On A Grey Day

It is a very grey day here today. The clouds have been getting darker and darker and the rain has never stopped.  It is quite appropriate that I should be painting with grey.  I walked home in the rain on Thursday and collected these two leaves. The red berries were so bright and glossy in the rain and I couldn't resist picking these little branches off the ground and the empty snail shell came home too.

It has been raining quite a lot lately. I don't really mind.  My bulbs are planted and I will be happy to see the spring flowers.  Another 120 new fritillary bulbs have been added to the garden.  I just love them and feel excited at the very thought of them next April and May, drawing them again and capturing some lovely chequered patterns on the flowers.  They are one of my favourite flowers, as seen on my header.

As I was gardening this little fellow came hopping out and I managed to captured him.  He must surely be camouflaged amongst the autumn leaves.  How he gets into my garden I will never know but he is very welcome.  He disappeared between some stones, maybe that is where he lives.

When the rain stopped and the sun shone we wandered through the muddy wet lanes.  I collected a bag of lovely autumn colours and brought them home.  I felt really inspired and placed them all on the big plate to admire.  I knew I didn't have time to draw them but I can still enjoy looking.   The acid green and dark leaves are the ones I have painted, at the next stage in their life when they go completely black and have a grey underside.

When I saw them in the rain they looked very dramatic , wet  glossy black and dull grey. I carried the two grey and black leaves  home and the bright red berries and knew I had to capture them.  So two days of drawing and here is the finished picture......freshly painted today!

It felt really nice to draw again.  I lost myself in the painting listening to the wild wind and the rain on this stormy grey day.     Here are some stages of the drawing.

Sketching it out in pencil and getting the objects ready to paint.

I used acrylic paint and a fine brush.  Grey, white, black, sepia brown, green and red.

I love snail shells, the colours and patterns are beautiful.

The leaves have curled in the heat of the room. And you know how much I love red berries.

 My collection from the walk last week, the little apples and red berries went outside for the birds.

I have not been drawing as I have another project on the go, been cutting out and sewing a patchwork.  I will share that when it is finished.  I have also been knitting, some very useful hand warmers to wear as I am working on my sewing.  Somehow I always want to sew and knit in the dark evenings, better for my eyes too. I have about four different knitting projects half done, things to wear in the cold winter months.

                                   Looking forward to more of these next year.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my drawings and I hope you are all keeping warm, I am sitting next to a cosy fire in the wood burner.  It has been dark here all day and my grey photograph was taken at four o'clock and it was so dark outside.
When I wake up to a bright day and the view,  I will see it again with new eyes.

Thank you  for the lovely comments, it  is so nice to find them. I enjoyed reading each one, so thank you.
See you soon.       Millyx