Hard to believe... Maree

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm
Winter on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago the grass on our smallholding was dead and yellow and that these trees had no foliage … Now we've had our first rains and the landscape is once again smiling!

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An African moon - Maree

Black ink sketch using Pilot Calligraphy Lettering pen and Artline200 black fine-point pen on DaleRowney 220gsm heavy-duty sketching paper

It was full moon last night and when I switched off the garden lights, my garden was bathed in a golden glow… and I could’ve sworn I saw the fairies hiding under the mushrooms... 

One website explains the full moon thus, “The moon and sun are on a line, with Earth in between. It’s as though Earth is the fulcrum of a see-saw, and the moon and sun are sitting on either end of the see-saw. Thus as the sun sets in the west, the full moon rises. When the sun is below our feet at midnight, the full moon is highest in the sky. When the sun rises again at dawn, the full moon is setting.”

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This Blue Gum

This blue gum tree greets me every morning as I open my studio curtains. She is always there. She has always been there, for the past ten years. She's the one I sit and stare at when I'm pondering or deep in thought. I've watched her swaying in heavy winds, watched as limbs have broken off and watched as veld fires have swept her base. 

She stands across the road from our property, probably about 20m tall and offers a safe haven for all the birds in the area. I've watched as baby crows have fledged from her branches and yet, I've never looked at her properly. 

Today I decided to look at her, with new eyes, and paint her. 

I think she's wonderful. 

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A Nature New Year Wish for You!

Wishing you a year filled with happiness, health and the joys of getting out there and Sketching in Nature!

Here is my first sketch of the new year.  This Live Oak has amazed me for a few years.... finally sketching it today! The angle of the winter sun really showed off the tree's form.

I'd like to thank Kate and all of the contributors that fill this blog with such stunning work. It's an honor to be included in this award winning group :)  Thank you Katherine Tyrrell!

All my best,
Pam Johnson Brickell

Adelaide Botanic Park

Hello everyone!
Yesterday I waited for my friend to come at the Adelaide Botanic Park. I had 5 minutes of free time, brush pen and markers in my pocket and a beautiful tree just in front of me. Here is my quick sketch of the tree, with small alterations in Photoshop - my scanner is bad, bad thing))

Anna Cherkasova

A beautiful tree, Concetta Flore

poplar, Tuscany, Italy

I painted this old and tall poplar on the river Albegna, in Tuscany, sitting on a rock and encircled by blue damselflies. The drawing took more than one session and I tried to catch the morning light.
Magnani paper, 20x50cm.

Journal Sketches from the Midwest...

Of course I had to try my hand at that "SuperMoon."  We hopped in the car in our nightclothes and drove up the hill for a better look!  It just glowed...30% brighter and 14% larger-appearing at its perigee, closest to the earth.

A New Arrival

Click to enlarge

Quite a treat at the beach yesterday. According to the regulars that walk the beach, this tree washed up overnight during the spring tide of January's Full Moon.

The east coast shoreline is always in constant flux. On Hilton Head Island the beach erodes on the north end and the south end gains beach. 

Just south of Charleston, South Carolina, there is a plantation that's now wildlife management area called Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve. It has 4,687 acres and part of it runs along the Atlantic ocean. It recently opened to the public in 2008 and we've only just begun to explore this treasure. 

I mention this place because along the plantation's shoreline there are many dead trees that protrude out of the sand. Land that's been reclaimed by the sea.  It's eerie and fascinatingly beautiful at the same time. I was thinking that it's totally possible that this tree traveled the tides from Botany Bay down to our beach on Hilton Head Island.  What stories this beauty of a tree could tell!

Sparkleberry in Spring

 Yes, just because a sketch is made in the spring doesn't mean the page gets finished then :)  I got caught up in some research about May Day.

There was a lot of room left on the paper when I finished my plein air pen and watercolor sketch. And, since it was May Day and the sketch of Sparlkeberry... Well you know, just that tree's name on my tongue makes calligraphic notes sing in my head! I decided to settle into a more controlled environment to finish the dressing on this May Day page.

A tissue paper overlay is a great way to experiment with the placement of other elements you want to add to your page. It keeps the paper from being compromised from too much erasing.

The trick is matching the same placement that you like on the overlay. There are transfer papers you can use, or you can flip over the overlay and trace what's on the front side using a very soft pencil. Once finished, flip it back to the original side,lay it over your journal page and retrace your original lines with a sharp pencil. Lift the overlay tissue off of your journal page and your lettering will/should be on the paper beneath.


But, I know from experience that I lose total spontaneity when I use these methods. My lines become stiff as I get caught up in left brain control. I honor my free flowing plein air sketch too much to let that happen. I want all the elements to compliment that freedom. So I guess-ti-mate :)

My version of cooking without a recipe :)

Click on images to enlarge :)

Live Oak Shadows - Pam Johnson Brickell

Live Oak Shadows, a photo by PJBee on Flickr.

It's golf tournament time once again. I love watching the players but love making watercolor sketches even more :)

Happy Easter!

Holm oak

There is a beautiful park near my house, the Villa Borghese gardens. In 1605, cardinal Scipione Borghese started transforming a vineyard into this masterpiece we still enjoy today. This beautiful holm oak is on what used to be the Pincian Hill, now called the Pincio, one of the many areas of the park. I often sit by its base to read, and sketch. It never ceases to inspire me, I never tire of looking at it.

Foliage, part two - Carolyn A. Pappas

I finally got around to doing some scanning and uploading of my nature sketching sketchbook, so this sketch is about a month old. This sketch was another one done by looking out my window, although from a different angle. It reminds me a bit of this drawing from last year. The colors in the leaves have changed a lot over the past month; there are more reds and rust colors, as well as more of the birch trunks visible. I will have to do another version as it looks now.

Winter Solstice and the hope of Spring? - Maree

“What fire could ever equal the sunshine of a winter's day?”
- Henry David Thoreau

One stubborn leaf... or the hope of spring?

Believe it or not, but this deciduous tree in my garden has this one, lonely leaf hanging from a branch in mid-winter - thought it was a sign of Spring! but no, it's an old leaf, still green, and just very stubborn, I guess. The shrub behind the is my evergreen Abelia grandiflora (Frances Mason).

Yesterday was Winter Solstice here in South Africa, the shortest day and longest night - currently dawn appears at almost 6.30am, and as from now on it will be getting lighter earlier each day.