Oh the Night Sky...

  

I’ll always be grateful for having dogs in our lives.  They’ve kept me connected to the night sky whether from the ‘last call pee trips’ before bed or the thankfully seldom wee hours of the morning ‘I’ve got the runs’ trips.  Probably TMI there!

During the last pee trip on July 31st, the sky was so lovely! I didn’t care that is was 11 pm, the sky had to be captured in my journal.  For those that have followed my art journey for a while, you know I’ve a passion for the moon... (see past posts here).  When I paint plein air at night, I have a setup that includes a portable LED light so that I can see my palette and paper.  There was no time to pull that setup out. 

I grabbed the little 3x5 Stillman and Birn Alpha Journal out of my purse along with a waterbrush and Art Tool Kit palette. Out to the driveway I went. The car hood served as my support, the porch light behind me as a faint light source.  Saturn and Jupiter were chasing the waxing moon. A Longleaf Pine framed the beauty.   The scene was captured using the direct watercolor technique (no sketching).  The paper stayed quite damp with the humid air.  I used whiteout for Saturn and Jupiter and a bit on the moon.  I added ink the next morning.

I so love the immediacy of working plein air!

10-Minute Tuesday Series Begins

As a celebration for fast sketching and a goal to create more accurate quick sketches, I've created a personal challenge to post a weekly sketch that was created in up to 10 minutes. 

I haven't had my bird feeders up in over a year.  Life was just a bit full and I let one of the things that brings me so much pleasure, slip by the wayside.  May I suggest if this happens to you, try and hold on and make time for those small pleasures in your life.  They are so healing.  We all need to take care of ourselves, so we can put our best foot forward.

Tools used: Platinum Carbon Fountain Pen, Art Tool Kit Palette with a mix of Daniel Smith and M. Graham watercolors, Pentel Waterbrush, Stillman & Birn Gamma Series Journal.

This sketch was created with a combination of observation through my binoculars and cementing the titmouse's body posture in my mind (or at least tried to), then immediately sketched what I remembered.  I love sketching with ink - no time for judgement, just get what's in your mind's eye down. 

Terrifyingly freeing : )