sketch with me - “nature”

This weekend’s “Sketch With Me” virtual sketch event’s theme is Nature. But it is hot, sticky, and I already have several itchy bug bites . . . . so I sketched from photos I took in the past few weeks.

And while I’m at it, I used the time to do some pieces that can be sold in my Etsy shop.

Then during discipleship class at church this morning I sketched another bit of nature: an early blossom from one of  our Mexican Plum trees. They completely fill with white flowers before any leaves appear, which attracts lots of birds, bees, and butterflies.

a small tree with a sharp bite!

While the bluebonnets covered the hillsides this past month, we noticed a very bright orange-gold tree in multiple pastures along the highways. On the smallish side, we both thought it was a honey mesquite but weren’t sure.

While looking at a couple of properties with our son-in-law this week, Bill cut a branch off of one for me to sketch. The golden flowering time is past but the local realtor identified it for us as a Weesatch. Looking it up online, I found the regular name is Huisache, probably pronounced “Weesatch”; it’s also called Sweet Acacia.

Not very sweet with those very long, very sharp thorns!

one final bluebonnet . . .

. . . or is it? I took lots of photos so I could be sketching bluebonnets and other wildflowers for many months.

This one seemed to fit today though — any bluebonnets left in the open meadows are now obscured by the prairie grasses that are growing taller than the early wildflowers. The grasses haven’t quite reached this particular flower yet but it’s distinctive leaves are hidden.

sketch of first rose

I took a photo of the first rose of the season when Bill brought it to me, stuck in an old honey jar. It has since wilted but the dried petals still retain the wonderful scent.

Arriving early for my hair trim appointment yesterday, I drew the rose from the photo in my purse-sized Delta sketchbook, then added color later at home.

an odd daisy

While walking the garden paths at the Antique Rose Emporium on Friday, we came across this short daisy-like flower growing between the stones. Not sure what it’s name is, but it appears to have self-seeded throughout the garden, along with tons of colorful poppies.

official first red rose of this year

Bill just gave me our official first rose of this year! Since buying our first home in 1975, every home has had red roses (even if they spilled over the fence from the neighbor’s). In Kansas, Bill usually brought me the first rose in May, near our wedding anniversary. Here in Texas, these old fashioned roses (wonderful scent!) are a bit earlier.

cat on a fence post

On Friday, we planned to look at another country property with our daughter and son-in-law, this time in the country near Waller. Make that “forest” — very thickly wooded property!

Before heading that direction though, Bill and I picked up a few groceries at H.E.B. Being a Friday during Lent, they were cooking fish dinners; we bought one to share (generous portions!) and had a picnic at Firemen’s Park. Then we drove through Independence, stopping for a stroll through the gardens of The Antique Rose Emporium. Where I spied this metal cat sculpture on a fence post.

Then on to Waller — the property was a complete NO! The house was built in 2005 but never finished and unlivable, and the supposed “MIL” house was a 2-room shack with part of the roof starting to cave in. No, thank you!

Drawn with an Elegant Writer pen with a bit of watercolor.

(* MIL stands for mother-in-law cottage, something that’s very popular in this area.)

Elegant Writer pen play

After seeing Ros Jenke’s Instagram post where she drew a bird using the Elegant Writer calligraphy pen, I went to Hobby Lobby to find one. This pen is also mentioned in Karlyn Holman’s book, “Watercolor Without Boundaries”. She also demonstrates the pen in her YouTube videos.

Most water-soluble inks bleed in a faded version of the same ink color; this one bleeds in unexpected bits of gray, turquoise, and even pink at times. And unlike others that continue to bleed if watercolor is added later, this pen’s lines can be permanently “set” if a very fine mist of water is applied and allowed to dry first.

At least that’s what Karlyn says in her video. Maybe my spray mister isn’t quite as fine as hers? My lines still bled when I added watercolor. This overworked sketch was just a test page to try various lines and shading — I think the beauty of sketching with this pen would show better with limited splashes of color, allowing much of the sketch to remain in ink.

I need to play some more . . .

zexmeia? broomweed?

Area patches of bluebonnets are slowly going to seed, large swaths of Indian paintbrush are blooming stronger than ever, and soft pink evening primrose are starting to show in local meadows.

And a large variety of yellow wildflowers are now interspersed among the rest. By summer, yellow and white will be the predominant colors.

I’m not sure what this particular yellow specimen is. Commonly called a coreopsis, it doesn’t really match the coreopsis in my field guides. I think it is likely a zexmeia or possibly broomweed.

An online site calls it “soft green eyes”, though the centers are more of a burnt orange/brown with tiny yellow bits. (Do you like my highly technical botanical terms?) 

a new wildflower

. . . At least, it’s new to us. As I was taking photos of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush, Bill wondered behind the old building facade at Old Baylor Women’s College in Independence, TX. He came upon a large patch of this strange looking wildflower, which he immediately picked and brought to show me.

It promptly wilted, as most wildflowers tend to do, but I took several photos. Then searched my field guides later at home, trying to identify it without success. Finally I found this website that says it is a Limestone Gaura (Gaura calcicola).

Of course, the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower website disagrees, calling it an Oenothera Calcicola, with the common name of “Texas Beeblossom”. I like that name best.

this morning in Lyons

We met with friends for breakfast this morning in Lyons, TX and I began to draw what became a very wonky ink sketch while waiting for my tea to brew. Color added later at home . . .

a bluebonnet’s end

Yesterday was a wonderfully sunny day without much wind; we took a leisurely drive towards Independence, enjoying the multi-colored wildflower show.

The bluebonnets located at Old Baylor’s Women’s College (or the ruined remains of it) normally flower much earlier than other areas of Washington county. Which means they begin to go to seed earlier as well. Many of the plants, while still in full bloom, now have these fuzzy pea-like seed pods forming.

This particular specimen was further gone than most, with the petals nearly gone — yet the seed pods were still green. They will dry up and turn brown before falling off to ensure next year’s flowers.

Aubrey

After our close neighbor, John, passed away, a very sweet young couple bought the house he had built for his beloved Bobbie. They would have been delighted to know this lovely young family!

Just before moving in, Thomas and Ashlyn had a lovely daughter born, naming her Aubrey. She has since captured our hearts — especially Bill’s! He often “steals” her away for a few moments of playtime. We keep a small container of toys for her at our place.

Now walking and starting to talk, she has a way of letting her strong opinions known! Later this year, she will be joined by a new brother or sister.

new toys

My eye doctor has me taking various vitamins and herbal supplements to ward off further eye trouble (I have glaucoma with a family history of macular degeneration). We have found that buying these products online can be much less expensive . . . . And of course that means ordering enough items to qualify for free shipping, right?

So I added a few items from my Amazon wish list: Shari Blaukopf’s new book, “Working With Color”, a couple of brushes, and a new kneaded eraser to replace a very old dirty one. They all arrived on Saturday . . . . except for the vitamins! Which should come later this week.

I began drawing this with a Lamy Safari loaded with a dark gray ink, shading with both a Pentel Pocketbrush pen (black ink cartridge) and a Kuretake brush pen with Lexington Gray ink, plus a Signo white gel pen for lettering. At first I was going to add watercolor but after adding just the turquoise band, I decided that I like keeping it mostly gray tones. Sort of a play on it being a book about adding color.