Monday 23 January 2012

I went for a walk across the shore on a beautiful bright sunny day and collected a bag full of objects. Since then the weather has really changed with a drop in the temperature and some stormy days.  I am preparing to work on a page of beach objects in brown inks.  On Sunday  I chose the oak leaf,  piece of fern and the two red berries from this collection and added the skeleton leaf for this little composition.  This beautiful leaf was in my garden and I picked it up as I walked down the path to my door and I knew instantly I had to draw it.   As I have been playing with my new "dip in" pen and ink I decided this was a perfect subject for the fine nib of the pen.
I drew the shape of the leaf with all the intricate lace patterns with a pencil and then started to fill in the lines with the pen and sepia calligraphy ink.  I loved the detail and tried to capture all the tiny lines,  and although it was a very slow process dipping in the pen and using the ink it felt really nice and relaxing.  I had my head down for many hours engrossed and eventually  I managed to complete it adding a little grey ink with a fine paintbrush.   
Then I used my acrylic inks to paint the oak leaf, a curling piece of fern and two berries. I used green, sepia, grey and red to mix my colours.  I used the ink pen to give outlines to them, and also on the veins of the oak leaf as I experiment with pen and ink.
It was quite a stormy day,  I could heard the wind whistling through the house and hailstones showers peppering  the glass at the windows, with a really dark threatening sky. I was content to draw all day.  Late into the afternoon, I realised the paper looked whiter and brighter, as I looked up I noticed the room seemed lighter too.  I thought the day must have improved and the sun was showing through the clouds.  To my surprise as I gazed out of the window I saw the most wonderful rainbow, a double one.  So I thought I would share it with you, the view from my garden.
I have now reached page three in my square book.  Meanwhile my other new book is home to many different pens and drawing pencils in brown and sepia tones, as I experiment with them. If you use inks or sepia, do you have any hints, a particular brand you could recommend? I will let you see how I progress with my sea objects in sepia as soon as it is completed. 
Hope you like the leaves.  

Thank you for the lovely comments.                             Millyx

10 comments:

Feathers said...

Sounds like you had a lovely day working on your latest gatherings. It's easy to get "lost" in a lacy skeleton of a leaf like that. Your weather sounds much like what we are getting here in Michigan today, wind and rain, snow melting, temps in low 40's F.-- not a fit day to be outside, but inside at the drawing table--heaven!

Melody said...

I absolutely love a stormy day, they are perfect for hunkering inside to create ~ guilt free! :)
Love your leaves, the detail is wonderful, you have MUCH patience!
Any pots of gold at the ends of the rainbows? :)))))

suz said...

The skeleton of the leaf is so delicate - what a beautiful piece of work.

martinealison said...

L'an dernier une de mes chères clientes m'a apporté des encres de sa région.
Ce sont des encres "les couleurs Cévenoles" Musée du scribe.
Ce sont des encres naturelles.

J'admire le souci du détail dans vos dessins. Bravo !
Gros bisous à vous

Raggle Taggle Gypsy Girl said...

Love your work.....The detail is meticulous and wonderful....

Frances said...

Hello Milly. I do like those leaves very much and can well imagine what fun you had with that pen and ink!

I am hoping to have another go with my new acrylic inks this weekend. Today's also a day off, but I am doing errands and meeting a great friend over at The Metropolitan Museum of Art later on. Lots of inspiration there, too.

The rainbow photo is marvelous, with that contrast of shimmering colors against the deep grey sky.

It is such a pleasure to visit here. xo

Acornmoon said...

I like the new look for your blog and especially enjoyed looking once again at your lovely fabrics.

The dip pen has been put to very good use, the sepia line drawing shows your drawing strengths to perfection.

I imagine living where you do is a good place to star gaze?

Dreaming Woods said...

most i do love the painting of that fern, there is just something very beautiful about them.

we have so much snow in here, about 60cm now or more. no hillside walks for me.

Mary said...

Awesome as always! Love how you used calligraphy ink too - such beautiful leaves, even when skeletonized.

Perfect rainbow to light your work - do you ever get a painful neck bending for so long Eileen?

Hugs - Mary

Beth Niquette said...

As always...I'm just amazed by how you see the world. Thank you for sharing your art with the rest of us!