End of Summer

As summer in Virginia begins to draw to a close, I often cut some flowers and leaves to bring inside to extend the season as much as possible. I'm working through Kate's online watercolor pencil short class and decided to work with them in my sketchbook. It was fun layering the colors to try to match that coleus. The sweet potato vine was too light to show up in the scan so I enhanced it a bit in PhotoShop so you could see it. I also added the text in PS because I hadn't written anything on the actual page. I want to look up the Latin names and make sure I have the right coleus name. I'm realizing the black line on the left is a bit distracting but it's the ribbon in my sketchbook.

Hen-and-Chicks II--Vickie Henderson

Time to finish is not always available on the spot so I'm finishing this sketchbook spread of the pot of hen-and-chicks in small increments.

Above I've added larger versions of the rosettes so I could study how their petals overlap.

Next, I used a scrub brush to lift paint and reclaim some of the rim of the pot. I then added the suggestion of rosettes with negative painting--painting the space around the petals.

Above, you see the sketchbook spread as it looks now.   Not quite finished, but making progress.
To see my previous post on this sketch visit, Hen-and-Chicks, and to see more images of the page in progress, visit:  My Brother's Plant and Brother's Plant Part II.

Pomegranate Tree in December

I saw this tree from afar and was not sure if these were fruits or leaves - but the shape of the trunk was interesting enough to do and investigate. And dark shapes in the branches turned out to be pomegranates! Ripe, torn, blown from inside - and little squirrel jumping form one brunch to another - probably will have a feast :) Happy Holidays!

Hiking Coyote Hills in September 2010

Great hike (though taking a bike for my little companion was probably a mistake).
Lots of treasures!

Aggravated bamboo! - Maree

Soil . . . scoop up a handful of the magic stuff. Look at it closely. What wonders it holds as it lies there in your palm. Tiny sharp grains of sand, little faggots of wood and leaf fiber, infinitely small round pieces of marble, fragments of shell, specks of black carbon, a section of vertebrae from some minute creature. And mingling with it all the dust of countless generations of plants and flowers, trees, animals and – yes – our own, age-long forgotten forebears, gardeners of long ago. Can this incredible composition be the common soil?
- Stuart Maddox Masters, The Seasons Through



A bit of Bamboo growing in the one corner of my pond area - I DID make a concerted effort to remove it all, after it almost cracked my pond in half, but here it is, back again after our Spring rains! When removing this, as you dig, you see runners going in all directions under-ground, and it's not good enough to just chop them off and remove the main plant, because shortly there are sprouts everywhere! It's as if the digging and chopping actually aggravates and activates them!

Bermuda Sorrel?

One of the magics of sketching for me is discovering something that existed all the time without me noticing it - something mundane and beautiful. As I just found out these flowers are natives here and they bloom every spring for three or four month all over the cities around me. Some people welcome them in the garden in spring and some people try to get rid of them. It took me many years to notice them for the first time :)

I hope I identified them correctly ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis_pes-caprae

Borage experience

I cam all prepared - with a field guide for California Flowers and such. Took time to draw this first, making notes. Then started searching, searching, searching... asked a guide - got a name - Borage. Did not find it in my book and only now know that this beauty is not Californian AT ALL!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borage

Sweet Gum - Laura Gillis

Hello all! It has been a while since I have posted anything here but I finally got something done that qualifies to be here! My latest project has been to do a daily sketch of my dogs or cat and post on my blog (yellowcatart.blogspot.com) but I gave them a break last night and sketched this leaf instead. I want to do this in color soon too.... it has the most beautiful green and maroon colors.... I just love fall. There are some years we go straight from summer to winter with only a few fall days in between but this year we have been lucky to have a longer fall and the leaves have been so pretty.

Pencil in generic sketchbook.

English Ivy - Maree Clarkson

Oh, a dainty plant is the ivy green,

That creepeth o'er ruins old!

Of right choice food are his meals I ween,

In his cell so lone and cold. . . . .

Creeping where no life is seen,

A rare old plant is the ivy green.

- Charles Dickens

I did this sketch of one of the pot plants scattered around the house, patio and garden 10 years ago. They're such easy subject matters and can provide detailed studies of light and shadow. Using a lamp, you can even move your light around, observing the different effects of the shadows.

It is said that Ivy is the goddess who carries life through the winter. Holly was her god. Ivy was in high esteem among the ancients and its leaves formed the poet's crown. It was dedicated to the Roman god Bacchus, the God of Intoxication who is often depicted wearing a wreath of ivy and grapevines. He is also depicted holding a chalice and carrying a wand which was entwined with ivy and vine leaves. Wearing a wreath of ivy leaves around the brow is supposed to prevent intoxication.

