Studio work

Lots going on in the studio. I am working on my portfolio of natural science illustration. Pulling together years of work into a cohesive portfolio has been fun. Each drawing and painting brings back a host of memories. It's wonderful how much comes back... the smells of a place, the temperature, the sounds. When you draw and sketch outdoors, it cements all these things in your memory, whether you are aware of it or not.

In addition, I'm working on a large acrylic painting of a Polyphemus moth that I found at the base of a tree in my backyard. It's been challenging and fun. As you can see, I just have the basic outline blocked in. The body of the moth is almost done, but I have more shadows to put in. The abstract-looking background is a block-in to be developed later, but I kind of like it the way it is! The black gesso I used covered the canvas incredibly well. It is really making everything stand out.

This is a particular moth, not an illustration of a general one. The wing was torn, so I am leaving that the way it was. The moth was so beautiful. The spots on the wing were see-though silvery.

I've also been playing around with acrylic gouache. I've not tried this product before, and am enjoying it, but as you can see, there is a learning curve.

It's been a satisfying week. In addition, I've been doing some field sketching. Hope to post some of that soon. If it is spring where you live, go outside and draw! You will not regret it. :)

Astronomy Sketches

I've been planning to put some of these on the blog, but time has been getting away from me! This is a sketch of the penumbral eclipse in my astronomy journal. I learned quite a bit during this adventure, mainly that I should always sketch the moon's major maria and craters in before the event! It is too difficult to juggle a sketchbook and a pair of binoculars or a telescope, and draw in details. Lesson learned. Next time, I will plan (and draw!) ahead.

The second drawing shows the orange glow that appeared around the moon later that evening. I like the Ingres paper a lot for sketches like the first one (graphite), but less for ones like this (waxy colored pencil). The colored pencils I was using just did not want to cooperate on this paper.

I also have sketches from last week's lunar occultation. I hope to share more of my sketches in the future, and beg for your patience as I try to get them to show up better in the photos. I think scanning might be a better option.