Tuesday, July 15, 2014

A Series of Goofs

Can you see it? There is a spider in there, sitting on her egg mass that is 'pancaked' to a blueberry leaf.  Spiders have different ways of laying eggs, some in round sacks, some in a flat pancake attached to a surface, and some ????  I ran into this one while picking blueberries at a local farm and knew right away that I wanted to sketch it.

You are going to laugh at me because I'm even posting it.... but anyone who sketches on location can sympathsize at little.  Not all went well!!!  I'm standing in the narrow path between two rows of blueberries; it is hot; I've got my water in one pocket and am trying to hold both the sketchbook and paints.

I'd started painting when I dropped the sketchbook face down .... thus the splotches to the right and a little dirt.

A little later on I dropped a paint brush and bent over to pick it up.  Not a good idea.  The water  in my pocket spilled right onto part of my wet painting, leaving that lovely blur that droops down.  Someday I'll try to do that intentionally on a painting.

The worst goof is I drew the spider's legs coming off its abdomen, not the thorax.  I know better.  Things just weren't going well.  I tried to fix it, but made a bit of a mess.  ... and wasn't about to start over.

At least there are no squished bugs on it.  Once I was painting on location and knew darn well that a bug was walking across my paper.  I was just waiting form the bug to wander off on its own, but a friendly bystander reached over and squashed it!  Big, ugly splat on my paper!

5 comments:

  1. I happen to love the richness of this little study. As for the position of the spider's legs, sometimes they "appear" to come off the abdomen. It sets a mood and for that alone, it's a success. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think your 'goofs' make the sketch, giving it life and vitality, you could never get the same effect if you planned it. Hope you got to eat some of those blueberries too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your sketch has made a real connection with its subject and captured the reality of sketching nature outdoors- and I think the unplanned effects look wonderful. I do sympathise, I know the 'on the spot/nature/balancing' exercise only too well - I just wish my wobbly efforts looked any where near as lovely as this!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Uh, oh, my comment disappeared! So here it is again! Hahaha! I love that story! And your sketch is filled with beautiful happy accidents! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  5. You tell the greatest stories Elva. And have the best time sketching. Murphy's law was running your day and yet you have a wonderful sketch. Love it.

    ReplyDelete

We'd love to hear from you, your questions, comments, observations! Please feel free to comment, feedback is important to us.