February 28, 2015

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This one is for Gale, who has a wolf dog!

I've drawn a lot of mammals that live in California, but I've never drawn a wolf. Technically there are no wild wolves in California since the 1940's when the last wolf was killed in a government extermination program. Now the Gray wolf is considered an endangered species and is protected. 

In 2012, a lone male gray wolf, named OR-7, or Journey, traveled 1000 miles from Northern Oregon to Northern California to look for love. He didn't find a mate, so he traveled back into Oregon where he did find a mate and settled in Southern Oregon where they had pups. Now there is hope that the species will proliferate and filter back down into California. Of course there are farmers with livestock that might feel otherwise. 

While living in Colorado, I thought that a wolf ran across the road that I was driving on at dusk, but if it was a wolf and not a large coyote dog, it might have been a Mexican wolf. I was living in the South Eastern corner of the state and while Colorado does not officially have wild wolves, the Gray wolf has been sighted in Northern Colorado. There are several packs of Mexican wolves in New Mexico and Arizona, so with all of the wild open spaces in South Eastern Colorado, it would not be surprising for Mexican wolves to show up in that area. 

My only other encounter with wolves was at a wolf rescue in Paso Robles. They are larger than you would think, about 100 lbs, beautiful and with an intelligence behind their eyes that makes me happy not to have ever met one in the wild!

February 27, 2015

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My sister Vivian response to these sketches first thing in the morning everytime that I send one out. She always has a comment on it, good or bad. Thank you Viv. 

I found a few photos of her when we were all out at Fay and Kory's Paso Robles house. It looks like it might have been in the fall, when the hills around there are all golden and slightly breezy. 

Drawing pattern on fabric is a good way to define an object, but the plaid that she is wearing was driving me crazy! I lost my place several times. Still I got the effect that I was looking for.

February 26, 2015

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This is Fern Canyon in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park It is really a large gully, or an Arroyo, who's sides are lined with ferns and moss. It is it's own bio-niche, with frogs, newts, salamanders and a host of insects. If is looks familiar, it should if you've seen Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs. Parts of the movies were filmed there. If you ever get a chance to visit the area, take a walk in this canyon, or better yet, hike the loop that starts with the James Irvine Trail.

If you can't tell, Prairie Creek State Park, with all of it's wonders and beauty is one of my most favorite spots on Earth!

February 24, 2015

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Since I was reminiscing about how I love the Coastal Redwoods area, I wanted to include the Gold Bluffs Beach area of the Prairie Creek State Park.  The park is on of Highway 101, just south of Crescent City and has it's Western most border on the Pacific ocean. It is one of the most incredible places to visit in it's diverse terrain, flora and fauna. The park is simply beautiful! We always used to camp in the Prairie Creek Campground area, but I guess now you can pitch a tent on the beach as well. 

The Roosevelt Elk are everywhere and when we rode out bicycles to the beach, we thought we would walk along the shore. We would have to pass through a section of small sand dunes that had grasses growing through it and what looked like some small twiggy vegetation growing among the grasses. We never got to the water however because as we walked closer to the sand dunes, we realized that the twigs were moving and that they were not twigs, but a herd of elk bedded down in the grasses!  We prudently decided to explore other areas, like the Fern Canyon, but that is another story

February 23, 2015

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I found a patch of this weed along side of the Elk Grove Creek, in a muddy area. This is miner's leaf lettuce. The leaves of this plant were large, fleshy, about four inches across. I've seen this plant in Southern California, but it was much smaller and hardly worth collecting to eat. It seems that here in Northern California, the Miner's leaf lettuce grows happily in large swaths in the late winter and early spring.

 It got it's name from the gold miners who harvested it during the California Gold Rush in 1849. They probably learned about the plant and it's benefits from the native Indians.  The leaves of this fleshy plant could cure scurvy, a condition that is a result of a lack of vitamin C. This herb is high in vitamin C, A, iron and Omega 6. 

Eaten raw, it is slightly lemony. This flavor is the result of ascorbic acid and oxalic acid. There might a problem with plants that contain oxalic acid because it can inhibit the absorption of calcium, but spinach, beet greens and swiss chard all contain oxalic acid, not enough to harm and the benefits out weigh the negative effects. The leaves of the rhubarb plant does have so much oxalic acid that it is poison. 

