Sketching at the Shed

Pepe is SUCH a good model, even when he's lying on my lap!

Very quick sketches in the snow, on the Winter Solstice...

Some of the "tree people" near the shed...

Winter is here...

Wishing you all a wonderful Solstice and a most peaceful and joyful Christmas season!

Day before yesterday was a great day to sit and sketch...the birds were literally flocking at the feeders.

Beautiful against the snow...

Plenty of peanuts for Mr. Downy...

The male goldfinch looks a bit disgruntled.  Of course what does a "gruntled" bird look like?

OF COURSE you have to take a photo of a cardinal in the snow.  J. calls him Richelieu...

My new crabapple was coated in crystal!

Late afternoon...no fire in the firepit just now, thanks...

The view from the shed door...

What a magical little place!

Read all about it on the Tiny House Blog, here: http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/cottage-on-the-hill/

Thanksgiving Day

...and I was very happy to see the first juncos (or snowbirds as my mom used to call them) at our feeder!  It's been warm here, but apparently not so where these little birds come from.

We were also delighted by the red-breasted nuthatch--we normally see its less colorful cousin, the white-breasted variant.  I keep a variety of bird books at the shed--my favorite is still Peterson's--and hadn't realized this little guy was as common as he is!

I've been enthralled by John Muir Laws' wonderful book, Laws Guide to Drawing Birds*--among dozens of other inspirations, one pearl of wisdom I especially liked was "if you can't see it, don't draw it."  So I'm trying to remember only to draw those things I actually SEE, and not worry if the bird flies before I can finish.

The basic shape and pose is all you can expect in a field sketch--a touch of color fleshes out the image.  And of course quite often the bird will return so you can capture a bit more!

I have a lot to be thankful for, and one of the most important things to me is the opportunity to see and sketch the creatures around me.

*Please note John's comment below--if you use the link above, you'll be able to get a signed copy of his wonderful book, and it will benefit the artist/author!

Break-ins--human and otherwise!

 

You may have seen this one...raccoons and opossums KEEP reaching under the edge of the shed's storage door to help themselves to bird seed...

Joseph solved THAT problem by getting large buckets for the seed...the bag of peanuts sits inside, too...

Unfortunately, humans tried to get in the main shed as well...marks of a crowbar....

They tried the door to the storage shed, too, and DID succeed in getting it open...

Imagine their disappointment when they found there was just bird seed and plant food, plus a cheap folding chair. So we put an alarm on the door!

The only problem is that it's sensitive to vibration...and Hobbes thinks the door is to play with!

We have to be careful when we get in to get bird seed--the alarm is, well, ALARMING--but it seems to get the job done. 

Sheesh...and of course the shed itself has an alarm system.  Too bad to need it, but it is what it is...

Changing Seasons...

Color is turning toward gold...

Rain on the roof...and Belle waits to get in!

Colors are so intense...

Condensation on the windows make frosted glass and prismatic light...

I love fall...leaves are thinning, I can see deeper into our little forest; different birds are at the feeders. A fleece throw feels good in the morning, and somehow I need a candle in the window...

Life at the Shed...

Joseph put up a new cork board for me behind the desk, and fixed the problem of the collapsing art lamp--the clamp was VERY poorly designed pot metal, and it actually bent.  He just drilled a hole right in the desk and the lamp fits snugly in it.  So far no collapses!

And then of course where do I work?  On the camp chair out in the alley, so I can get a good view of the endless yard sale...

A tad overdue...

The shed is a great blind for birdwatching! I did these sketches back in February and meant to get them up sooner...been a BIT distracted...

This was the quick sketch, just the basic shapes of this goldfinch in winter attire...my favorite HB mechanical pencil works great for these sketches.

I decided a slightly more dynamic pose would be nice, so I waited till the bird turned its head and re-drew!

I added larger shapes first in color...

...and continued to develop the details.  I got out the goauche to add a few fine white feathers and the sparkle in his eye.

You can see it's been a while since I did him!  I meant to post the progression sooner...I see I added the finished piece shortly after I painted it!

Loving these links...

