Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Assateague Ialand and Chincoteague NWR, 8-10 June 2009


Earlier this month my bride and I visited the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It was a beautiful two days. In the evneing we sat at a picnic table and I drew the gulls. During the summer the Ring-billed and Herring Gulls are few. The Laughing Gulls are definitely abundant. They will pose indefintely. Particularly if you throw out some crushed Low-Calorie Wheat Thins.

One creature all love to see are the Ponies of Chincoteague. We had seen some at a distance. Brenda got out of the car to get her binoculars from the trunk and was swarmed by mosquitos. That was the last time we got out of the car on the refuge. They were even swarming the cars as they stopped.

We were fortunate to see a mother and foal standing in a parking lot. I drew rapidly and painted the image later as we sat on the beach. It was a rare treat. I had seen the ponies close up once before many years ago during the fall. You never know if you will see them when you visit.

These were drawn with fountain pen, ink, watercolor, waterbrush in a large Moleskine.

6 comments:

  1. Great to see these sketches and hear about your visit. My favourite book as a youngster was Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague. When I got to visit Assateague/Chincoteague myself once, unfortunately I didn't see any ponies. It was still quite an experience. I really love your gull sketches.

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  2. Fred, these are wonderful! your birds are always awesome. Sounds like a marvelous trip!

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  3. Thank you, Fred, for posting this! I loved the children's book and would LOVE to see this area. Our son's ship is stationed in nearby Norfolk -- my main reason to visit the area but we can't afford it (besides the ship going through sea trials and not likely to be in port).

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  4. Wonderful, Fred--I've always wanted to go to Chincoteague (though I never thought about the mosquitoes!) Actually, I wanted to go in the winter, so no problem...

    And your sketches make me feel as if I've been there...sans mosquitoes, too!

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  5. Wonderful sketches Fred :) One of these days we'll cross the state and visit the ponies- I know my daughter would love them :)

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  6. Lovely gulls - but I especially like the ponies as I also grew up reading Margeurite Henry's books.

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