Bald Cypress

Bald Cypress, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

I had about a half hour to sketch while waiting at the doctor’s office, and sketched this Bald Cypress tree near the parking lot. It looks like young tree, 25 feet high, with a trunk about 9 to 10 inches in diameter. I used my sepia Micron Pigma pens to sketch on site, and added the watercolor washes later. My little three-color travel palette came into play again – the same Quinacridone Pink, Quinacridone Gold, and Prussian Blue kit I mentioned in a previous post.

In my research, I learned that the delicate drooping panicles are the male flowers, and I wondered if the yellowish-rust coloring was a dusting of pollen. The panicles (branched clusters of flowers) were 4 to 5 inches long, swaying in the breeze from arched branches. Anchored onto the sturdier branches were different types of airplants.

According to my meager knowledge they are Tillandsias: Wild Pine, Ball Moss, and Spanish Moss. These are also known as bromeliads, and are related to the cultivated pineapple. These however, are epiphytes. Epiphytes often grow on other plants or trees, but are not parasitic. They get nutrition from the air, rain, or organic debris that collects in their roots or leaves. Wild Pine sends up red bloom spikes this time of year – a spectacular sight in some trees, especially this cypress, which hasn’t yet replaced its needles.

A deciduous habit has earned this Cypress the “Bald” adjective. Some more ambitious trees nearby have started to sprout new foliage. There is nothing as soft looking and deliciously colored as the bright, fresh green of newly emerged cypress needles.

Bald Cypress normally grows in wet places, but is adaptable to drier conditions, too. A good place to see cypress trees and domes in their natural setting in our area is the Fakahatchee Strand or Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. In fact, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has some of the largest and oldest stands of ancient cypress in the world, with some trees estimated at 500 years old!

You can click on the image above to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.

Raccoons

Raccoons, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Late afternoon Sunday I took a stroll along the boardwalk at Freedom Park and came across three raccoons wading through the shallow marshy areas, and digging in the mud below the bases of alligator flag and swamp ferns. Although they didn’t seem to object to my presence, they kept their backs to me and steadily headed in the opposite direction.

This is our dry season, with a heightened risk of fire and drought, but last Friday we had a nice drenching rain. I noticed that the shallows flurried with many small signs of life, and no doubt the raccoons were feasting well. Pickerelweed and duck potato were in bloom, and two stalwart blue irises. A wood stork clacked his bill at me from a nearby cypress tree, and in the distance, I heard the distinctive calls of cardinals and redwing blackbirds.

Nature and art in one – a great way to spend an hour or so, and a wonderful way to start the week!

You can click on the very top image to view it larger on my Flickr photostream.

A primary triad of pink, gold, and blue

A primary color set on 2 papers, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Usually when we think of primary colors, we visualize certain bright hues of red, yellow, and blue. These hues, we’ve been told, will let us make any color of our choice. As artists, we know that this idea is at best an approximation – mainly because there are so many wonderful colors out there!

What a primary triad does do for us is to keep our lives simple, and to maintain a harmony within our work. Although I enjoy using many different colors when I paint or draw, I also come back periodically to a group of three colors, perhaps adding a dark neutral if needed. This particular primary group is Quinacridone Pink, Quinacridone gold, and Prussian Blue. The samples shown are Daniel Smith tube watercolors, in my mini-palette. 

I’ve heard of this combination of primaries before, but never tried it until recently. I'm pleased with the results, and the colors seem to reflect many of the colors I see right now in Southwest Florida.

Our sky is warming in color from a clear cool blue to a warmer Prussian Blue. The new bursts of foliage appear to have a brassy gold undertone, perhaps because this is our dry season. I don’t see those lovely delicate spring greens here that I remember from living in the northern Midwest. The Quinacridone Pink echoes the hues I see in the new leaves and samaras of red maples and the brightly colored bougainvillea bracts.

I made this triad into a small mini-palette for those times when I need to lighten my art supply load in the field. So far it’s worked out well, and I’m especially happy with the range of colors I get from this pink-gold-blue combination. I was surprised at the darks I was able to get, as well as the range of greens.

Some time ago, I created a series in which I painted a single subject (a dried sycamore leaf) using different primary triads. You can view these on my Flickr photostream, starting with this one. If you find yourself needing to simplify and get back to basics, try a primary triad of some sort. If you’d like to read more about primary triads, Bruce MacEvoy discusses them in detail on his website handprint.com.

You can click on the above images to view larger on my Flickr photostream.

Royal Palm and new mini-palette

Royal palm, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Florida is home to many types of palm trees, but none quite so impressive as the Royal palm. The trunk seems solid as a concrete pole, and the long, majestic fronds have a thick and sturdy midrib surrounded by fluttering green blades. It was a very breezy day, so it was a challenge to squint upwards into the sunny sky and try to draw the constantly changing crown.

I drew the palm on site and added the watercolor washes afterwards, trying out a new mini-palette of high value primary colors. I was inspired to create a smaller watercolor set by  Laure Ferlita's post on stealth sketch kits on her blog, Painted Thoughts. Thank you, Laure,  for a creative way to keep the art supplies minimal!

I used an eye shadow container (cleaned thoroughly and degreased  with rubbing alcohol), and one thing I especially like is the top lid with the clear plastic bubbles – they make great mixing spots. I also like the compact size: 1 ½ by 4 inches; I can take it just about anywhere.  I’m still waiting to see just how watertight it is…until then it’s going to stay in a zippered plastic bag.  It worked quite well with my Niji waterbrushes, the portable brush that carries water right in the handle.

You can see the swatch of Daniel Smith colors I chose for the primary set in the lower left corner of the top photo:
Red = Quinacridone Pink
Yellow = Quinacridone Gold
Blue = Prussian Blue

I read about this combination of colors somewhere and it sounded intriguing. I’ve used a similar triad in the past: Hansa Yellow, Quinacridone Pink, and Manganese Blue, but I had trouble making deep darks. This new set of primaries make some great dark colors!

You can click on the top  image above to view larger on my Flickr photostream.