JLfromNH

More Pencil Drawings

One of the challenges of artwork is illustrating the human face. One can always draw cartoons or caricatures but a natural looking face is much more challenging.

The above sketch by me, based on a drawing from a tutorial book, is an example of chiaroscuro, a method of using contrast between light and dark to produce an image. It involves the use of shadows to create a realistic image, giving a two-dimensional face the illusion of depth. It’s not as easy as you might think. It took multiple tries before I got a drawing I was satisfied with.

What if you want to draw portraits? Especially recognizable ones? That’s definitely tricky. You need to have a good working knowledge of facial proportions. Many people think they know what a face looks like but when they try translating their ‘knowledge’ into an art work, they usually wind up creating something like this.

Not a bad drawing really, but how many people do you know who actually look like that? Carrie Stuart Parks in her excellent book The Secrets Of Drawing Realistic Faces points out that people often try drawing what they think they see, rather than what is actually there. A forensic artist doing composite drawings for police departments for identifying criminals, it’s important for her as an artist to produce an accurate image. She writes that people often try to draw what they think faces look like which doesn’t really match the image of the person they have in mind. To get a realistic portrait, you need to understand what the proportions of the face are and how to set it down on paper. Once you’ve mastered the basics then you can proceed on to the details.

Rendering parts of the face such as eyes, nose and mouth are where chiaroscuro comes in. In the drawing immediately above, the facial features are drawn in as lines but that not how a person’s face actually looks. Rather, what we do see is a combination of light and shadow. So, the above nose which looks like the letter U with two little knobs attached, winds up looking like this.

The only lines I drew were for the nostril holes and the edges of the nostrils on either side. All else (except for the eyes) is shading. Here is where the blending stump and tortillons come into their own. By using the graphite from the nostrils, I used the stump to create the shadow of the nose itself as well as the shading on the tip of the nose. Still not quite perfect but a much more accurate rendition of a human nose. If you need extra graphite or charcoal, just take a piece of scrap paper and using a 4B or 6B pencil put down a layer to rub the blender or tortillon into for extra shading material.

The same with the mouth. A simple line with ‘commas’ making a smile become this.

The only line I drew was the mouth itself where the lips meet. All else is shading. Again, not perfect as I made the upper lip darker than I intended but far more realistic.

Finally, the eye.

This is the trickiest one as you have to be careful not to overdo the eyelashes and make your model look like he’s wearing heavy duty mascara. The edges of the eyelids framing the eye are shaded in rather than drawn. The iris and pupil are drawn but you have to be careful to keep the upper and lower parts hidden so the eye doesn’t look like it’s popping in horror. Use a kneaded eraser to create the highlight in the pupil and iris to give the eye a more life-like appearance.

There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube for achieving realistic faces. So, grab your pencils, eraser and blending stumps and play around with it a bit. See you next month!

Pencil Drawings

With winter weather closing in, limiting outdoor activities (at least for me), indoor activities make their appearance. After pushing away the giant stacks of jigsaw puzzles accumulated over the past year and a half, I’ve pulled out my drawing tools. Every artist who is serious about drawing acquires a monster stash of art supplies; graphite, charcoal and colored pencils, markers, crayons, art pens, erasers, blending stumps, rulers (yes, it’s okay to use rulers), sharpeners as well as boxes to store all this material in.

I play around with coloring books, but when it comes to serious sketching, I do my own artwork. I’m currently using graphite and charcoal pencils. I’m planning on branching out into colored pencil as well as pastel drawing and watercolor, but I think I’ll always be partial to graphite and charcoal.

I have always drawn free-hand ever since I developed enough coordination to pick up a crayon and apply it to paper. It’s something that’s always come naturally to me. Attempts to use the grids recommended by some artists feels too cramping for me. Other artists advise against this method as it can make you too dependent on the grid for getting your drawing’s proportions correct. I’m inclined to agree and the following sketches are all free-hand.

A good book, if you are interested in drawing accurate birds is The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds by John Muir Laws. It provides instructions for getting not only the basic anatomy of the bird itself but the pattern of feathers, how they are distributed on the body and accurate looking feet. Following his directions, I was able to draw a cardinal.