Ivy has been regarded as the emblem of fidelity and Greek priests would present a wreath of ivy to newly married persons. Women carried ivy to aid fertility and bring good luck. They also carried it to ensure fidelity and from this came the custom of brides carrying ivy.

The custom of decorating houses and churches with ivy at Christmas is sometimes seen as the Christian Church adopting pagan associations. Something I didn't know, after always having Ivy in my garden for years, is that it is actually poisonous. It contains didehydrofalcarinol, falcarinol and hederasaponins and it has caused poisoning in cattle, dogs, sheep, and humans. Symptoms of ingestion are difficulty in breathing, convulsions, vomiting, paralysis and coma.

Maiden

A beauty in my own front yard! blogged at Sandy's MyFiddlestix.blogspot.com

No Clue - Sandra Rice

Found during my walk along the sea shore, and in town too - Gorgeous plant that gets huge - Wonder what it is - Any Ideas?? Sandy from Myfiddlestix

The Party Girls - Jeanette Sclar

Physalis longifolia or long-leaf ground cherry tries hard to live up to the partying standards set by some of her cousins. There's the Chinese Lantern (P. Alkefengi) I'm sure you've seen it, bright orange dangling lamps looking truly party-worthy. And you might have eaten a cape gooseberry (P. Peruviana) in a fancy restaurant. They have a nice tangy pineapplish flavor and can be eaten raw. But don't try that with Longifolia - she must be cooked before eating! And I know you've partied with tomatillo (P. Philadelphica) salsa and margharitas.
But poor Longifolia, try as she does, just doesn't make the A list when it comes to parties. In fact she's gotten herself on the Global Compendium of Weeds! And is considered "noxious" by many, so don't invite her to the party. You might find your guest has become a permanent member of the household.

Seeds and Pods--Desiree Habicht

I have been collecting pods and seeds from trees as I do my daily walks. I love the shapes and colors. The way nature has wonderfully constructed each pod uniquely for its purpose. The first is a Eucalyptus seed pod, E. ficifolia (done in colored pencil), which produces wonderful, showy red pom pom type flowers. The other is a flowering Magnolia, (done in watercolor) the seed pods are a explosion of shapes and colors when you really start to examine them.

Jack in the Woods

I am working on some drawing of these cool plants, I am waiting to see what kind of seed pods I will get this year. I am working on several drawing of plants with there seed pods. I have lots of Jacks in my woods, some have green and white flowers and some are a deep purple. These are a weed I enjoy having. The jack is starting to turn into a seed it is still green at this point. Later it will be red and I will add it to this drawing on the other side

Echeveria Something Something

Of course I threw out the tag, like I usually do. "Oh I will remember", I tell myself. "No you won't", says the other self.
And here we are... none the wiser.

This painting in my journal started out as a more detailed painting but by the time I got back to it, my mood had changed and it turned into a looser painting. Oh well.

Nodding Onions...or Garlic

I get in more trouble with these plants...I painted them years ago because I was so taken by their graceful, nodding heads. Then later, I decided to plant some in my garden because I like wild edibles.

BIG mistake. They took over...

I decided to paint them in my journal again today, though--because they're still SO graceful...

I wanted a more delicate effect that you normally get with watercolor pencils, so I lifted color from the tip...

A small plastic palette worked great here, and let me judge the mixed colors and values more accurately. I'll have to rubber-band it to my travel set of watercolor pencils!

I used a small #4 Loew-Cornell white nylon brush to paint with...



....and added the more distant plants with Payne's gray watercolor and no previous ink guidelines.

(I found several conflicting names for these, so not sure which they are...even the descriptions were less than clear, so I'll have to wait till I can find the field guide!)

Runner Bean Studies

I think my garden is full of grubs and weeds. That's it! I've taken to growing what I really enjoy in peat pots to get them going and to give them a head start before being swamped by weeds and cut down by the grubs. With them right under my nose I noticed, for the first time, how the beans develop (okay, I know that every first grader knows this but I've forgotten since then!)

Hens 'N' Chicks Rock the Rockery

They may not be showy with crazy big blooms like daffodils or sunflowers or lilies, but I think everyone adores the sempervivum family with their spiky leaves and their subtle range of blues, greens, silvers and burgundies. Am I right? Give it up people! Whoot!