I love eating the leaves of this plant mixed with other leafy plants, either fresh or cooked. I like the pretty umbrella form and the little flowers in the middle of each leaf that I had to sketch it! 

February 22, 2015

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Noel, a friend, who lives in Utah, does a lot of walking. (It actually sounds like pretty vigorous hiking to me!)  She and her husband live near Park City, where it seems like there are a lot a fun trails and views to enjoy! Yesterday, she told me that she saw a big ol' bull moose! 

Of course I had to draw a bull moose. I found this photo of an old bull moose with a broken antler and I had to do him. I wanted to do a back lighting on him and since Noel said that her hands were frozen after that hike, I thought that her breath and the moose would have shown too, so I included steam coming out of the nostrils and the back of the moose. I remember the steers that we used to have in our backyard when I was a teen. When it was cold, steam would rise from the nose and mouth and if it was cold enough, the body as well.

I wanted this moose to be standing out from the snow, so I made him is a little darker. I have never seen a moose up close in the wild, or been in the area that she hikes, so I had to guessed about the animal scale and terrain. I've seen pictures, but the amount of snow, if any there, and the vegetation was a guess. 

We don't have moose here in California, but coming up onto a full grown bull moose was probably as startling as encountering a big elk. I came up on one, not more than 15 feet away, while rounding a blind turn, on a bicycle at Gold Bluff Beach in Northern California. That elk was big, but probably not even half as big as a moose! How exciting and cool was that, Noel?!!! I bet that it was an enchanted encounter! 

February 21. 2015

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Today mom and I were watching Huell Howser, California's Gold. He presented a "Road Trip", This time, he showed "The Avenue Of Giants" in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This is one of my favorite places to go of all of the places that I've ever been to. I love the large coastal redwoods, which are taller, but not wider than the sequoias inland around Calavaras, Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The lush undergrowth and high humidity from the nearby Pacific coast supports a variety of ferns, mosses and the famous banana slug. I thought that I would try to draw my impressions of being among these trees when there is a little bit of fog.

February 20, 2015

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Tulip and I went for a walk today on the Elk Grove Creek again. It runs through residential and business areas of Elk Grove. Some of it is a wide waterway. Some of it is just a muddy trickle of water, but in the areas with enough water, waterfowl are always present.

It was overcast and cool, with some fog, but there were already people walking on either side of the waterway. The geese were still bedded in the grass, just their dark heads sticking up above the grass. The ducks were doing take offs and landings. male mallards after the females.  I also heard a choir of frogs, croaking and answering in return. 

Today I also saw a Great White Egret. It stood very still as we approached and it might have stayed there, but Tulip was getting excited as we approached. With a great stroke of the wings it flew away, following the water.

I made up this image of fog, water and birds in Photoshop to capture the memory.

February 19, 2015

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I found a few photos that I had taken with my phone when I went out with my sister, Fay in Paso Robles. We went to take some photos during the "Golden hour". The sun was beginning to set and it left everything with a golden wash. I have always loved this view off of Hog Canyon of the poplar trees in the vineyards. During this time of day, they seem to almost glow! 

February 16, 2015

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Last Saturday Mom and I went to see her long time friend who is retired at San Juan Batista Mission. Sister Loretta is a nun of the Franciscan order. Mom and sister are the same age and have birthdays on the same month. They met when mom and dad lived in Paso Robles, at the Mission San Miguel. This Tuesday, sister is going down to Salinas to get prepped for surgery on Wednesday. She is getting stints put into the arteries of her heart. I don't know the details, but it is always dangerous for someone of that age to go into surgery. Please pray for her. 

We spent the afternoon there, mom talking with her friend and the other nuns there. Later we all went to mass in the beautiful mission with a Franciscan brother in the signature brown habit, playing the organ to lead the congregation in song. While mom visited with the nuns and her friend at the convent, I went out for a walk with Tulip. Since it was a long weekend, there were lots of people visiting the mission. I decided to explore quieter areas around the mission complex. I found what looked to be an old road behind the mission.It was narrow, no wider than a single car or truck could fit on it. On either side, it was overgrown with shrubs and old trees, patches of asphalt still clinging to the path. A chain linked gate blocks any traffic, but I can easily walk around it.

