Colours of Autumn.

It has gone cold here.  The day started with a frosty morning and I have been happy to stay indoors and finish my drawing of the little branches that I collected from the garden.  The birds have eaten many of the berries but there are still many hanks left.  As I selected the branch it was the three coloured leaves which caught my eye, three leaves in three colours, green, orange and yellow.  A  lovely example of Autumn colour and how nature loves to surprise.

  I decided to record this branch and the berries. So I sketched them in pencil

And then I thought for a change I would use acrylic paints. I squeezed some brown, yellow, red, and green onto my saucer.  It felt strange using the thick acrylic paint after using the inks.

 I started with the leaves,

                                         and then the browns on the branches,

Then the red berries, as I carefully painted the red making sure the paint is put on and leaving the white paper for the shine. Then the little branch of cotoneaster added to the page, such tiny leaves and the red berries that the birds love. And we are finished.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the work in progress, and the finished drawing is here.

 Give away Winners. Thank you for the 24 comments , including the four emails and you were all entered into the give away. All names folded and placed in a bowl.

I asked my husband to pick the winner from the names in the bowl.  The winner was ALISSA DUKE who will receive the copy of the drawing and goody bag.  Two others will also receive a folder of my artcards, they are Gill and R H Carpenter, also drawn out by my husband.  Please can you leave me a postal address and I will post them to you.
Thank you all, it was really nice to read all your comments, and useful to hear your thoughts.          Millyx
The photographs were taken after dark, sorry for the quality, it is dark at 4pm.

Hares and Red berries

I have been collecting some branches of red berries.  You know they are a favourite subject for me and they look so bright and shiny on the gloomy grey days.  We have had our first little shower of snow and it brought the frosty mornings and a drop in the temperature.  This is when I love to sew and knit and I have been making some little lavender cushions. I picked the lavender and dried it by the fire and then had the job of sorting out the seeds from all the other bits of stalk. The whole house had the smell of lavender drifting in every room and so I decided to use my lovely Hares again. I made one for me and then one for my friend and it is hanging in her house in Wales.

This hare is now in Wales

   I am a huge fan of handmade things, baskets, knitting, sewing, patchwork and cross stitch are some of my favourites. I have made many special gifts over the years using these crafts and  wish I had more time to sew.    The stash of fabric is ready and waiting for some lovely patchworks. In the meantime I can start and finish little projects like the lavender cushions and  I so enjoyed using the fabric knowing it is my drawings of the hares, makes it even more special.

My hare drawings on the lovely "peony and sage" linen  which I sewed into a lavender cushion

I came home with the branches of red berries and some dried seed heads. I felt they were a reflection of my walk as I kept seeing images of the tall sculptural plants along the hedgerows.

They are here pictured in my hand. I tried to capture that feeling of the dried cow parsley seed heads and the branch of  bright red berries.

 I used a dip in pen and sepia ink for the seed heads and then painted the red berries with a paint brush and acrylic inks.  It feels rather like a lino print and a little different from my usual work but I enjoyed doing it and had fun.  Red berries tells me it is getting near to the festive seasons, and i will let them dry and use them for decoration later in the year.

Hope you like the picture.  I bet you all like the Hares more!  Thank you for your lovely comments. Next time it will be  my 200th post so  I will be having a  little give away, so please join in and some one will win a prize by me.                Millyx

The fabric with my hare drawings, made into lavender cushions by me.

They are lovely and smell wonderful  around the house.  

Seashore, Butterfly and Hare.

I have had a busy time enjoying a lovely walk along one of my favourite sandy beaches.  I collected lots of beautiful shells and some seaweed and feathers.  I always try not to gather too much but it never works because as soon as I see a pretty shell, well how can I resist it when it looks so small and so lovely.  The trouble is I feel like this about so many of the found objects and so I end up with all of this.

I went for all the lovely blue shells, see how gorgeous they look  as I washed them and arranged them on a plate.  Then I washed my feathers so I could include some in a drawing.

Now to choose,  I take a few shells and the delicate seaweed and make a start sketching them on my paper.

 Then off to my Tai Chi class and back home to sit and paint  for the rest of the afternoon and all evening. Inks, water and paintbrush ready.  It is dark so quickly now we have changed the clocks,  so this is how I spent my evening cosy by the fire with my drawing board balancing on my knee and listening to the radio.

Just enough for one evening and looking nice.
 Next day I  chose some feathers and some more lovely shells and added them to the page.

All finished and a record of my beach walk.  My photograph shows  how the view out to sea is now changing as more and more windmills appear on the horizon.

I really wanted this amazing piece of seaweed in the water,  it was just fascinating and I played with it and arranged the leaves and then photographed it.  The tide had been up and left it stranded in a little pool.  I would have loved to draw it,  but as I always draw from the real object it was a little on the large size to bring home!  You can see some of my tiny shells in the water.

