Grapefruit Buds and Early Formation of Fruit

For ink and watercolor this month, I chose to do these two pages first showing the initial buds and early fruit on our grapefruit tree.

Worked in handsewn journal using old stock of Fabriano Hot Press 140 watercolor paper, TWSBI 580 with new EF nib and #41 Brown.  I decided to use other than Sap Green for my greens...all Daniel Smith pigments.

Note about the TWSBI 580:  After working with the 580 and a F nib for a while, I purchased the EF replacement nib and definitely prefer the EF nib.  The TWSBIs I have all feed wet compared to other pens and the F nibs were feeding ink that took too long to dry.  With one sketch I worked even after 20 minutes smudged when I went to erase the pencil lines.  

Graphite - Magnolia Bud

To start off the month, I worked this graphite sketch.

This is the stage of our Magnolia as of 4/18/21 we tend to miss out on with the few flowers the tree produces.  This year I've been able to spot three buds I'm keeping an eye on.  

Bud with a leaf behind it.  

Mechanical pencil .7 in Stillman and Birn Alpha journal.

Loaded Loquat March 2020

This year our Loquat tree is loaded with fruit.  Best it's been in the six years we've lived here.  Trying one yesterday, I found it sweet and tangy whereas when I tried them before, I thought they were rather sour.  So it seems this year has produced a nicer crop all the way around.

I love the leaves and overall shape of the canopy.  With it loaded with the bright yellow/orange fruit, it's really pretty looking.

Journal with Fabriano Hotpress / Metropolitan fountain pen with #41 Brown / DS watercolors (New Gamboge, Quin Rose, touch of Aliz, Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, Warm Sepia, Paynes Grey)

Steps photographed along the way:

Final with this being a scan of the sketch.

Still Hanging On

One more for today..........our Chinese Flame tree, which is a cousin of the Golden Rain tree. 

It's the only almost bare tree we have in our yard.  What stands out to me are the stubborn leaves and a few seed pods still hanging on.  Even after the high winds we had over the last weekend, they refuse to drop.

All the remaining trees on our property are evergreen or are not affected by the colder temperatures we MIGHT have during the winter.  In fact as I look down the road in all directions from my window, there are very few trees looking like this one.

Fabriano Hot Press / Lamy w/Doc Brown ink / DS watercolors

Playing with a Forgotten Pen and Noodler's 41 Brown

Years ago I purchased two Pilot Metropolitan pens.  It was back when I first started using fountain pens and trying various ones out to see which I liked best.

With the trial and error of various pens, I found I preferred the EF nibs and unfortunately, the Metropolitans finest nib was a Fine.  What I failed to understand at the time was that not all similar size nibs are created equal depending on the country they are made, and because of that, I placed the Metropolitans in a drawer and forgot all about them.

After reading a suggestion Cathy Johnson made to a beginner asking what pen she should start out with, I decided to bring one of my Metropolitans back out and give it another try.  Cathy explained that she found the Metropolitan to write smoother than other pens many people choose to use (to include me) and was one of her favorites. 

Following a day of playing, I have to agree.  The Fine on the Metropolitan lays down a line as fine as the Lamy EF nib.  I found it to be smooth even on Fabriano Soft paper my Lamy struggles moving across.  I was pleasantly surprised and may have found a new favorite.

While playing with the pen, I also decided to load it with Noodler's #41 Brown to compare with my other De Atramentis Document Brown ink. 

This next was worked on Stonehenge Aqua 140lb watercolor paper which has a smoother surface than the Fabriano Soft.  The pen just seemed to glide across the paper. 

I first worked an initial outline of the flowers/petals leaving the inside line marks to later.  I wanted to see how the nib would lay down the ink over dried watercolor.  I have found that most often, ink applied afterwards appears to be thicker and darker.   It could be the ink....could be the nib........could be a combination of both....I don't know but I liked how it worked out with this pen and ink combination.  I was able to obtain lines that didn't overly stand out as has happened with other sketches where I applied ink after the color dried.

Playing with Liquid Pencil

Just to do something different, I took out a bottle of Liquid Pencil that my friend, Clare, sent to me for Christmas back in 2016.  Although not what I'd call liquid, it reacts with water like dried pans of watercolor.  Inside the jar it's more of a soft mass at this point (3 years later).

