new palette colors

Recently I watched a YouTube video from Natasha Newton of her current favorite art supplies, including the “Elements” palette of handmade watercolors from A. Gallo. I love the combination of colors but (a) I prefer using Art Toolkit magnetic palettes and (b) I already own so many tubes of paint!

So I put together this Folio palette with paints I already have. Six of the pans of color, I created by mixing two tubes of paint directly in the pans using a toothpick to stir. I can see that I needed more green gold in the warm green, more shire blue in the cool green (jadeite is a very strong pigment), and some blue in the cooler gray. But they’ll be fun to play with as is.

The birds were seen on our front porch, at one of the feeders and perched on the arm of a rocking chair. There was only one titmouse; I drew him in two poses.

This is the page of notes I jotted down, listing the original A. Gallo pigments plus which of my existing colors came closest in color match.

June’s last sketch

This final sketch for the month of June began in pencil, loosely drawn as Bill drove me to a dentist appointment. Later, I drew ink lines using the Elegant Writer 1.3 mm pen in my new Sendak Nutshell kit. For the border, I used a 2.5 mm pen. I erased the pencil lines then used a damp brush, allowing the ink to bleed a bit, and added just a touch of watercolor.

I saw this cattle egret following one of our donkeys from the north pasture around to the one on the east — wherever she wandered, the egret hopped quickly behind, gobbling up bugs that rose from the disturbed grasses.

random sketches & a recipe

Here, I was testing gouache and Pitt Artist brush pens on the paper that came with my card-size Traveler’s Notebook. Gouache seems to do better than watercolor; the marks made with the pens seemed uneven as if resisting the paper.

I drew the ingredients for sourdough granola as it was baking in the oven. This is the primary thing I make with the discard after baking bread. Recipe follows, if anyone is interested.

(I’m a bit loose with measurements . . . as in, I don’t!)

SOURDOUGH DISCARD GRANOLA

8 Tbsp butter, melted and slightly browned

scant 1/2 cup discard

1/4 cup honey (I use real maple syrup instead)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

2 2/3 cup rolled oats

1 cup chopped nuts and coconut 

1 cup dried fruit

Brown butter in saucepan over med. heat a few minutes; let cool a bit.

Preheat oven 325°.

Mix butter, discard, honey, vanilla, and salt until completely mixed. Stir in oats, nuts, and coconut.

Spread on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes.

Turn with spatula, then bake 10 minutes more.

Let cool. Break up and stir in dried fruit.

an unexpected find

As I was heading out to the car the other day, I was dive-bombed by a medium sized bird — it happened so fast that I couldn’t even tell what type of bird it was. Then I looked up and found a nest being built under the back patio roof.

Both fountain pens hold De Atramentis Document inks: the Sailor Fude de Mannen has brown ink and the Wancher PuChiCo mini fountain pen has turquoise ink.

for the birds

These pages have been experimental, trying various methods of using watercolor and colored pencils. The background of the pigeon didn’t contrast enough so I added colored pencil. That still didn’t work, so I tried another wash of watercolor over the pencil — major failure! Giving up and moving on . . .

The quotes were jotted down after drawing the heron in colored pencil. Bill and I have been reading the Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries by Louise Penny.

early morning at Fort Parker

This morning, after a gentle rain most of the night, Butters and I took a walk down the road at Fort Parker State Park where we are camping. We spied this heron who decided with a very loud squawk that it did not wish to have its photo taken.

Further down the road, we found it again. Nearby ducks left in a hurry but this time the heron stayed, posing for me as it munched on fish. Perhaps it felt more protected under the trees.

something different

Last week Bill took our corgi, Butters, outside to play ball. Across the yard and driveway, he saw this Great Egret over by the swimming pool. Not wishing to startle it, he took a quick photo from where he stood — a very distant, out-of-focus photo. 

I’ve been wanting to try less “representational” sketching anyway, so I painted this page using that fuzzy photo as a basis. Mostly granulating watercolors with some gouache patterning added on top. Not quite as I expected it to turn out, but an interesting direction to take my sketching while still capturing daily memories.

tiny sketches from Inks Lake

These tiny sketches are from Inks Lake State Park. We are home now, but with no cell phone service at the lake, I’m posting these from home. And following, one more photo from the lake, some white-tail deer on an outcropping of gneiss. Maybe I’ll sketch it someday.

more tiny sketches

Here are a few more tiny paintings, done over the past week. I found that a fine Mark’s Tous Les Jours ballpoint pen works better for me in tiny work than finepoint liners or fountain pens. 

