Time and time again I’ve tried to work consistently from prompts and time and time again I’ve consistently failed. That’s why I’m planning to do InkTober! It’s a month long challenge but there are no pre-assigned prompts! Just make a drawing, post it and link it with the hashtag #inktober.
Yipee! Who knew I’d be such a rebel… I like choosing what I want to draw!
Today is the very first International Coffee Day… I celebrated. Did you?
Yes, another fair! The Tunbridge World’s Fair!
(Just a quick explanation… this book is made with 130gsm Gutenberg and has pre-painted pages which I just drew right over. They were prepared with dilute acrylic paint and acrylic ink so there was no fear of bleeding.)
Once I got though the mass of children on a school expedition I made a bee-line for the poultry barn… I have a real soft spot for those birdies… especially ducks! These are Runner Ducks! They’re known for dropping eggs everywhere as they go about their day!
Poor page planning on my part… I hate it when the eye ends up in the gutter!
There was a steady stream (no pun intended) of heifers and their humans walking to the river to cool off and grab a drink. I was so excited to catch them I put my first sketch upside down in the journal. Sheesh! I had to do another!
Lots and lots of cows!
After a quick stop to check out the vegetables and the cake testers (no, they don’t spit it out after tasting like the wine tasters do… they swallow all the goodness) I stopped back in the poultry and rabbit barn. Don’t you love their topknots?
Most of the children had gone so I had enough breathing space to pull out my paints.
The chicks are only 3 days old!
And no… I was NOT a participant other than visiting the fair but one of the volunteers was so taken by my journal that he gave me a ribbon!
Put it in your calendar… it always starts 10 days after Labor Day. If my calculations are correct that’ll be between Thursday 15 September and Sunday 18 September 2016. I’ll be there!
… Hopkinton State Fair that is.
It’s the 100th anniversary of New Hampshire’s State Fair and you still have time to visit… It’s open through Labor Day… Monday, 7 September, 2015.
I arrived nice and early armed with my sketchbook and pen, watercolors and brush safely tucked in my left hip pocket. Come! …walk with me as I travel and sketch my way through the barns.
The Avian Flu Virus has plagued the upper midwest causing the fairs like the Minnesota State Fair to cancel their poultry exhibit. We’re fortunate, so far New England has been spared, allowing the Hopkinton exhibit to continue this year. Each year I’ve been able to sketch the fantastical variety of poultry breeds but this year was special. I managed to paint my sketches as I stood before each bird… a major accomplishment in my art progress! No painting later at home this year.
A Salmon Faverolles… Isn’t he gorgeous!
I was on my way to sketch the dairy cows when I was hit by an incredible sneezing fit. Time to reconsider my next subjects.
There’s shade and picnic tables alongside the duck pond and it’s my favorite place to regroup, relax and do one final page before packing up my supplies for the day.
In an hour I’m home… planning my next fair visit. I think it’ll be the Tunbridge World’s Fair in two weeks… stay tuned!
Not much blooming here as we roll into mid-August. I guess we’re all spent from the summer heat. All of us except for this long-legged beauty. Echinops ritro also known as Globe Thistle. You gotta’ love auto-correct. It wanted to make it “Chinos writer”… I know plenty of writers who wear chinos but they’re not in my garden!
The progression from bud to bloom.
The bees LOVE the fading blooms. You wouldn’t believe how long I spent with my camera trained on this globe to get one that wasn’t a blur!
And plenty of other flying things like them too… photobombed by this little green and yellow buzzing creature; a fly I presume, but then again, I’m no entomologist.
It has reseeded itself all over my back nursery bed. Obviously, it likes it here.
Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivanti ‘Goldsturm’, most commonly known as Black-eyed Susan. Even though I pulled up two-thirds of them this spring, they’re still threatening to take over the bed between the house and the drive!
I always have a bittersweet feeling when I see them blooming since they’re really the last big hurrah in the garden… a sea of golden blooms.
I needed more ink… specifically De Atramentis Document Black, and Goulet Pens has it on sale through midnight tonight. Goulet also has this BOGO buy one-get one sale on Jinhao pens. Buy one regular priced Jinhao that’s NOT an X750 Shimmering Sands and get a FREE X750 Shimmering Sands. I’m usually not a sucker for these things but I looked.
OMG… they have an ORANGE pen!
Did I ever tell you how much I love orange?
Yes… all mine.
