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Earlier this summer, I snapped this photo of a Wild Turkey hen and her chicks in the morning sun. I was so taken by the beauty of the scene and the way one chick rode on her back, that I added the scene to my concertina nature journal, the one I began with spring violets:
I started with a pencil sketch, then began painting the hen and her chicks, working from light to dark and from the birds to the background. The birds are painted with mixtures of earth tones (Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre) and Ultramarine Blue.
I love the way the dark trees in the background contrast with the Wild Turkey mom in the foreground. I mixed Phthalo blue with Burnt Sienna to make a deep forest green. And I left grassy shapes unpainted to allow me to come back with a lighter green.
The little piece of watercolor paper on the right lets me test out colors after mixing them in the palette.
Here's the final sketch.
The beauty of this concertina sketchbook is that it's a place I can make sketches without the pressure of making a larger painting. The book tells the story of the unfolding seasons here on Hawk's Hill where I live.
What nature stories are unfolding around you? I recommend making your own small sketchbook to create in to record what you observe.
