It’s hard not to be discouraged by the news on several fronts these days. Drawing, if only a scribble, is a great escape. Thanks to Shari Blaukopf for starting the conversation. Check out her blog post here.

During some unusually warm November days I did a couple of quick sketches: the goose in the barn across the road and a visit to our local winery. (Cream paper in a small sketchbook, ink and neocolour II water soluble crayons)

Below is yet another close-up of something from the garden: Egyptian onion, or walking onion. The flower tops produce these clusters of small bulbs which cause the stem to fall over thus allowing these bulbs to set roots and start growing a new plant. One of them had been sitting so long indoors (waiting to be drawn) that it started sprouting. Can you see the wee green tips? All the days cares faded away while I studied and drew this.

I watched a demo video by Linda Kemp (thanks to a recent blogpost by Shari Blaukopf) in which she shows how she works wet-in-wet using negative painting technique. Inspired by Shari’s fall leaves painting I decided to give it a try.

With a variety of dry leaves on my table as a general inspiration, I started painting on the wet paper – no pencil drawing as a guide, just painting with a large brush. It was really quite thrilling! And a great brain stretcher. Defining shapes by painting the negative spaces forces you to think differently. I didn’t quite get it “right,” but I loved the process and will try it again!

You can watch Linda’s demo here.

I grew Calendula in the garden this summer and love watching the various stages of the flowers as they go from bud to fully open flower, to fading into what looks like a pile of pick-up sticks, to a seed head that could be an alien multi-legged insect. I managed to find all the stages on a few stems before the cold and snow finally ended this plant’s season. But, I’ve been saving the seeds to grow lots more calendula next year.