A common complaint I see on reviews for art books is that the artist doesn’t give enough step-by-step instructions for illustrating a subject. While this may be true for some books, it’s important to realize it’s not the writer’s job to frog walk you, a budding artist, through every single step of a drawing. They are only showing you how they achieve their results. This is why you buy dozens of practice sketch books (I get the cheapie ones from Walmart) and draw over and over and over again to achieve the results you’re looking for. Like the old joke about getting to Carnegie Hall, you just have to practice a lot. It took several tries to get an recognizable bird of prey.

Or accurate looking shore birds.

But again, it’s simply a matter of practice.

When including birds in your art work, it will not be necessary to draw in every single feather or leg scale but knowing how everything is placed can help in rendering more accurate images which please the eye and don’t look cartoonish. Once you get the basics down, then, if you want, you can graduate to using colored pencils, watercolors or pastels to make your artwork really pop.

Happy drawing!

October Observations

The first full month of Fall has come and is nearly gone with Halloween just around the corner. Blink and you’ll miss it. Why time insists on whizzing by so fast these days is uncertain but may involve the fact that the older you get, the more time seems to speed up. Science data suggests that as we age, our ability to process images and experiences decreases even though time is actually moving at the same pace it always does. That may very well be, but one reason I almost never watch television anymore is the increasingly frantic pace of cutting from one scene to the next as well as the endless barrage of truncated ‘sound bites’ which convey little information that’s of any use. I’m not the only one who’s noticed this and like others I find it obnoxious.

Maybe that’s because I’m getting to be an old fuddy-duddy now or maybe my tolerance for baloney has permanently tanked. In any case, I’ve changed to walking more, paying more attention to reality and taking my entertainment in bite size chunks of my own choosing, rather than having it spoon fed to me by faceless corporations out to make a profit at my expense.

On the morning of October 10, about 11:30 AM, many people in southern New Hampshire, as well as parts of Maine and Massachusetts reported hearing a loud boom. Curiously neither of my brothers who both live in the southern part of the state heard anything out of the ordinary or if they did, attributed it to nearby noisemakers and thought nothing more of it. Scientists say there was no earthquake and the FAA says there was no military plane activity in the area. Most likely explanation is a bolide coming in from space exploding in the upper atmosphere. So unless the Air Force fesses up and admits one of their boys was hotdogging, the meteor explanation will have to suffice.

The Covid panic proceeds apace with no signs of letting up. There’s been a minor surge in the past few weeks here in New Hampshire, no doubt largely due to the influx of germ laden tourists during fall foliage season. It will no doubt subside in the coming weeks and resurface with the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Let’s face it, folks. Covid is here to stay and become another one of the ailments we have to chronically deal with, like influenza or norovirus.

The tree foliage here in Northern New Hampshire has peaked and leaves are now being shed with increasing speed, piling up at the side of the road, on top of lawns or spinning around madly in the backwash left by speeding cars. Colors were good but are quickly fading away from bright yellows and reds to less flamboyant yellow ochers and bronze shades. I’m trying to stay on top of the raking by going out in good weather (with hopefully no wind) and using an actual rake that I hold in my hands and scratch the ground with. Yes, people still use those things! Much quieter than a leaf blower plus you get a good aerobics workout.

Birds have begun migrating through, with the bulk of them being robins, sparrows and juncos. I’ve heard both flickers and pileated woodpeckers in the woods with their loud characteristic calls. Crows and blue jays are flying back and forth, probably checking out their digs for the winter and calling out anybody who tried to invade their territory. Squirrels and chipmunks are packing away the bonanza of acorns to help them tide over winter and mice are trying weasel their way into the woodwork of the house looking for a warm place to shack up in for the winter.

