September at the Lake

Three sketches 

from our most recent trip 

to the lake.

Experimenting with pastel pencils

as they are more portable 

and not as fragile as soft pastels.

En Plein Air Sketch - Leslie Snider

En Plein Air Sketch - Leslie Snider

 

En Plein Air Sketch - Leslie Snider

Sketching and Fishing

Summer Sketch 

- plein air pastel - 

-husband fishing -

- me sketching!-

What more can I say?

Buck Lake Fishing Spot

Working with a limited palette

"Brown Recycled Rough Sketch" paper and  a limited palette.

Relaxing Summer Days

For many years 

canoeing 

was my favourite way to observe

flora and fauna.

Alas, I've reached the stage in life

where extracting myself from a canoe 

can be a challenge!

So boats with motors and comfy seats

 are the new way to go!

Here is my first observation.....

In the Wake - Pastel - Leslie Snider

Although I miss the intimacy 

of quietly observed

bays and streams,

I'm hoping this new experience 

will bring new possibilities.

Summer Skies

There is rarely a day that goes by this summer 

without rain in the forecast.....

this makes for lush greens

 and ever changing skies.

Two new pastel studies... 

a new discovery "Hoople Island"

 and an old haunt 

"Marsh along the K&P trail."

Hoople Island - pastel - Leslie Snider

K&P Marsh - pastel  - Leslie Snider

 

Isolation

Your loss will not go unrecorded

My previous post included 

 a couple of photos of trees in isolation, 

separated from their environment

 by the fog.

Trees may or may not have feelings 

but they certainly

prompt emotional reactions,

as in this example.

On a  warm summer's day 

while walking in dense forrest,

I came across this dying pine.

A shaft of light pierced the dense forrest 

creating this dramatic effect.

 

Sky Variations

This time of year

I have my morning coffee 

while watching the sun rise 

over the woods behind my house.

It's surprising the tremendous 

variety of colour in the dawn sky.

But you must be quick,

the colour dissipates

in a flash!

This first, was an unpromising,

 cool, gray morning 

until the sun began to rise 

over the tree line.

Dawn 2017-03 Leslie Snider

This second example

is based on photos 

taken of Lake Ontario.

In my part of the world

 the only place 

one gets an unobstructed

 view of the sky.

Overnight a storm 

had passed over the lake 

and the dawn light 

had an eerie quality.

Morning after the Storm 2017 Leslie Snider

Autumn's Encore

Japanese Maple 2016- Leslie Snider

Tucked away in the corner of my garden

this pastel illustrates autumn's last flash of brilliance.

If you think this must be an exaggeration 

have a look at my source photos. 

Light in the Undergrowth - pastel

Light in the undergrowth

This pastel was inspired by a series of photos 

I'd taken of light 

filtered through the spring woods

onto the forest floor.

From the sketchbook

We finally had a good weather week

 for getting out, 

exercising humans and dogs 

and doing some sketching.