I bought the ORANGE Jinhao 159 for the grand price of $12.50 and got the sparkly Jinhao X750 Shimmering Sands for free. The photos don’t do it justice… it’s lovely.
Here’s a visual comparison. From the top… Pilot Metropolitan, Jinhao X750 Shimmering Sands, Jinhao 159, and Lamy Safari.
Both the Jinhao’s are quite heavy (twice as heavy?) but even with my small hands I’ve enjoyed using them for drawing. Both come with medium nibs installed and I’ve found they’re really smooth… haven’t had one skip since I’ve inked them up… De Atramentis Document Black is waterproof and the pens have handled it well. If you find you’d like a finer or broader nib it’s possible to exchange the nibs and put in a Goulet Nib. Both are #6 and from what I can see are easily exchangeable. As you can see, the #6 nib is larger than the nib on the Pilot Metropolitan. I’m going to play with these a while before I decide.
I know I’m not giving you much time to mull this over… offer ends at midnight.
Just thought you ought to know.
Tradescantia virginiana. Isn’t that a mouthful!
They just hang out in the back border just doing they’re thing for months… only a few are still putting out blossoms, each bloom lasting only a day.
Their common name is Spiderwort. I never thought it was a lovely name but I guess it’s apropos……
Who’s there?
I consider myself fortunate to live near to two of New England’s small jewels in the National Park Service. Both Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site are easily within reach. Saint-Gaudens in particular is a favorite location for my plein air group on a beautiful summer day.
We met there a few weeks ago and each one of us, although close in proximity, chose to sketch and paint a different view. I chose to sketch the Hermes sculpture standing along the edge of the garden, a particularly suitable spot for the god of transitions and boundaries.
As I started in I realized he wouldn’t fit on the page and I abandoned this page only to return to add the blooms and frame out what I had captured of dear Hermes.
I fared better in my second attempt. Not only did he fit easily on the page, but I managed to capture his surroundings as well. By the end of this session I was quite hot from sitting in the sun, perfect timing to stop and see what my compatriots accomplished. Besides, it was time for lunch and I knew they would be off in search of nourishment.
I got all the way back to my car before I remembered I hadn’t stamped the S-G National Park stamp in my journal. It’s become habit and I certainly didn’t want to break my streak. So… back I went. But the stamp wouldn’t easily fit on my previous pages and… I was getting a second-wind. After my landscape outing at VINS I was eager to try my paint only technique at capturing Ascutney Mountain.
I’m quite happy with the range of values… getting my darks dark enough has always been a weakness.
But… still no place for the stamp! …just had to add another page to my day.
Now there’s plenty of room for journaling and those coveted stamps.
Success… time to head home!
Yes… it’s the lone yellow interloper in my daylily bed.
Hemerocallis “Hyperion”. She’s a tall one.
In the front garden the Baptisia flowers are looooong gone, replaced by a multitude of the most amazing pods.
Here are the flowers again if you need a reminder.
Have a great weekend!
Just over a week ago I was able to spend a fabulous day sketching with 2 friends I found through Sketchbook Skool. We met at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to sketch together and catch up on all our various travels, classes and workshops.
We enjoyed the raptor visitor program and toyed with the idea of sketching the eagles but instead, we settled on painting the lovely view of the Ottauquechee River just a short walk from the main exhibit area. Landscapes have never been my forte so I jumped at the chance to practice, especially in the presence of my friends who are both more comfortable and more proficient at capturing the terrain.
Having decided against using my trusty fountain pen, I loosely and lightly sketched the rough outline of the marsh before pulling out one of my travel watercolor brushes. Sorry, I can’t remember which one; I only know I felt as if I was walking a tightrope without a net. Definitely out of my comfort zone!
Stillman & Birn Alpha 9″ x 6″, Daniel Smith Watercolors
The time just sailed by and only too soon we were saying our good-byes and scheduling our next get-together. Once I got home and really studied my spread I saw a few flaws that I thought were “fixable” using a few of the hints I gleaned during the day.
You can see that in my zeal to capture the reflections I totally neglected to draw the mountains that were reflected! Sheesh… what was I thinking! The other hint was to paint in a smudgy layer of color at the base of the rushes. Two small things that made a big difference.
Is it perfect? … far from it, but I’m pleased. I only know I have more practice time ahead of me… and with my friends encouraging me, I’ll enjoy every minute of it!
Dana Burrell... Art 