The tea tin next to the cup and saucer is one of my favorite teas of late: Justea Purple Chocolate, a loose leaf purple tea with cacao shells and rose petals. Great with a splash of milk and very low caffeine. Each tin comes with a hand-carved wooden spoon to measure the tea.

Sierra’s new friends

When Sierra came here to live after showing in FFA shows and eventually at the Houston Rodeo & Livestock event, she was by herself. Except for a feral Siamese cat we named Egret for her habit of following the cow around her small pasture. Most cows in this area have white egrets hanging around them but none visited her.

Now her pasture has been opened up and she has joined four FFA goats and two female donkeys that rule them all. And Sierra absolutely loves her new “family”! Then, recently Michael discovered some egrets coming to call on Sierra.

random sketches

Just a few random sketches of interesting things seen in the past 3 weeks . . .

The American Beautyberry plant was growing in the Sam Houston National Forest we camped in — great for keeping mosquitoes away! I saw the rooster perched in a wheelbarrow at Bill’s sister’s home in Kansas. And Bill brought me the small rose-colored mushroom because he knew I’d like to draw it.

camping along Lake Raven, part 1

Camping in Huntsville State Park in the Sam Houston forest, this was the view from our RV. This branch of Lake Raven has been set aside as a bird habitat; we saw lots of cranes, herons, and (of course) ravens. There is a large crane in this sketch — can you spot him?

summer tanager

Looking out our French doors and windows from the loveseat recliner, I see the bird feeders hanging on our front porch. An amazing variety come to visit each day. Lately there have been large numbers of cardinals and robins, but recently we saw these brilliant red birds without crests — our Texas bird book identifies them as male summer tanagers; the females are a contrasting yellow.

Crested CaraCara

When we lived in our log cabin, we often saw these gorgeous birds up close, mixing with vultures in their job of cleaning up road-kill. According to one website, a Crested Caracara (aka a Mexican eagle) “looks like a hawk, behaves like a vulture, and is technically a large tropical black-and-white falcon”. From our barndominium, we often watch them soaring high over the tall tree tops.

I decided to sketch the bird in ink only, but have been tempted to add color. They have white markings on wingtips, tail, and neck while their legs are yellow and their faces are bright orange. And they appear to be wearing a badly-fitted black toupee!

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.

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.

a few feathers

Just a few feathers I’ve picked up, including two from our cats’ favorite toys.

from Lake Raven

This week we are camping in Huntsville State Park, in a section of the Sam Houston National Forest. Though our reservation goes through Sunday, we had originally planned on leaving today with our daughter and son-in-law taking over the camper through the weekend. But an unforeseen problem at home meant they are not coming and our stay has been extended through the weekend.

Our first evening here, my old alligator friend showed up to greet us at the fishing pier — and hasn’t returned since. When we were here in November, he hung around all day long but the water was calm then. This week’s winds are strong enough to cause a burn ban (no campfire cooking, darn it!) and there are more people. He did hang around long enough to chase a much younger, smaller ‘gator away from his territory though.

I haven’t seen a sunset with much coral in it; I had been wanting to try out a new tube of quinacridone coral. But I snuck a tiny bit into this sketch anyway.

bits from camp

Just random things sketched from our campsite . . . . I walked the shorter trail today, down to a northern branch of Lake Conroe, but left my sketchbook in the camper. Cooler temperatures today with lots of cold wind in the morning hours. By noon it reached 60° and the winds slowed down a bit. 

We’ll be heading home tomorrow; we’ve had a relaxing time here even with so many Spring Break campers. Mostly young families with lots of kids and dogs.

daddy-bird watching

 

Early one morning last week, Bill called me into the kitchen — where we stood watching a male woodpecker feeding his fledgling from the bird feeder, one tiny bit at a time. They were perched on the cedar posts supporting the back patio roof. Being backlit from a very bright sun, we couldn’t really see much detail but I drew them anyway.

Bright sun itself is a bit rare these days. We’ve received so much rain that we “slosh” walking across the pastures. In fact, we were visited by a little blue heron in the front pasture — no doubt  mistaking it for swampland.