Garden: Eventually, Spring WILL come...

Last night I was looking at pictures of my garden taken during the past year.  Did you know that we had snow on March 22nd of last year?  And very few signs of new growth until mid-to-late April (when the next batch of photos was taken)?  Even though I am growing weary of the cold and the rain and the perpetual overcast, I know that the full flush of spring is at least a couple of months away.  I wish I'd had this perspective last year when I was running around to every area nursery frantically looking for a couple of plants I NEEDED for my newly remodeled garden beds.  What craziness that was!  I was willing to drive all over and to pay top dollar for tiny little baby plants.  By the end of the season, those much-sought-after plants were available everywhere--and they were bigger and cheaper, too.  At least two of them aren't even living in my garden anymore after I decided to go in a different design direction.

So, although I AM pleased to note some early signs of spring--I am trying not to become unduly excited about it quite yet.

Early blooms on the neighbor's cherry.

But, there are some signs that spring is stirring.  First up are the blooms on my neighbor's ancient cherry tree.  It is one of the first trees in the neighborhood to break into bloom every year and it is full of bloom, actually.  I wonder how many years this tree has left--it has been completely defoliated every year for the last 4-5 years by some sort of pest or disease.  It leafs out again every time, but I think it must be close to exhausting whatever energy reserves it has available.  I have mixed feelings about this tree because I don't like the heavy rain of diseased leaves that it showers on my garden every year.  But I do appreciate the early spring blooms and the backdrop that it furnishes for my garden--you can see this tree in the background of nearly every picture that I take of my front yard.  I will miss it when it finally succumbs to old age or disease.  I am certainly enjoying it now.

Next up--the first seedlings are breaking ground!  This seedling, with its impossibly long and narrow leaves, is Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) that I direct sowed last year.  One day, it will look like this:

Mature Sweet Cicely plant.  Photo from Wikimedia Commons (Source)

It's a good thing that my mom warned me that the primary leaves don't hint at the appearance of the finely divided leaves of the mature plant.  

I encouraged the self-seeding (last year) of several other plants--astrantias, Digitalis parviflora, Centranthus ruber (the white variety) and Ammi majus.  I don't know for sure what any of the seedlings look like, so I'll be keeping a close eye on whatever sprouts and weeding cautiously.

And finally, we have the crocus.  These are naturalized in several of the garden beds.  

Crocus.  And adjacent squirrel digging.  The squirrels
have been REALLY active during the last day or so. 

And there you have it--definite signs of approaching spring!

Illustration Friday: Twisted

The topic this week, for Illustration Friday, was "twisted".  I chose to draw a soft pretzel.

Illustration Friday: Prehistoric

This week's topic for Illustration Friday was "Prehistoric".  I went with my gut and drew the first thing that came to mind--"What happens in prehistory STAYS…in prehistory".  It was a drawing that took a long time to complete and even though I was not happy with it, I stuck with my new focus on finishing projects instead of abandoning them at the first moment of dissatisfaction. 

However, because I was unsatisfied with "What happens in prehistory…", I went on to draw a second picture in a very different style.  The second is first (below)…

Baby Dino

This piece is part of an ongoing experiment in making textured backgrounds to accompany simple, childlike illustrations.  For this piece, I used multiple watercolor washes, salt, alcohol, and various resists. I have yet to discover an appropriate tool for doing the line work--the paper gets roughened by all the watercolor activity and pens or brushes tend to catch and wreck the line.  Then again, it's been quite a while since I last picked up some of these tools, so maybe fluency will return with practice.  And I'm also thinking that maybe I should just draw a little bigger so I have more room for movement and can work with bigger, bolder tools.  The scale issue has stymied me before, so I should definitely experiment with going bigger…or smaller…to get it right.

But...there is still that first effort to discuss--"What happens in prehistory…."  

What Happens In Prehistory STAYS…in Prehistory

This was my initial idea--a thoroughly debauched dino partying like it's Vegas!  I like the idea, but not the execution.  There is a lot of linework, so I thought I should keep it light but that decision didn't work out so well for me.  I wonder, now, if I could have simplified the line and made it thicker and more expressive. I also had problems with the color. If I were to do this over, I'd choose different colors AND different products to work with.

All in all, I think I see another iteration of this drawing in my future!  It kind of kills me to put these less-than-perfect drawings out there for others to see, but it is part of my new commitment to letting go of a need for perfection that has, until now, prevented me from finishing many works at all.

:-)

Illustration Friday: Exotic

The topic for this week's Illustration Friday was "Exotic".  I decided to draw a pineapple.  Although I got to know the look of a pineapple pretty well by the time I drew this, I did not produce the picture that I'd envisioned.  However, as it is my intent to use Illustration Friday as an encouragement to complete artwork, I finished it up and I'm calling it done.  Now I can finally eat that darned pineapple!

Illustration Friday: Disguise

So, this is shaping up to be a humbling experience.  

I've decided to participate in Illustration Friday--a weekly, on-line challenge to illustrate an assigned word or idea.  I hope that making a commitment to regular participation will give me an incentive to complete more art. The word for this week was "Disguise".  I drew this 60's-style girl chic-ly trying to disguise her appearance with coat collar pulled up and hat pulled down.

Version #2--Edited to add this revised picture.  The original appears below.

 I began this illustration a day or so ago and felt pleased with it right up to the end--then I started to have trouble with the nose.  I tried and painted over…tried and painted over again.  I tried using black, rosy colors, a shade deeper than the skin...Before long, there was an accretion of paint which prevented me from drawing a crisp line.  And the use of line seemed out of place.  There had been more line-work initially but I reduced most of it in pursuit of simplicity.  So I tried to draw the line of her nose more like a shape.  Still not loving it but I have a deadline to keep, so when I got to this point I decided to call it "done".  

"Disguise"--the original image.

But…oh, man.  Scanning brought out a whole new level of ugly!  Lines that look reasonably crisp on the original are horribly ragged on the scan.  Sheen and shadow are highlighted in an unattractive and unintentional manner.  Clearly, this should have been drawn in a graphics program…if I owned a graphics program.  Or maybe I should have cut friskets and airbrushed…if I owned an airbrush. You see where this is going.  

It's pretty clear that this won't be going into my portfolio but, on the bright side: 1) I gained practice; 2) I pushed through the difficulties and finished the project instead of abandoning it (my usual MO); 3) I finished on time--ready to see what new word tomorrow will bring.