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Sunday, August 14, 2011

A Summer of This and That

The cone flowers were going wild;they had to be cut down--everything in the garden needed cutting down, but not everything in the garden was worthy of a drawing. 5" x 7", India ink and watercolor, cropped

I added pastels and the drawing became livelier. I went about as far as I could go and flipped the page:


With India ink pens only, I made another poorly composed drawing, but didn't crop it. What you see is how it is. Little tiny drawing pads stymie me. I can't draw flowers with just my hand; I need to make broad strokes using hand, arm, shoulder and body. I need to cover the surface as I do when painting.

There's enough canvases in my canvas corner to keep me drawing with my whole body for quite a long time. Maybe I should get back to it and enough cleaning?

Taking time out over the summer from any serious art projects, I've been occupied with scrubbing down and reorganizing the studio,biking, lake-swimming, getting my ring fingers back in shape via the Hanon and Czerny piano exercises,reading fiction,familiarizing myself with html,taking an interest in politics and meeting my new neighbors. This weekend I was busy trying to get rid of a hive of dirt bees before the fellow who does the heavy gardening comes to do some serious landscape revamping.

The directions on the can said to spray them after dark when all of the little buggers are at rest in their nest. So at one minute after midnight Friday night, I sprayed away at where I thought the entrance to the hive was hidden in the ground ivy. It was pitch black in the atrium. The garage blocked the moonlight, which was magnificent. The night was magnificent. I forgot all about the bees and went for my camera. I like this shot best:








6 comments:

  1. Are cone flowers aka echinacea flowers? if not, they resemble echinacea to a tee.... Its hot as hell here in Cali... Love the drawings especially the top painting... colors are gorgeous.

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  2. Hi,Linda,
    I admire your watercolour work. Full of energy, vivid colours and clear lines that sing joy of life!!!
    Cheers,Sadami

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  3. Cone flowers are echinacea--but I like the laymen's name Chrissy. It's not fancy--just like the flower. Originally all my clumps were the white variety. Then one clump went to that mauve. I hate mauve. It's a sad color.

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  4. Sadami, you are sweet to speak of my knock offs so kindly. You are the queen of petite watercolors. My pens keep fighting the boundaries of the five by seven page and I end up with a drawing that must be cropped for it to balance. Your encouragement is appreciated though.

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  5. A beautiful night shot. Interesting colour - when I was a kid, I remember trying to paint night scenes. I thought the sky had to be black... until I saw a deep blue sky a friend painted... A lightbulb moment. The sky's NOT black at night...

    Love your flowers - I can sense lots of energy.

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  6. Thanks Evelyn. What is it about the night that moves us to capture it on "film"? I think it's the quietude, the peace, the relaxing scent of cool night air. That sky was a mix of Prussian blue with a drop of black and a very feint glaze of I not sure what making it difficult to paint.

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