The other day I found something else I would have loved to keep, a perfect butterfly in our garden.  It just sat for so long,  long enough to take some photographs. It sat on my husband's hand,  so well behaved and then off she went, up, up and away.

Now for the Hares.  Last March I went on a book making course and made two different handmade books.  So have I used my new skills?   I knew that I would make a book with my hare drawing on the front.  On Saturday with a whole day to myself  I finally got around to making it.  I was afraid that I would not be able to remember all the instructions but me being me, I had made lots of notes and it all went well and hours later I had my book glued and finished.  I  was adventurous and made my own style with three tapes and larger than the one we made at the course with two tapes.   I am thrilled with my hand stitched "Hare book".

The pages are stitched and ready to glue the front and back in place.

My first ever photo collage.

My beautiful handmade Book with my hare drawings.
 You can buy this Hare Linen fabric at "Peony and Sage".
So there you have my week.  Hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been doing .
Millyx


Thank you for your comments which I always enjoy reading.
Please do not take my drawings,  Please respect my copyright and ownership.

Sunny October Days

 It was love at first sight with this wonderfully coloured Gourd.  I saw it outside a shop and immediately  went inside and bought it.  Sadly it has taken me a while to find the time to draw it but I think I have given it the respect it deserves.  My Dad used to grow these for me, all kinds of fascinating shaped specimens which I could then choose from to draw.

 I sketched it in pencil and then painted it with three colours of my acrylic ink.....Flame red, Yellow ochre and Sap Green.   The red and yellow created all the orange tones.  I used the red to darken the green.   Look at all the different shades on the plate, created by mixing the three colours.

 I used a new brush, Aquafine by Daler Rowney, it was a script liner number 3, it was very nice to use , if not a little hard on my eyes but made lovely fine lines. I also used a sable 3. It was painted in little pockets of time over four days, about twelve hours work. I really enjoyed  drawing this gourd with all the lumps  and bumps, and I loved recording all the detail and texture.

We have been enjoying some beautiful sunny days and each day I have managed to get out and take a walk. For a change we headed up hill and around the lanes in our village. The view above shows our estuary and the railway line which loops right around the shore in a horse shoe shape and then travels up the west coast.

 I like this gate,  it is the entrance to a very steep field.  When we were children we would run down it and it was so steep we could not stop until we reached the bottom.  We used to scream as we ran down, then laugh when we safely reached the bottom.  Sometimes there was a herd of cows and their young calves which chased us! The frisky young calves would  join in  and run after us, we ran even faster, our hearts beating so fast and we screamed louder with fear. So very relieved to climb the next gate and into another safer field where we then laughed louder.  We were great at running on sports day!

 The views to the North of the Lake land hills.

 There were lots of seed heads standing so tall above the stone walls.

 The red berries on the hawthorn trees, once a thick hedgerow now twisted and bent with the elements.

 All the walls are getting old and wobbly,  ferns growing on the top.  All hand built from the local stone which is still quarried in the village.

 The view to the west, showing the opening to the estuary and the open sea where the hundreds of windmills are being erected. The tide is just coming in and will cover all the sand with sea water.  This is where I was last week, see my last post.
Every where looked so fresh and green after lots of rainfall. The rain water drains off the higher ground and the moors, last week this road had water running down each side and it caused some flooding in the village.  Many homes were sand bagged to protect the water from getting into their houses,  lots of stones and debris was carried downhill as the water gathered speed and scattered it along the roads.  The drains struggled to take the volume of water as many rivers swelled and burst their banks and many local roads were flooded.

It has been lovely having the blue sky and sunshine, fine days with  crisp views and now the frosty mornings.  The shore was covered in a blanket of white frost and  looked so pretty.  Hope you are having some nice days. Glad  you visited and  enjoyed the walk with me.  Thank you for the lovely comments which I really appreciate. Photographs of the village by my husband.
See you soon.                                                            Millyx

Collecting feathers

 It was a bright sunny day and we went for a walk down to a local sandy beach a few miles from us.  It was another day to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, as the days are getting shorter and much cooler.
We parked the car and wandered along  the well worn footpath on top of the sand dunes to the beach. And I said, "please don't let me collect anything today".  He just laughed and then asked, "Why? "
Of course he knew the answer as he knows better than anyone about my collecting habits!   Moments later I am picking up a feather,  then I put it down and walked away. But I really wanted the feather, so I went back and stuck it into the sand and said if I still wanted it I would collect it on our way back.

 We had not gone too far and there was another lovely feather, and another and he kept laughing as I placed them standing up in the sand.  Or perhaps should I take them now in case they blew away or we miss  them on the way back?     I am trying to resist by convincing myself there is no need to take them as I still have acorns and leaves and blackberries and red berries and sycamore sitting at home with a promise of being drawn,  all freshly collected from recent walks.
The day was beautiful, the views wonderful and that feelings of  freedom with this vast expanse of  space stretching out before us,  which is why I love being anywhere on the shore.  We wandered along the sandy beach and I see so many things I want to draw and I just have to pick them up and I failed miserably on the no collecting rule.