Chipmunks are especially amusing to watch as they cram seeds and acorns into pockets they have in their cheeks until they look like they have a dreadful case of the mumps. Very industrious, they don’t hibernate but do stock food away for the winter so they have something to feed on while the weather is foul and they have to lay low. These energetic little ground squirrels are surprisingly territorial, calling out their ownership with loud piercing bird-like chirps and pounding on any chippie who crosses the line, trying to invade. People get fooled by their cute appearance, thinking they’re sweet little animals. Don’t you believe it! These guys are little scrappers and are not above trying to bite off their opponent’s tail to assert dominance. It’s a rough and tumble world if you’re a chipmunk.

On a somber note, I recently witnessed the funeral procession of a local fireman who passed away suddenly. A twenty four year veteran, he had just retired, but sadly never got a chance to enjoy it. I watched the procession begin just after the services at the local Catholic church. Dozens of firemen from around the north country attended, in full dress uniforms with white gloves, standing at attention and saluting the flag draped coffin as it emerged from the church. The coffin was then loaded into the back of a fire engine for one last ride down Main Street past the local fire station where a huge American flag had been hung over the road.

American flag salute for fireman's funeral

Though I didn’t know the fireman personally, it was still a moving ceremony to watch, a recognition of his years of service and the respect he was held in.

Lastly is the weather. While we are experiencing fall like conditions now, it wasn’t until this past week that the first light frost hit some of the plants in my garden. This is extremely unusual as the first light frosts usually occur in mid to late September and a hard freeze usually by mid-October. While I’m not sure if this is a record for this area, the local weather reporter for WMUR did state this is the latest frosts have made their appearance in many years. While some may dispute global warming, I have seen too much evidence of it in recent years to doubt its existence.

Well, that’s all for this month. Have a peaceful Autumn, everybody.

Forest Notes for September

With the first day of fall officially come and gone, it is now time for autumn leaves, falling acorns, migrating geese and surprisingly enough caterpillars. More than a few species are searching around for places to hole up and pupate over the winter until the arrival of spring when they can emerge as butterflies or moths beginning the cycle of reproduction all over again.

Polyphemous moth caterpillar next to ruler

A few years ago, I was sweeping off the driveway when I spotted what at first appeared to be a walking green cigar. This proved to be a Polyphemus caterpillar nearly three inches long. He was moving along at a pretty good clip but fortunately I was able to grab a ruler and snap a decent picture of him. The Polyphemus moth (which he will eventually metamorphose into) is a large nocturnal moth with large eye spots on both wings. Named after the legendary cyclops, these moths are rarely seen but I was fortunate enough to discover one of their offspring.

These caterpillars are harmless, except to tree leaves, relying on their green coloration to hide them from predators looking for fat juicy bugs to nom. Others, like the monarch caterpillar, rely on a foul taste to deter predators, sporting bright colors to warn off anyone looking for a meal. Yucky but harmless.

But there are other caterpillars which are not quite so harmless. Many, like the gypsy moth caterpillar, are covered with irritating hairs which can produce rashes on susceptible people. Tussock caterpillars, like the one pictured below, also have irritating hairs which can cause problems for the sensitive, though they are not really that poisonous.

Tussock moth caterpillar sitting on strawberry leaf

While these insects may be interesting to look at, it is best to just look and not touch.

But the one you absolutely, positively should not touch under any circumstances is the flannel moth caterpillar. Like the one below they look strangely like a toupee someone has lost. But don’t be fooled.

These silly looking creatures sport highly poisonous stinging hairs which contain venom producing an unpleasant result if you are unfortunate enough to get stuck by one. Many people report it feels worse than a bee or wasp sting causing intense pain for the unlucky victim. Some are sensitive enough so they have wound up in the emergency room. I have not come across any references to fatal allergic reactions but the potential is always there. Look but don’t touch!

For those who are wondering what the coming winter may bring, some may take a look at the wooly bear caterpillar.

While this fellow sports stiff body hairs, the wooly bear is not toxic in any way. If you disturb them, they will curl up into an innocuous looking ball and lie still until it thinks the coast is clear. For some reason people have seized upon these little critters as a way to forecast the weather. If the brown band is wide, it foretells a mild winter. If it is narrow, then a rough winter is on the way. At the risk of bursting people’s bubbles, studies have not borne this out. In fact, I have seen wooly bears in the same year with differing widths in their brown bands. So unless you want to make out that one of them is a fibber, the caterpillars are a better sign that winter is just simply on the way than as to what kind of winter it will be.

