Botanical Drawing

Day 236: After many attempts which I wouldn't even show to my cat, I think I am gaining some skill in botanical drawing. I am finding that using graphite pencils allows me to include more detail, and although the temptation to add colour is strong, I am unsure how to effect it in a manner which will preserve the clarity of a plant's intricate morphology, i.e., those features which allow a botanist to separate one species from another. I chose Geranium robertianum...pesky, invasive Stinky Bob...for my subject because it was readily available and because I wanted something fairly easy for my first serious rendering. The leaves began to wilt even before I'd set the vase on the table beside me, and not long after, the blossom began to droop. Although I captured the flower in one go, the leaves had to be replenished before I could continue. Botanical drawing is very time-consuming, and I was not bothering with measurements for this first study. Perhaps I will map out future illustrations with scientific accuracy; for now, I was content to just get it on paper, hairy stems and all.

Digital Starling

Day 135: Yes, I'm getting a little hard-up for material here. If it ain't up a tree, it's covered in snow.

I envy people who can create "pencil sketch" images with a click of an app on their phones, or with a little more work, with Photoshop's utilities. I use PaintShop Pro for all my post-processing because years ago, it was recommended to me by a friend who was a graphic artist for a magazine, and she assured me that although it was more difficult to work with, it was more versatile. I committed myself to the program and have used it ever since. While it may be more versatile, it is definitely NOT more user-friendly, and many of the quick features available with phone apps can only be achieved by making complex series of individual adjustments to the base image. The user manual is decidedly vague and unhelpful. I've been trying for years to come up with the proper combination to execute a "pencil sketch" (the PSP option listed as "pencil sketch" does nothing more than apply a nearly-opaque layer to a photo), and this is as close as I have come. While I've achieved detail in the flecked feathers of this juvenile Starling, I still feel I still have a long way to go before I'm happy with the end product.

Mussie

Day 207: She was Clark to my Lewis, Watson to my Holmes. She was a full harness of Huskies pulling Robert Service through the savage Yukon night. We climbed Mt. Everest together, journeyed to the center of the Earth with Jules Verne and sailed to Polynesia with Thor Heyerdahl, sought the poles alternately with Scott or Christopher Robin as our expedition leader. No matter where the adventure might take us, I had only to suggest it and Mussie was by my side, stepping into her role.

A highly imaginative child, my forays into terra incognita nearly always occurred in some section of unmapped forest near my home. In those days, parents didn't worry about their children's safety as much as they do now. I'd already proved my woodsmanship at age 6 when my mother got us lost on a trailless ramble. As the sun sunk low in the sky and I kept insisting, "Mama, I can get us out," she gave in and let me lead. I brought us straight to the road with the unerring sense of direction which still stands me in good stead. Turning me loose with a lunch, a pocketknife and the injunction to be home for dinner, my mom helped set me on the path toward the outdoor lifestyle which is now my signature, and Mussie was often my only companion.

I've done a lot of post-processing to restore this sketch. The paper has long since gone to a yellowed grey. It is arguably the best of any of my artistic attempts, and certainly one done with a great love for my subject. I was 11 when I drew it, Mussie posing on my bed, and surely anxious to discover where we'd be off to in the morning.