FIbook75x75 (Stonehenge Aqua) / Sepia

Bougainvillea Planting

A couple years ago we purchased this bourgainvillea that is different from a huge one growing in the front yard.  The one in the front has more reddish color flowers whereas the one we purchased produces purple.  Plus the flowers or bracts are shaped a little differently.

For awhile it was sitting in its original pot on the back patio until the canopy grew too large to get around.  Trying to make a decision where to place it permanently on the property, we sat it in the back corner outside of the sunroom.  And there it sat since we just couldn't make up our minds.

With the passing of time, the tree's roots pushed through the bottom of the pot to include a large feeder root making the decision for us.  We were afraid of what might happen if we cut that main root or ripped up the smaller roots growing in the soil.

We thought maybe digging under the pot and the root might work by lowering it into the ground when the idea came to us to instead work the ground up around it.  That way we wouldn't have to worry about stress or shock to the tree.  The pot was easy to cut away and now the tree is permanently in it's spot without fear of damage.

We love how this was trained as a single braided trunk versus the one in the front that is more of a large shrub branching out in various directions.

FIbook75x75 / Stonehenge Aqua / QoR watercolors / Lamy pens - Dark Green, Dark Red, and Document Brown

New Fountain

We've been working outside (Terry works and I supervise.....lol)......little by little reworking the garden bed in front of the house for months.  We took out several overgrown shrubs that were crowding the area where we plan to set up large pots to house flowering plants.  The pots will hopefully help with minimizing maintenance where we're just getting too old to be down on our hands and knees trying to weed and whatnot with plants growing directly in the ground.

One of the additions to the front is a fountain placed in front of our bay window.  It's been a gorgeous last few days with the temperatures finally dropping around 80 during the day.  It's been breezy as well helping with all the bugs........especially mosquitoes that do not care if day or night to be out.

Sketched this over a period of the last few days representing the fountain.  Great exercise in working ellipses.  For the granite look, I only made enough marks to suggest the texture.  Finally finished this morning.

FIbook75x75 / Stonehenge Aqua / QoR watercolor / Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils / Lamy with Doc Brown ink.

Cathy Johnson's Sketch With Me - CHANGE

This month's event set by Cathy Johnson is about this time of year and CHANGE.  For many people change can be summer to autumn with changing colors.  For us here down south, there's not a GREAT deal of change due to seasons.........at least with foliage. 

We do have birds showing up now at the feeders that don't through the summer.  The mockingbird will return to the feeders  The black caps and titmice do as well.  We have migratory birds coming through and checking out the feeders like various finches.  There's a bit more activity with hummingbirds.   Another change we see is that the Sandhill Cranes don't come around as much through the neighborhood.

What inspired me or grabbed my attention representing change was/is the tree in our front yard.  What is our biggest show-stopping display with any type of color change is what we thought was a Golden Rain tree.  Doing more research, I've learned the tree may actually be its cousin......the Chinese Flame tree.

Both have the bright yellow flowers that develop late summer followed by paper thin tri-sided seed pods that range from an orange - pink - coral - red color......depending on their maturity and the way the light hits the pods.  Today was cloudy in the afternoon with a passing storm and they looked blood red.  Beautiful coloring!!!  There are only a few areas in our tree with the yellow flowers remaining.  What helps distinguish one tree from the other are the leaves.

FIbook75x75 / Stonehenge Aqua / QoR watercolors / Lamy pens with Dark Red and Dark Green ink

The Pumpkin Patch Near Us

A Church a couple blocks from us set up pumpkins and gourds to sell with proceeds going to groups like Boy Scouts, etc.  They do this every year.  I haven't been out this year to stop by but pulled up photos I took last year to sketch from.

FIbook75x75 / Stonehenge Aqua / W&N watercolors / Lamy Vista w/Doc Brown ink

Acorns and Palm Berries

I haven't done a great deal lately.........basically taking a bit of a break.  Even with that said, I've managed these two pages in my journal.

Both pages I'm using a Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen I haven't used in awhile.  Plus I loaded it with Noodler's #41 Brown, which I haven't thought to use.........mainly out of the fear of it clogging my pen.  One of my friends uses this ink and hasn't had issues so I went ahead and loaded my pen with it as I like the different tone that it has compared to the DeAtramentis Document Brown ink (although I do like it too).

Out of all my extra fine nibs, I think this pen has the finest of all.