So what is a good sign a cold winter may be on the way? Why, union suits pulled from storage and stuck out on the line to air out in preparations for blustery conditions of course! What else? Just a different kind of wooly.

long underwear or union suits on clothes line

Happy fall!

Forest Notes for August

Summer has been winding down the past few weeks much too fast for my liking with Labor Day less than two weeks away. Officially the first day of fall doesn’t arrive until September 22. The fall equinox is when day and night are of equal lengths, a mirror image of the spring equinox. Nature itself slowly segues from summer into fall rather than making an abrupt transition, giving us a chance to make our preparations for the season change.

It’s a bit too soon for the big leaf color change which leaf peeping tourists are so fond of as that really doesn’t get underway up here in Northern New Hampshire until the end of September and into early October. A few trees here and there are already making the transition but these are plants which are somewhat stressed and sickly, not surprising since we did have drought conditions early in the summer which makes life difficult for even the healthiest plants.

A better sign of late summer is the appearance of goldenrod and wild aster flowers, eagerly visited by bee, wasps and the occasional butterfly. Monarch butterflies begin their annual migration in August, travelling 50 to 100 miles a day, depending on weather conditions. These fall butterflies do not reproduce but head to wintering grounds where they hunker down, not moving northward until about March, breeding and surging back until the cycle is complete and a new migration begins

I have seen a handful of Monarchs these past few weeks which makes me hopeful the species can hold on but their wintering grounds are under seige from humans and climate change so unless the butterflies can adapt to these changes, the amazing migrations they make will likely become a thing of the past, like the migrations of passenger pigeons.

The flowers did well, once the rains finally came. Onion chives, marigolds, catchfly and cosmos all put on a good show attracting many insects. Bumblebees, small butterflies, solitary bees all visited the blossoms as they opened up. An unusual visitor also showed up, one I don’t see very often.

The sphinx moth often confuses people not familiar with wildlife. It beats its wings so fast, it sometimes gets confused with hummingbirds and in fact is sometimes called the hummingbird moth. This one paid numerous visits to the pink catch-fly flowers which seed themselves profusely in my vegetable garden and seem to ignore my efforts to try reseeding them in the flower garden where they belong.

The vegetable garden is winding down as well, with the wax beans petering out and the cucumber vines beginning to wither. Carrots and potatoes look good though I will not dig those up until the fall. In the case of the potatoes, I passed on the pricy seed potatoes being offered in the catalogs I receive. Instead, I took a few organic Yukon Gold spuds purchased at the local food coop, sliced them up and planted them. These sprouted quite well and grew quickly, producing flowers and remaining potato bug free. Interestingly, some of the blossoms went on to produce small fruit resembling green tomatos, not surprising since they are both members of the nightshade family. Potato berries (as they are called) are not edible, being full of solanine, giving them a bitter taste and inducing great intestinal distress for anyone silly enough to try and eat them. It is possible to get seeds from them, but as the potatoes are hybrids, they will not breed true. Still it might be an interesting experiment to try on some occasion, just to see what you get.

When venturing into deep woods, you may come across something like the picture below.

This is referred to as a nurse log. It is the result of a large tree dying, then falling to the ground. As it decays, seedlings take root on it and grow using the rotting trunk to fuel their own growth. It’s a form of recycling and is one of the reasons to leave dead wood where it falls, so that nutrients will remain for the next generation of trees. Some might complain that fallen trees create a fire hazard but fire is part of the natural cycle of growth. As with the process of decay, fire will help release nutrients faster, helping pave the way for new growth.

Seedlings are quick to exploit any new opening for themselves. Sometimes though, they do jump the gun a bit. On a morning walk, I noticed two tiny trees sprouting in the crotch of a still living tree. It’s not likely they’ll make it as the tree looks healthy and not likely to perish anytime soon.

Still, hope springs eternal. Hope your summer has been a good one.

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