Walking in the sand

On Monday we went for a walk along one of our local sandy beaches. The tide was out, so it was one vast expanse of sand. We walked for about one hour exploring the tide line and seeing how the weather and sea had changed the shape of the beach and sand dunes. We explored the little Limestone outcrop before returning .
It took longer than the hour as I stopped to collect more oak leaves and pieces of blue china from the debris that littered the sandy beach. The interesting objects that the sea had gathered here could easily fill my sketch book, but I just selected the objects that I wanted to draw. From all the many tiny shells, I chose this blue striped one to match the blue tones in the sea washed oak leaves and my piece of blue pottery.
It is now another page in my square book, painted in acrylic paints, my palette of blue, brown, yellow ochre and white using my number 6 sable brush. Grains of sand dropped on my page from the objects. I love how everything always looks so beautiful in the sand on the beach.

Page Three

I had a new smart black 10 inch square sketch book. I like the shape and the size of my new book. What will I draw in it? Somehow it seemed the right shape for my first drawing of this year, then I used it for the sycamore leaf and branch and here is page three. The paper is a little thin and someone spied the image of the red berries showing through.
This busy little arrangement feels so me, my red berries collected in the snow under the Hawthorne tree. The little leaves which seem to dance in a line and and an empty snail shell. They are objects that I have seen all my life, I know the time of the year by the state of the berries and their colour. The patterns of the little leaves scattered on the ground in autumn, I notice them on my walks just as I did as a child.
Why do we draw what we draw? I read somewhere, "Draw what excites you, what gives you joy." I draw the things I know, each year I see them but they still give me joy when I find them. They remind me of where I live, who I am, where I belong.
My drawings are like a diary, a calendar, a record of walks and people and places.
A new year to capture, so "Page three" of my square book it is.
It is painted in acrylic paint, my palette of red, blue, brown, yellow ochre and a little white in the snail shell. They are simple things but to me very beautiful objects. Hope you like them too.
Thought you might like to see a few of the real specimens.

Trapped in the ice

I went for a walk in the snow. The roads were very slippery. Everywhere was white except for the dark shapes of trees and stone walls. Even the little rivers and streams were frozen. It all looked so pretty, we don't see this snow scene very often.
I kept finding the tiny dark sycamore helicopters in the snow. Then a dark leaf covered in the black spots, it was trapped under the ice. I carried the piece of ice with my leaf and brought it home to draw. The little branch with three doubles came home too. My little drawing was painted with acrylic inks.
I also found some red berries but they are featuring in another drawing soon.
Thank you for the lovely comments.

My First Drawing this Year

On the first day of the year I went for a walk on the frosty shore and admired the beautiful scenery, the snow capped Lakeland hills. I kept seeing images of oak leaves trapped under the ice. My eyes constantly scanning for the objects washed up by the sea in the tide line. I saw plastic objects, glass bottles, assorted balls, drink cans, metal objects and lighters littering the shore.
Of more interest to me, a huge tangle of natural objects clung to the wire fences separating the grassy shore from the fields. I was not alone, a crowd of young bullocks pushed and shoved against the fence for the best view, curious to see me poking amongst the debris. They followed me as I examined and picked through this giant fishing net for interesting finds. It possessed seaweeds, shells, mermaids purses, a birds skull, feathers, acorns, leaves, berries, a fir cone and many lovely oak leaves, all tangled up with grasses and string. More objects trapped in the ice, gave some fascinating patterns, but I had no camera with me.
It was a bitterly cold day, but very inspiring and reminded me how much I love this place. I have sorted through some of the bits I collected that day, put them together in this drawing together with the fragments of pottery I have found. It will always remind me of that day, the blue sky and my bag of odds and ends found on the frosty shore. Hope you like it. It is painted with acrylic inks and a paintbrush.

The Seeds of Time

I love all the different seed heads in all their amazing shapes. Nature is the designer, tiny seeds held in little pockets and beautiful intricate designs just waiting to fly or sprinkle or blow on the wind. My pencil drawings were done a while ago and the seeds collected from the Snakehead fritillary.
I think a blog is just like Seed dispersal as it spreads and then grows, read by people all over the world, seeds scattered to far corners of the globe. So to everyone who reads this I wish you the very best and "A HAPPY NEW YEAR". And thank you for all the lovely comments you leave me, they are appreciated.
I would love to hear from you and how far my little blog has reached.
It is a beautiful sunny bright day, snow on the hills and very chilly. I am just going for my first walk in this new year 2010, to see what I find, then maybe some drawing.
Millyx