 On one side is a tall retaining wall artfully graced with moss in the crevices. It is so tall and overgrown that I can't see the mission.  On the other side, a wide stretch of farm land with rows of crops, some ruby chard, I think, probably other winter hardy crops too. This is part of the San Andreas Fault.

I took some photos with my phone and noticed that there were small trees that looked like the almond trees that we sped by on the 5 on our drive. Off of highway 5, before Santa Nella, there are hundreds of acres of trees, all in bloom, looking like they are frosted trees. The little trees along the old road that I was walking on were either volunteers or remnants of an old grove that no longer exists. These trees are twisted, some struggling to put out blooms, others covered in masses of light pink flowers. 

When I got back to the convent, I asked one of the nuns who had lived there awhile what that road was. She told me that it was the El Camino Real, The King's Highway. Parts of present day highway 101 and 1 is called that sometimes, but this road was the original one that connected all of the missions in California. 

I decided to paint, in Photoshop, from a combination of a few photos that I took, a view of the mission from the El Camino Real with an almond tree in bloom.

February 13, 2015

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I had to get a blood test, a fasting lab for my new doctor. He wants to see where my hemoglobin levels are and figure our why it went awry. The medical building is next to a walking trail that had expanded since I had been on it a couple of years ago. More medical buildings had been built and the paved trail runs along Elk Grove Creek. 

It was a beautiful morning for a walk and other people were walking on it too, I took tulip with me. I was surprised at the diversity of vegetation which was nice because they are all wild, native plants and not part of a landscaper's design. There were mallard ducks, a very large white egret, and flocks of canadian geese. It looked as though some of the geese were nesting. I saw pairs of geese in the grass a little distance away from the trail, the male standing, the female sitting. These geese are monogamous, and most couples stay together all of their lives. How fitting for the day before Valentine's Day! 

February 12, 2015

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Mom wanted to watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. In the third movie, the armies go to war against the evil Mordor. Gondor lights signal fires along the mountains as a signal to Rohan that they need Rohand's help.

 I got a quick glimpse of that scene and thought that would be an easy painting to do. 

February 11, 2015

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I'm trying to build up my body and immune system. Besides walking, I have been lifting weights again. My muscles are aching, but this time it is a good ache. I can't wait to get back into the gym! 

After watching a spot on this woman, on the Today Show, I was inspired! Yes, she has had work done, which she needs for her industry, which I never will have done. But it is the fact that she is using what she has to fulfill her life and stay active! At 82, she is still beautiful and she has graced more magazine covers than when she was younger. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2355862/Carmen-DellOrefice-82-year-old-model-reveals-secrets-lasting-success.html

February 10, 2015

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I'm keeping these sketches simple to rest my hand until the pain goes away. Heat feels good, but I'll try arnica instead of Aspercream. 

Today was a really beautiful day in the morning, then it got a little overcast. Later this week it is supposed to get warmer, perfect weather to go for a bike ride! 

February 9, 2015

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I guess when you overuse a body part it gets inflamed. I was trying to work on some things this morning when the first two fingers and thumb on my left hand was aching. I put on some arnica, but it hurt enough for me to stop using it and find something else to do. I didn't get to finish my drawings, so I thought that I would try to draw with my right hand to draw my left hand. I am left handed. This is my experiment in trying to draw with my right hand. I cheated a little to refine the shape a little with my regular drawing hand. Oddly enough, drawing the shadows was easier than trying to do the outside contour of my left hand. I was able to capture the arthritis on the index finger and the broken joint on the ring finger. 

This was a good exercise to train the other side of my brain, but the drawing is not too good. 

February 8, 2015

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Since I've been drawing animals that frequent urban areas, I had to draw a coyote. 

Coyotes are so successfully adaptable that they live in all of the U.S., Mexico, all the way to Panama and parts of Canada.There are 19 subspecies of coyotes as they have evolved to adapt their environment. They are will eat vertebrates and invertebrates, everything from bugs to sheep, fruit and some vegetation. 

Fay, my sister, and I used to see then all of the time when we rode our bikes. A pack of them would follow us when we rode at night. They ran away when we turned our heads with lamps on our helmets to shine a light on them. 

They are very social. The coyote pack is centered around a reproductive female and once she mates with a male they stay together for life. They are monogamous and the male stays around to help feed and raise the cubs. 

