Sketching the Transition

Sketch made with Cotman pan watercolors and water brush

I did a watercolor sketch of these two leaves that the kids picked up for me on our walk home from the first day of school. They know I can't resist the beautiful autumn colors and are kind enough to feed my addicition. I did the sketch while sitting in the car waiting at our last summer activity. One thing ends as another begins.

I love the way leaves change color starting around the veins and the tips. I think the prettiest leaves are ones like this which still wear some of their summer colors with their bold autumn accents.

As for the sketches, I like the smaller leaf the best. It was the second one I did, and I felt when I was painting it I finally had the hang of working with two water brushes. During the first sketch I was much more worried about dropping a brush while switching back and forth and either getting paint on me or on the car.

I did both of the sketches pretty quickly with no preliminary drawing. In fact it took almost as long to retrieve the cap to my one water brush from under the seat as it did to complete the sketch of the small leaf. One of the hazards of painting in the car I guess!

Looking Forward

Hawk Mountain South Lookout, Kempton, PA

Summer is coming to a close here. In most of the US, Labor Day is the unofficial end to the summer, but in our area the kids go back to school this coming week. School means the end of those carefree summer days.

And what a summer it has been! My kids say best summer ever and I have to agree. There have been trips to the shore with days spent on the beach and nights on the boardwalk. Visits to water parks. Time spent with family and friends. Afternoons cooling off at the pool. Cookouts, parades, festivals and fireworks. A zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park for the kids. Hiking and a few date nights for the adults. Summer is a magical, fun-filled time and we certainly are going to miss it.

I did manage to squeeze some work in among all the fun, and I will be sharing it here over the next few weeks. Look for sketches, additions to the tap dancing series and even a new watercolor or two.

Also, all the fun in the sun has ignited my creative spark. I have a lot of ideas calling out to become new drawings or paintings. I've been rethinking my schedule and art related priorities these past several weeks and am now looking forward to a productive fall.

So yes I will miss the long summer days filled with ice cream and sunscreen, but knowing football, apple cider, cool autumn nights and colorful leaves are right around the corner makes it easy to look ahead with anticipation.

Hawk Mountain North Lookout, Kempton, PA