of more complex shapes. Maybe I should be mixing it up?

Gathering and Planning

It's a quiet and relaxing day. Yesterday left a couple on inches of snow with more promised for tonight and into the next couple of days.

I got out today for a walk up the road, taking along the camera and specimen nippers. I grabbed a few shots and collected some interesting little things for drawing. I plan to spend some time over the next few days sketching out some of fall's leftovers for upcoming drawings.

Here's a bit of white pine, goldenrod, and winterberry--subtle organic colors in the midst of winter.