Week 2

Date: Wednesday, October 14th, 2015
5–6PM
Weather: Clear skies, damp
Temperature: 55°

The first thing I noticed when I walked to my observation site is how much I hadn’t noticed before. I went in looking for changes, and then realized I hadn’t paid enough attention to my site in week 1 to have much of a basis for comparison. This time, I tried to take in as much as I could but was pressed for time since I was running out of daylight.

What I did notice was the ground was littered with even more fallen leaves. There are now piles of leaves instead of a single layer. Old leaves are decaying. Next, I felt a difference in the atmosphere. It was much damper (from the rain we’ve been having), and as a result, all of the vegetation around my observation site looked heavy and wilted. The vibrant, strong, healthy plants of last week are now dull in color.

As I looked at some fallen leaves on the ground, I realized that the maple trees I guessed were sugar maples last week are actually big leaf maples. I arrived at this conclusion because the leaves are, well, big. The biggest one I found was about a foot across.

Also, the ferns I saw all over my observation site that I guessed were either deer ferns or common sword ferns are in fact common sword ferns. At Ravenna, Jessica pointed out one of these and told us they could be identified by the “handle” at the base of the leaflet. I checked my ferns, and they had handles as well.

I recently looked up some info on holly and found out they usually produce fruits in the fall. The holly at my observation site has little buds on the vines, but I’m pretty sure they’re just the dried up remnants of the flowers that bloomed back in spring. I also read that if the holly doesn’t produce berries, it’s likely male. Either this is the case, or the bush is a female that simply didn’t yield fruit this year.

Maybe I’m just not very observant, but I didn’t notice much different from last week. The same plants were still there. I heard some geese in the distance, but not in my actual vicinity. The rest of the birds must have retired for the night, because I couldn’t hear any. I didn’t see any animals either. Granted, I didn’t have much time to look.

After this week, I realized that I really need to allow the time to actually observe and actively look for different species and features at my observation site. I still have this mentality about the journal activity that I must get in and get out. I think I’m missing the whole purpose of the assignment—to enjoy this time to take a break and look around. Next week I’m going to try to slow down a bit; I really want to get the most out of this but know that’s not going to happen if I continue to rush it.

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For these exercises, I chose a plant that I believe is some kind of ivy. 

Memory Sketch

Really tests your observational skills...

Contour Sketch

 This is actually my favorite drawing. It really did capture the energy and movement of the plant the best even though I was drawing blindly. Maybe because all my focus was on the plant, not the paper.

Gesture Series

           Is it even possible to draw a plant in 3 seconds? It didn't even start looking remotely like a plant until 30 seconds. This is really hard and something I need to practice!!

Diagrammatic Drawing

Wasn't as fun as the other exercises :(

Experimenting with the pencil

 I didn't know exactly what this meant, but I tested out different ways to present the contrast between the leaf and the veins to make it representative of the actual plant for my study drawing.

 Study Drawing

I never knew it would take me an hour to draw a plant.

Drawings of 3 other plants: