two fellow campers

I haven’t had a Scottish Terrier of my own for several years now but I still dearly love the breed. These two charmers, owned by fellow campers, dropped by our campsite for a visit. So I sketched them on this, my final two-page spread of this Etchr sketchbook.

autumn leaf color!

Davy Crockett National Forest is a bit further north than we usually camp. The autumn leaves are still not as colorful as we had in Kansas, but we found some color here which I painted in my journal.

We bought this Apex camper used. The slide-out contains a couch but the original table was missing. So Bill built one with folding metal legs the same long narrow dimensions as the original. It’s beautiful, made with vintage cedar — that’s the table my sketchbook is laying on in the photo.

But while providing more work space for the kitchenette, it seemed to get in the way of sitting easily, turning the couch into a diner booth you had to slide into. So we now use that table outside and Bill designed a new one for inside. This one can be used two ways: as a divider between seats — great for sharing a movie on my laptop! — or with another set of long legs, it becomes a free-standing table to be moved wherever we want it.

forest floor

My 2” Zig Zag sketchbook came camping with us, sneaking into my regular Art Toolkit. This time we have returned to Ratcliff Lake in Davy Crockett National Forest, and my first sketch was a wee view of the forest floor.

Bill, who never hangs lights for Christmas at home (leaving that to our always festive son-in-law, Michael) has hung lights around the camper’s awning and is now sitting outside quietly listening to Christmas music. ‘Tis the season!

these boots . . .

Since moving to Texas 8 1/2 years ago, I wear sandals nearly year-round. I even have a pair of hiking sandals that I can wear socks with, especially nice for camping. But we are taking an unexpected trip to Kansas in early December — brrr! Winter in Kansas is something we left to avoid! So I dug out my leather boots.

Unless snow is expected. Then maybe I’ll take my rubber mucking boots.

my minimalist kit

It seems like such a very long time since I have used my tiny sketch kit that lives in my purse. The few times I’m out running errands, I might not even carry a purse — just grab my ID and go. So I took it out yesterday and sketched it.

This kit is made up of a 2” square ZigZag sketchbook, a Demi Palette (mine is the limited edition that came with Greenleaf & Blueberry’s CMYK palette), a tiny paintbrush that came in a Winsor & Newton set years ago, and a mini waterbrush — held together with a small silicone cross band. Art Toolkit now markets this combo as their new Ultralight Sketcher Set.

I also made a color chart card of the four CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) paints to keep with this palette, a quick reminder of colors I can mix. I have since added apatite green, monte amiata natural sienna, transparent red oxide, and white gouache.

Kristen’s pumpkins

Our daughter Kristen grew quite a garden this year, including abundant squash and pumpkin plants. The pumpkins were a variety that is hardy even in a hard freeze.

So why in the world did they wilt and die when temperatures only dropped to 40°? Perhaps because it had been in the upper 80s all day?

These two are the only survivors. They are now living in our sunny south-facing windows in hopes of ripening.

With the colder temperatures, I have traded my earthy granulating “autumn” palette for one of simple warm & cool colors plus neutrals.

to ink . . . or not

Yesterday I drew both of these trees from photos I had snapped while camping a few weeks ago. The woodpecker holes were oddly lined up on the tree located on a terraced bit of land leading down to the fishing dock. The cypress tree had quite an impressive set of “knees”; it was down at the lake’s edge next to our campsite. Grasses next to the water were flattened, probably by the younger alligators wallowing there.

I was planning on adding watercolor today, but Bill saw these and said he liked it as ink drawings — or possibly just add a bit of color to the background but leave the trees ink-only. Now I’m not sure what to do . . .

UPDATE: I decided to strengthen some of the ink lines of the two trees in these sketches and not add any watercolor.

BTW, these were sketched with a Duke 209 fude nib fountain pen filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink.

and once again they are gone . . .

Bill designed our little barn-house with huge windows front and back where bird feeders hang. He also keeps binoculars handy for birds out in the pasture and in the tall tree line beyond (such as falcons and pileated woodpeckers), but bird feeders are literally 15’ from where we sit inside. Our hummingbirds are here making us laugh at their antics for 8 months of the year, with many more in March and October as others pass through during migration. 

I drew this last week after cleaning the feeder for winter storage, but didn’t get around to adding color until today.

Bill’s “ears”

Just felt like a simple continuous contour line today — these earphones and TV remote happened to be the closest victims. Sometimes Bill wants to watch TV but I would rather read. We live in a small 800 square foot space so he plugs these into his smartphone and listens to his show while I read.

Meanwhile, the ink used here is my sample of De Atramentis Cyan Blue Copper which is supposed to have shiny copper bits show up as it’s used. These would not show up in a photo anyway, but they simply were not there at all, even in person. This ink sample “failed” in my book.

one final sketch from camp

We have been home from Lake Raven for several days, but I didn’t get around to finishing this last sketch until last night. This trip was for Bill’s 71st birthday and a new hammock was his gift — so of course I had to add a sketch of it in my journal!

The longest hiking trail, which neither of us are in shape for, takes you to the northernmost tip of the lake, across a marshy area, to the wilderness on the other side (the distant tree line in this sketch). It was there that a band of coyotes were spotted one evening during our stay, coming down to the shore to drink.

a younger alligator

Yesterday we took a walk to the fishing dock, which has been partially rebuilt since we were last here, in hopes of seeing our friend, the old 15’ alligator who lays claim to the dock as his own territory. He was not there, but we found this young 5’ ‘gator. Not quite as accomplished as his grandfather yet — he tried to steal a lady’s fish as she reeled it in but missed. The old ‘gator gets them, every time.

I wasn’t as happy with this alligator sketch as I was with the previous one I did of the old ‘gator in a previous sketchbook.

yesterday rain, this morning sun rays

Yesterday we had rain off and on here in the forest. So I sketched what I saw from the bench seat inside our camper: our wee teapot and Bill’s French press coffee pot.

This morning, though a bit foggy at first, brought glorious sunshine — as seen from Bill’s camera phone. As much as I love my iPhone, I must admit that his Samsung takes the best photos!

a might big critter

As Bill was finishing getting the camper leveled, I looked around the campsite — and found this ginormous caterpillar slowly crossing the fallen leaves and pine needles. Not having my sketchbook in hand, I took a few quick photos. A tent camper in the next site over called his wife over to see it but by then it completely disappeared. Perhaps burrowing into the ground?

At fully 6” long and so colorful, it was easy to find in an online search: it is a Hickory Horned Devil — as fierce looking as a Samurai but actually quite harmless. I read that even chickens, who love eating caterpillars, avoid them. After pupation in ground burrows, they emerge as Regal Moths, the largest moth north of Mexico.

Later, we watched from under our awning as two juvenile pileated woodpeckers literally danced around a nearby tree, oblivious to passing hikers and vehicles.