This one came from Shedworking, too, a delightful shepherd's hut builder in the UK...the interiors are so fresh and homey...

They're from the Plankbridge Hutmakers...check their gallery or watch the video!

OK, this one makes me giggle.  What are they LOOKING at??

Another great shed link...

This one's my favorite! 

Check the link: http://www.shelterness.com/10-cool-garden-potting-sheds/

Rainy Sunday Part Two

And here's this morning's sketch of the rain-silvered garden, with a bit of the page from our friend Kevin Morgan's campaign kickoff page...

Rainy Sunday Part One

A peaceful Sunday...we weren't supposed to get rain or thunderstorms till afternoon, but here it was, at 9 in the morning.  It got dark as night; streetlights came on...we'd planned to go to a concert in the City, but it was too lovely curling up with coffee, our books, my journal and watercolors and staying right here, listening to the rain on the metal roof.

I hopped out to shoot these photos during a lull!

We've been working on the path between the house and the shed/studio, and just in time, looks like!  New steppingstones, and pond pebble mulch between them.  We'd originally used bark mulch, but it floated away every time it rained...as it did this morning. We were both pleased with the pebbles!  Now we need more...

Spring at the Shed...

Looks like all that work was worth it!

Of course this is just natural...the young forest across the alley where Belle likes to hunt...

Here, you can see some of the daffodils, the new young crabapple tree, one of the baby hollies, and of course, the shed!

The holly is blooming...profusely!

The ancient lilac did better this year than ever before...

Our original lilacs, forsythia, dogwood and crabapple are lovely this year...

And below, some of our surprise daffs...I thought I was getting a bag of all one kind, at Costco...instead, we have more kinds than I knew existed!  They bloom at slightly different times, so watching what's next has been fun.

Unfortunately, looks like neither of the red twig dogwood made it, and one of the viburnums has died, but the butterfly bush and the other viburnum are doing well...I want to plant a cedar, to block the neighbor's trash view, but it's all coming along nicely, especially for a very shady lot.

Updated the OOoops page...

I added a few updates to the Ooops page at the top, here.  New notes are in italics!  Progress...still considering a wee porch overhang over the door, though, to protect from the weather...

Prefab Sheds...

I'm VERY glad we've got what we have...I love my handmade shed and find that it works better all the time.  We spend a lot of time out there; working there is a pleasure.

And as longtime readers of this blog know, I started it to encourage others who need a similar place--for work, peace, studio, meditation, workshop, yoga, writing, whatever--to GO for it.  I haven't regretted it for a moment.

These garden sheds at Home Depot reminded me of one of the possibilities we considered, a prefab.  You could customize and finish it however you wanted to, and have it delivered to your site.  (And of course the links in the sidebar contain quite a few options of this type...) These range between a bit over $2000 to over $4000, but there are a lot of options out there, both higher and lower.  We pass a garden-shed place every time we go over to Independence to hit the big Costco. Even our local lumberyard offers a few models...

Mourning Doves at the shed...

It's been lovely having mourning doves in the yard, lately...around here they're more likely to be in more suburban or rural areas.  Being able to watch them so closely reminded me how similar they are to the extinct passenger pigeon.

I recently found this rough sketch, left, on the back of an old bank deposit slip...I did research years ago for an article for Country Living Magazine, and drew on what I had with me!

Evolution of a Workspace

Originally I had thought I'd just have the table Joseph built for me up when I needed it...turns out I need it almost all the time!  In the summer, when we sometimes have the French doors open, I may move it, but for now it's a wonderful place to work.

As you can see, it's MUCH roomier than the little oak TV table I used before...we've also eaten on it, I've done the videos for my classes and YouTube...all in all it's earned its place.

Meanwhile, things ebb and flow out there...I put a small candle heater away in the shed's shed--it was just taking up space.  I hung more up on the walls to liberate floor space.  We took the photofloods back over to the house since I'm not shooting videos right now, and reorganized books and art supplies...

I seldom use my little footstool box, so it may go, too.  When you're dealing with a place that's only 10 x 10, you really need to simplify, often!  It's kind of nice...