Magnolia sketch

I sat and drew one of the magnolias while we were there at Bishton Hall. It was just a black and white sketch so I coloured it in when I got home. The curved edges are because I can’t get my sketchbook page to lie flat. I don’t think I’ve got the colours right, but I have only got a limited range of colours in the set of felt pens I’m using.

Tree at Bishton

Never seen a tree trunk like this before. It’s like a hand reaching down grasping something protruding from the earth. The limbs explode above waiting to burst into leaf. I could see catkins but could not identify this gnarly tree. Bishton Hall near Rugeley, Staffordshire was holding a craft fair. Very interesting and enjoyable.

Spring flowers

It’s almost the end of tulips and daffodils season. Soon it will be bluebells and other spring flowers… Leaves are opening on the trees. Buds swelling with the water that is falling from the April showers. We decided to go out for the day and headed south for a few miles. You could see more leaves on trees the further south we went. I remember hearing on a TV programme once that you could see the spring slowly creeping up the country as the days lengthened and the daffodils flowered. It might have said it takes two weeks to go from the far south to the far north? Not absolutely certain though.

Drinking dragon

Used a digital app to u the contrast and colours on this drawing, I also made parts of it negative. I think it’s an interesting effect. The reds and greens have been enhanced, they were actually on the other side of the sketchbook page I use. It’s thinker paper than some but the ink can bleed through slightly to the other side of the paper.

Rain

Rain on my window, blurring the view smeared across the surface. April shower crashes down. No thunder or lightning but we may get some. Hidden tomato plants snug in the plastic greenhouse.

My friend now has an allotment. I have offered to water her plants while she’s on holiday. An old gardener there said the plants in her greenhouse will need watering daily! I’m glad of the showers now, they will help fill up the water butt’s. Large blue barrels filled with rain water. It’s good, we had a very dry march so the rain is welcome.