Having some fun making accordion sketchbooks. Here I am incorporating several things that I have seen over the week into one spread: spiderwebs ( it got mild!), robins, starlings, beginnings of snowdrops and some Mycena spp. On the reverse are: Osoberry budding out, Mr. Quail who sported a noteworthy double plume and fog…. lots of fog this week, through the forest.
Old Man Winter
Paint and pastel musings on paper. I think I caught a glimpse of Old Man Winter passing through the woods. Just out of the corner of my eye.
Migration Lines
This small oil painting ( I finally finished) is somewhat misnamed as our local wren doesn’t migrate, but he is definitely thinking about setting out and finding some new territory of his own. He’s had his eye on that corner lot at the creek, you know, where the old fir fell across the water? It has a nice mix of ferns there and salal.
Red-winged Blackbird
This small watercolour on Yupo was inspired by our stay at Nanoose Bay, Inn at the Estuary. If you want to feast your eyes on nature from your own private room or in your own outdoor bathtub, this is the place.
Yupo is fun to work with. Fun, frustrating and tricky. I do like the extreme chaos the the watercolour on plastic and yet trying to control the wet flow around the details of claws, eye and beak had me grinding my teeth. One should not have to wear a mouth guard to paint on Yupo.
Colours of the Shoreline
Requiem
“Due to ongoing logging of old-growth forests scientists estimate that less than six owls now remain in the wild in Canada. Currently biologists have been able to locate only three adult spotted owls, including a breeding pair residing in the unceded territory of the Nlaka'pamux community of Spô’zêm (Spuzzum) First Nation, located in the Fraser Canyon area near Hope BC. On February 25, 2021 he BC government announced a one year deferral of logging in Spô’zêm Nation territory - home to Canada's last surviving breeding pair of spotted owls in the wild. The historic population of spotted owls is estimated to have been 500 pairs.”
The Marbled Murrelet
The Marbled Murrelet was once known as the "Australian Bumble Bee" by fishermen and as the "fogbird" or "fog lark" by loggers and fishermen. These nicknames reflect the bird’s foggy coastal habitat, its frequent calling even at sea, and plump shape and whirring wings in flight.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Marbled_Murrelet/overview
I know I will probably never see a Marbled Murrelet, but it is nice to know they are out there, for now. Logging old growth forests and Murrelet reproduction don’t mix as they need old growth trees ( over 200 years old) in which to reproduce.
Marbled Murrelet - non-breeding plummage
Marbled Murrelet - breeding plummage
Old Growth Logging
Decisions being made in the old growth;
To log or not to log.
An insane question.
Can’t uncut those trees.
This is not a poem.
Apparently it is acceptable to log AROUND the nesting owls…
Maybe we need to read “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss once more.
Planning a Painting
Planning out a painting of a Turkey Vulture but first working it out in pencil. Turkey Vultures, as you know, are a very, very dark brown and makes it tricky to make out the subtle layering. Then, there is the so very delicate head, poised above all that soft plumage. Watercolour or oil? Have yet to decide. Why not both? All good practice for a most favourite bird of mine.
Kinglet
This is a combination of three tutorial exercises: painting the bird, learning to paint berries and learning to paint the leaves. I sketched the three exercises onto watercolour paper and gave it a whirl bouncing between two online teachers.
Visit Paul Hopkinson at the www.devonartist.co.uk and also Billy Showell at www.billyshowell.com.
Kinglet. Watercolour