Moving Forward: Really Seeing Beats Just Looking

Over the last few months, as the number of my  photo based posting have declined, some have inquired about my health.  I'm fine. I've just moved to a more deeply engaged type of observation. 

On Monday last, I walked out my door to explore the nearly  snowy woods.  Found a nice scene to create in this week's sketchbook: 

 

It began as a photo with the camera almost touching the icy layer of white.

I feel the watercolor more closely shows what was key to the scene and leaves out unimportant "stuff" that the camera presented.  The red oak leaves and the textures of snow on the tree bark are the subject.  Rough bark is brown on the left side but tinged with olive green on the right.  The green is likely moss.  The oak bark texture was complex.  The wet-on-wet application of the background was in better balance than in the photo. I wanted the viewer to see the scene in those minutes when some warm sunlight came in to play.

My new direction in art began for me in October 2023 when a found this book that returned me to sketching and watercolor:

Look At That! 

Discover the Joy of Seeing by Sketching

by Bobbie Herron   
now available as Second Edition

It is a simple, refreshing approach to learn how to really see, and to escape the idea that you need to please others with your art. You draw to satisfy yourself.  Any mistake is a lesson to move skill forward.  Since that day, I have found something to sketch nearly every day.  I discovered that there is always something to draw nearby.  Less mileage required.  You will see that I have expanded my subjects well past the natural. 

In December, I was at the Rockwell Museum's Gingerbread Invitational.  Here is one (of many sketches) that offered much more than a camera could present. Somewhere Over the Technicolor Rainbow was an entry created to remind the viewer of the magic and beauty that color brings to story telling, creativity and our own imagination.  I love the red shoes peaking out from the shed roof.  Poor witch!

 

The central sketch was done on a first visit, but I knew there was more to say.  In the far right was a swirling tornado that did not reach to the top of the shed roof.  There was a huge empty white space at top.  It needed a sky.  I returned to push the tornado to the top plus add a violent storm above. Then made two smaller sketches of a green skinned witch and the little mushroom houses.  Added text.  A photo could not include those inputs.  These are  some of the pluses of sketching.

Previously, I was at the Rockwell's Dia de los  Muertos celebration and sketched the ofrenda - an offerings-  display.  The time preparing a sketch provided deeper insights than a quick snapshot captured in haste.

 

 This was so enjoyable that next year is already anticipated, with more time allowed.  

 

In sketching, it is nice to simply omit or move something that upsets composition.  No expensive software to learn.  Here is an example.

In the photo seen at right, the heavy trees in the distance detract from the interesting briar and the solid beech in the near field.

Too many trees and one that intersects the largest tree close to the briar..  Gee,  I even shifted the big tree in the back.

Easy to clean up and put attention at the form of the briar. When capturing the photo, the photographer likely would never remember the edges of briar leaves or the crooked twists of the stems.  I do now.  See below.

 

 

Sketching naturally leads to entries in a field journal.  There are two different species of dogwood in our gardens with different in leaf shape, colors and seed heads, .  I created this journal entry to compare the overall details.

 

 

This is where my art  is after two years and a quarter.  It feels more authentic than only pushing a shutter button, although I will likely get back to some photography as the spring arrives.  The act of sketching seems more engaged. 

 

Hope you find this interesting and perhaps worth exploring.  As long as the lines on the paper satisfy you, it is art.

 

Paul Schmitt  

 

A Few Gems from the Herb Garden at Cornell Botanical Garden

 
Finally squeezed in a morning visit to a favorite garden in Ithaca.  The gardeners were busy watering to counter the extremely dry summer.  I was not disappointed.  In no particular order, here are my best results.

Everyone loves the sight of a huge black swallowtail.

Here's a secret.   Don't chase the butterfly. Move a chair close to flowers it's been visiting and let it come to you.  I was about 5 feet from it.

Be selective in choosing among the many flowers available.  Picked this because of the  two large leaves- one in upper left corner and the other at the lower center. There was no ID tag that made sense; likely an anemone.

 Next is just a blaze of color-rich yellow and red.

 

Always love Black-eyed Susans.  I see then on my bike route, thriving in a weed field.  It's brush- hogged each summer, and they just come back.   I chose this position because of the deep purple in back.

 

 Finally, a simple composition with a single delicately colored Zinnia touched by some rich blues.

I was so excited to finally get a photo outing, that I sort of lost my concentration and forgot a few details in the plan.  When I stepped out of my RAV4 at the garden, I was still wearing my bedroom slippers. No one noticed.

Best regards,

 Paul 

Watkins Glen Gorge: Change is Inevitable

Every visit over many decades to the  gorge at Watkins Glen has revealed something new to see.  I've been slow to visit this year until a hard reality arrived.  In a few days,  the  main access will be closed for the rest of 2025 while the park  replaces the original entrance bridge. Big job!  Finally motivated,  I was up at dawn to find the morning light at the entrance from the state highway golden.  

The new gardens at entrance took a few years to become established.   Enjoyable, but there was on my part an urgency to get into the gorge before the majority of the visitors arrived.  As I approached the entrance bridge, the  sun's alignment cast my long shadow directed towards the bridge.   I love the statue acknowledging the native Haudenosaunee peoples.

 The stream's water was capturing the golden light.  Have to be quick to capture the colors.

 Continuing up the trail, it is wise to look to the sides for those often missed little "treats" like these brilliant flowers.

 But, my primary goal is always reaching my favorite waterfalls.  The path climbs along the line of drops in the stream with a smaller wisp of water arching over the trail before reaching a bridge.  It's always changing with the light and the amount of water.

.... what is the new bridge design?

 

Will take a while to adjust to the absence of masonry architecture in the ninety year old park.