Initially I was only going to work the one twig with leaves and acorns but then decided to work others I had on hand I've picked up from the yard.  And with this sketch I felt a tug of war between the left and right side of the brain.  I was struggling with focus capturing what I saw rather than what I thought I was seeing.

I was going to call it done but then decided to add a bit of color to the only one with leaves.  Also decided to use a greenish brown pigment I seldom use........Raw Umber.  It along with the Sap Green gave me the flat look I wanted where the leaves are drying out.

And today as we sat without power, I worked on this one off and on.  I took one of my autumn figurines and replaced the pumpkin and haystack with the Palm berries Terry has removed from our tree.  We don't like leaving them in the palm for fear of the berries falling and our dogs getting a hold of them.  Our understanding is that this particular Palm berry is toxic to dogs.  My son's lab likes to pick up everything so this way we remove temptation.

New Bird Feeder Post

This afternoon my husband replaced the wrought iron pole we had out front with this wood pole.  The metal pole didn't sit high enough to keep our neighbor's cat from jumping and pulling down the flat feeders.  We decided to put this higher wood post in like what we had years ago when we lived up north hoping it might help.  Our neighbor's cat has staked our place out for his hunting ground :-(

Worked this simple sketch in my hand sewn sketchbook - HSFab01 / Lamy with DeAtramentis Document Urban Grey ink / DS watercolors

Still Playing with Diamine Inks Plus Watercolor

While playing, I find I like using the glass dip pen over all the steel nibs.  It's smoother and carries ink longer.  I don't have to worry about tines getting caught in any fibers if there's any tooth to the paper surface.

The Langton sketchbook / DS watercolors

Zeta Sketchbook / DS watercolors / Top Sketch with Steno 361 Nib / Bottom Sketch with Glass Pen

Zeta sketchbook / DS Aliz Crimson / Micron 08 / Glass pen for sketching and some writing / Lamy with Doc Brown ink

Bringing Out Some of My Pens and Color Charts

Thought I would go through checking on some of my pens to see how they are doing.  If fountain pens, I'm checking to make sure they still have ink flow or if they are dry and in need of cleaning.  Other pens, I'm just working color charts and testing if water soluble.  Just something easy to do without a great deal of thought.  Plus I was in the mood for some ink and wash.

These are using a Shaeffer Calligraphy pen with Italic nib.  It had a cartridge in it that appears to be a brown but not 100% sure.  There's not much ink left in the cartridge making it a little hard to really tell.  When applying water to it, it has a pinkish tone.  After the wash dried, I took a little watercolor to it.

Fabriano Soft paper


Next I worked in the Stillman and Birn Zeta journal using one of my Sailor Fude pens with ink cartridge that came with it.  This ink really bleeds when wet so have to be conservative with the water.  Also noticed dark ink areas dry with a shine....especially noticeable in the palm tree.

Worked in the Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook

Left Page:  Shaeffer Calligraphy Pen (as above).

Right Page:  Bayam Bullet Journal Fineliner pens (set of 18)

And this last is a color chart of all my Various Tube Greens.  Didn't realize just how many I had until I worked this chart pulling out all my different brand palettes.

Still Following Hurricane Dorian

With the long duration of this hurricane and sitting on pins and needles for days wondering if it was going to come ashore, I was relieved when it didn't and thought I was done following the news. 

As it turns out, I'm still following it because of how close to the Carolina shorelines due to family living up that way in New Bern.

Here's yesterday journal page recording the location.

As of this morning, Dorian has made landfall at the Outer Banks - Hatteris, NC as a Cat 1 at 90 mph and 956 mb.

My family in New Bern was to face the brunt of the storm through the night.  As of 11:06 a.m. this morning, haven't heard from them but chances are they've lost power.  The worst of Dorian, it seems, are the multiple tornadoes brought on by the outer bands since the hurricane is so close to the coastline.  One touched down about 5 to 7 miles from where my family reside yesterday evening.  Have no idea what took place through the night. 

Hurricane Dorian Update

Worked this quick journal sketch of where things seem to be right now as of 1:26 p.m. Tuesday, September 03, 2019, plus a few facts as I understand or took note of leading up to today.

We were in the cross-hairs days ago with the potential of the hurricane riding up the center of the state. 

Each day it appeared to move further east with projected tracks with a little wobble back towards the west Sunday/Monday. 

Woke up this morning to see it appears to be staying out far enough away from the coast to minimize the amount of damage to our coastline. 

Now the unknown as to what it will do as it moves up towards Georgia and the Carolinas.

Waiting to see more coverage of the impacts on those folks in the Bahamas and dreading it at the same time :-(

Zeta sketchbook / Sharpie pen / QoR watercolors

Water Oak Removed

From the time we purchased the house we're in, we've had to clean up the lot (which is about 1/2 acre) where the house sits by removing MANY trees and shrubs just stuck growing all over front, back, and sides.  You couldn't see the house from the street, mowing was a true pain in the backside,  and was a real eye sore to the neighbors.

The house was a rental for many years so it's no wonder the property ended up so unsightly.  And many of the trees were planted too close to the house causing issues with roots and branches with roof, windows, etc.

We lost count after 30 the first year after we purchased the house.  And we've continued little by little shaping what's left and having more removed if considered unhealthy or a risk during hurricane season.

This week we had a huge water oak removed at the front corner of our house/driveway.  A large camphor tree near our garage right up against the concrete driveway, and heavy trimming of another camphor in the back that was top heavy on one side leaning in towards the house.

Next week we will have another type oak trimmed of two very large branches that grows over the driveway and house and a bowl depression at a fork that could rot from water and bacteria filled in with concrete.  The tree is in a healthy state so we don't want to have it totally removed.  Plus it provides us a great deal of shade we appreciate.

We love our trees but due to the risks we face each year, we had to do something.  And we still have plenty still standing.  Looks like a totally different place and our neighbors love us for what we've done.

Anyways, as the guys worked, I sat and watched as the oak was being taken down.  Amazing how they do it and safely without damaging anything around the trees or harm to those working below.  We were willing to move our pontoon and cars but they said not to worry about it.  And the orange tree and lemon under the oak was left untouched by falling debris.  The lemon tree was suffering from lack of sunlight so we should now see a major improvement.

Statue at Lone Oak Cemetery

Still haven't been in the mood to paint so I worked another pencil sketch over the weekend after I worked the self portrait for the sketch with me event with Cathy Johnson.

Mars Lumograph 3B pencil on Stonehenge 90 paper.

In the Mood for Graphite

Last couple of days I've been more into sketching with pencil than painting.

Worked this one early morning from one of my photos when our group met up at Simon Seed Gardening Center in Leesburg early last year.

First I worked a quick sketch trying to get the main shapes down.  Then I went back and refined adding other items, more detail, and shading.

Worked on the back of Grumbacher watercolor paper, which is extremely smooth. 

3B Mars Lumograph

This next one is worked on Stonehenge 90 paper following an assignment in a book I've borrowed from one of my sketching pals from our group.  Also used the 3B pencil.

I really like this paper for graphite work as the slight tooth shows texture that I like.  Love the feel of the pencil moving across the surface.

The book is called Ernest W Watson's Course in Pencil Sketching (Four books in one).   The author shares various techniques with examples and then shares a photo as an assignment with similar subject matter for the reader to practice.

From the photo I tried my hand at, I only worked a small section of the building rather than the entire street scene and building.

Pencil Sketching

These next two sketches are both worked with Mars Lumograph HB pencil. 

The burlap looking container (which is actually a flower vase) holding sketching supplies started out with intentions of taking pen and ink plus watercolor but I ended up losing myself in the pencil sketch, shading along the way, and just left as is.  There's just something to the sound and feel of the pencil lead on paper I love.  I could go further with darker pencils to build up the values but I decided to stop where I did.  At least the HB does not smudge like the darker/softer pencils do and I didn't feel like messing with a fixative.  The plus...........I can always return and add darker values, if I choose. 

Worked late last night / early morning hours.


Although our group didn't have a planned outing today, I wanted to go back to Discovery Gardens.  Each time we go, something else is blooming and I'm always finding new things I didn't see before.  I sent an email out to a few regulars to let them know what I was doing and invited them to join me........three came making it a really beautiful relaxed time together :-)

At first we weren't sure if we should attempt it or not as it was forecasted to rain starting morning hours on one weather website and afternoon on another.  It was super cloudy looking like it could rain at any time.  We decided to take our chances and so glad we did.  We sketched from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and it soon after we left, it started to rain.  GREAT TIMING!!!

The morning was cloudy but pleasant.  Low humidity, no blaring hot sun, and cool.  We were able to sit where the cacti grow since the sun wasn't out to chase us away.  I chose the young cactus,  again only using an HB pencil.