More October Colour

Ready for a change of pace, colour scheme, subject matter

I was settling down in the studio with my summer lake sketches,

all cool blues and misty aquas....

then I looked out the window and saw this!

Sumac October 2018

The morning light dancing across the garden

proved too good to resist.

Pastel  - Sumac -  Leslie Snider

You never know when inspiration will appear

...so try to be ready!

Palette Sumac 2018

Sunlit Marsh

The first snow fall of the season 

has given a powdery dusting

 to the view from my studio window 

so the warmth of autumn 

is a tempting distraction.

This small pastel 

was based on some photos 

I took last fall 

of an impending storm.

Although ominous clouds 

threaten in the distance ahead,

strong sunlight from behind me

 highlighted the golden grasses 

spreading out across 

the windswept foreground.

If you look closely you will see these grasses 

are phragmites, an invasive species 

taking over Ontario marshlands.

In my sketch they have become cattails, 

a similar but less innocuous plant.