                                                                               This was my bag,  a small bag I found in my pocket which I managed to  fill with feathers, beautiful feathers and  some shells and a piece of seaweed that I could not bear to leave.  The larger gull feathers all have  fascinating  white spots which will make great drawing subjects.  And  the brown and white feathers  belong to the curlews, too lovely to resist and a few pretty shells thrown in for good measure.

 This is the view of the estuary with our village is on the right in the distance.  It was such a quiet day with just a few other people out for a walk,  all this to share.  The little tidal river weaves its way  towards our shore but soon all of this sand  will be covered with water as the tide comes in.  Along the way I found the two mermaids purses and the big fat bubble of seed weed in the tide line and I knew they would be part of my drawing.

 I like all of the objects,  each one picked up from the beach on such a nice Sunday afternoon.  And on the way back my feathers were waiting for me.....well if it makes me happy...no harm done....as the old folk used to say.

 And while I collected feathers my husband collected some beautiful photographs of the old boats.

 And as for the clutter.... I managed to draw a blackberry or two.

 Hope you liked the picture and the feathers, something tells  me  there will be lots more feather drawings soon. Thank you to my husband for the photographs.
My drawings are here for others to share and enjoy, please do not take my drawings, respect my ownership.

Thank you for the comments and emails.  I really do appreciate your comments and thoughts and to all the lovely people who let me know how much they enjoy my blog.
 Many thanks to you all.       Milly x

MY Drawings from Nature

I was asked the other day why I blog.
 The answer was easy,  I started blogging to share my art work.   I feel very lucky to live in a beautiful place and it is the countryside and the natural surroundings which inspire me to draw.  As a teacher it was my job to teach and my own enthusiasm was something that motivated the children in our art lessons.  I often meet children I taught and it is always the art work they talk about, memories of lessons drawing fresh fish or making paper or  printing,  enjoyable art lessons that left a memory.   To be a teacher was to pass on skills and encourage others to use their own skills and talents.   I share my art work  on this  blog to do just that and from the lovely comments I am often told I have inspired others to draw.
I am happy to hear this.
BUT,   I am feeling very unhappy about the way other people feel they have a right to take my artwork.   I have seen lots of my drawings on Pinterest......none of it with any requests or permission from me.  One person asked me if she could use it,  I did give her permission but also asked her to take one or two,  my work is here to view.   She then chose not to use any.
I do get requests.   I  have been asked if it would be possible to use a piece of  my work to print on a shirt, (from someone who already taken  it as their facebook header),  several requests for a body tattoo.   Someone wanted it for a business card and company logo, once for  wedding stationary and I could go on...... For free,  mention a payment and all goes quiet.  I could go on.
One person who took my Fritillary drawing and put it on her pinterest, she did add a link back to here,  but did not bother to ask.   When I found her and went to her blog,  a textile student,  it was very interesting to read  "her work was not to used or taken or used " etc  by anyone,  which was written under every post.   I think that is called double standards,  use other peoples work but nobody touch mine.
Well this is MY drawing.  All of MY work which I spend a lot of time drawing,  it is here to inspire and not to be used freely,  not to be copied.
I think the word inspired is misunderstood by many people,  they should have written I copied this.
I do not have adverts on this blog,  nor do I  earn money by people visiting this blog.  BUT  I am rather fed up of other sites  using MY  name "Drawingsfromnatureblog"  as a means of directing and generating traffic  and income to their sites.
MY  ART WORK,   MY DRAWINGS,   MY COPYRIGHT. and   ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED .

For all the lovely people all over the world who visit my blog to see my drawings and share a love of nature, here is my latest drawing.   I have made some wonderful friends over the years and  have enjoyed being inspired by the many kind people and friendship and support.  I have comments and emails from school children  who enjoy my drawings and adults  who appreciate seeing  where I live and photographs of this beautiful area.  It is lovely to know it gives pleasure to others by sharing my drawings.

Last weekend we walked on a local beach a few miles from us.  It was a misty day and feeling cooler.  I walked along the tide line and of course had to collect some feathers.  A huge dragonfly flew past and I hoped we might find one.  The little rock outcrop is where we walked to, from here we could look into the estuary to our village in the distance, the slate quarry and moors.

I collected some feathers and shells and seaweed.  The fine sand was blowing and  I was glad I had sunglasses to protect my eyes.

The wind blowing the sand across the shore

 Plenty of sand here. And lots of treasures of feathers and sea weeds and shells and china.

We saw several woolly caterpillars.

And then, it went very cloudy, very dark. Time to leave.

We managed to get home just as it started to rain and rain and rain, lots of that lately.

The pencil drawing of the feather was a gulls feather I found on the sand .  The four eggs were painted with my acrylic inks and a fine sable brush, which I spend many hours carefully  painting.  Hope you like them and enjoyed the beach walk.                                      Millyx