December Days

Now that December has arrived it has brought with it some bitterly cold weather.  The birds are coming into the garden and feeding on the red berries. The ground was littered in the half eaten fruit.  A very tame  blackbird prefers to hop by the kitchen window,  it seems to know we will instantly throw some bread outside.  I would like to think this was a blackbird who was born and raised in our garden and he knows it is a safe place to be.  We had a nest in the ivy and it would be so nice if it was our blackbird.
We heard the birds singing early today,  as it was such a lovely morning and the sun was streaming into the back of the house.   Outside it  was cold and frosty but such a beautiful  bright day,  and as we drove up and over the moors we admired the sight of the snow covered Lakeland hills.  The view looked spectacular, huge white shapes and a clear blue sky.
 The December landscape is now stripped bare and it is easy to see the patterns of the stone walls and the dark linear shapes of the trees showing their structure of trunks and branches.  We passed lots of little woods where we could glance through the tall trees and see the dead and dry woodland floor, everywhere in pale shades of browns and  then the bright rusty coloured bracken which glows in the sunlight.
It was bitterly cold as we wandered around the market town, as the market traders blew into their hands and danced from foot to foot  trying desperately to keep warm.  Hats, scarves and gloves were essential and everyone seemed to move around quickly doing their business and avoiding staying out longer than needed.  Our journey home was so pretty in the sunlight, as the sun was so low in the sky it cast a pink glow and made the dark trees stand out even more.  As we reached home it was almost sunset and we witnessed a deep pink sky  on this clear frosty evening.  It was lovely to return to a warm fireside.

   My drawing is a simple collection of some of some of the  berries off the ground,  a red leaf found  alongside them and a twin sycamore seed.  I really liked the dark edges of the red leaf and the way the sycamore is also turning darker.  Six red berries in a line just felt right and completed the composition.
I chose red, yellow ochre, sepia and black  and all of the shades were mixed from the four inks.
 I used the thin brush and every tiny line was made slowly as I meticulously painted the objects.

I wanted to really capture the delicate qualities of these winter objects and their colours and shapes.

I used red and yellow ochre for the leaf, red and black for the darker shades at the edges. Sepia and yellow ochre and a little of the dark edge mix on the sycamore.

The finished drawing.

I had a little helper.
I have been knitting a tiny cardigan and some warm blankets this week for a little birthday girl. And of course the mouse wanted to help paint!                                                              


Thank you for your comments. Hope you enjoy seeing what I have been drawing and knitting for my little friends birthday. Hope you are all keeping warm and cosy.                  
Best wishes to everyone.    Millyx