I had friends who lived in a log house in Acton, in Southern California. They had 60 acres in the middle of nowhere and had coyotes around all of the time. They told me that the coyotes would send a female in heat to lure the male dogs out and the female coyotes would mate and them kill the dogs. There are lots of coyote-dog hybrids and wolf-coyote hybrids called coywolfs. Both hybrids are larger than coyotes. I saw a huge one once after a ride with Fay in the Santa Monica Mountains, near Topanga Canyon. It was bigger than a German Shepard and maybe almost as large as my Great Dane that I have now. It's bushy tail was long as it's body. It was probably not a coywolf, but a coyote dog hybrid.  

When I lived in Granada Hills, a coyote was killing my neighbor's chickens and then my ducks in the back yard. We had a six foot fence, but that's nothing to a coyote that seems to be able to run up the almost vertical side of a trail when we would surprise them while riding our mountain bikes. When I did see the coyote, it was really small, about the size of a beagle, running down the middle of a busy street. Animal Control in the L.A. area say that there are coyotes all over Los Angeles. They travel unseen along the storm drains and waterways. 

I drew this one with no vegetation around it since they can live anywhere and are so adaptable.

February 7, 2015

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I was looking through some old photos and found one of my sister, Fay and her two dogs. This picture was a combination of a couple of pictures, because I love the way that her Dalmatian’s ears fly when he is running and I loved her calling them to her. It was so sweet!  

February 6, 2015

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Skunks like the raccoon frequent urban areas and are omnivores. They eat plants and animals. They will dig up a lawn in search of grubs, eat lizards and rodents if they can get then, snack on nuts and berries and of course pet food. 

Sometimes in the early morning, I can smell the scent of a skunk that had visited the backyard.  

When i was living in Colorado, I knew that a skunk had been visiting the yard in the early morning by the smell that it left behind. Morning I had left the two dogs that I had out the back door and almost immediately the dogs were barking. Before I could go to investigate, I hear yelping. Before I could get out of the back door, I already knew what had happened because I could smell that acid stink of a skunk attack. 

Both of the dogs were sprayed and since it was fall, going into winter, they couldn't stay outside. The smell, however was so strong, it hut the eyes and nose. It was a horrid acrid sulfur type smell. The only thing that I knew about neutralizing a skunk scent was tomato juice. I didn't have tomato juice, but I had couple of large cans of tomatoes. Outside was cold, possibly close to freezing, but I ties up the dogs and bathed them with the tomatoes as best that I could. The Golden Retriever was not too bad, but the other dog, a Wolfhound mix, got it in the face. He was uncomfortable, but washing him with the tomatoes was the best that I could do. The dogs were freezing and my hands ached from the cold, but after leaving the tomatoes on for about 15 minutes, I washed them off. I washed them two more times with regular dog shampoo and brought them into the back porch. It was an enclosed porch, but still cold, although not as cold as outside. I couldn't let them into the house because they still smelled so bad. I called my sister, Fay, who was working with a vet at the time and she said that I should use baking soda and vinegar, and that help a little, but when the stores opened, I got some a skunk odor remover from the feed store.It took off much of the smell, but it lasted for another three months. I did have to blow dry the dogs and let them in the house. It was getting to be 10o below 0o at night.  

Despite the smell, people keep skunks as pets. They are supposed to be very intelligent, curious and will get into things, but their owners love them. The scent glands are removed, however.

Feburary 4,2015

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This drawing is of a bobcat. There was a bobcat that was caught in the foothills near Placerville. It was killing pets, so a specialist was called in to catch it. It was destroyed which is too bad because the bobcat was just being a cat and eating what was available during this drought. It is the people that need to learn how to live with the local wildlife. 

Seeing this bobcat reminded me of when I saw a bobcat. Fay, my sister, another friend and I were riding our mountain bikes in the Santa Monica mountains on evening. The moon was full and bright and we could see perfectly well without our riding lights that were mounted to our helmets, so we had turned them off. We were almost back to our cars on Reseda Blvd, but still on a ridge overlooking the homes below. Suddenly a bobcat appeared not too far from us. It didn't turn and run when it saw us, but it just stood there in the moonlight checking US out! We stayed still, enjoying this magic moment, in the sight of this beautiful animal. After a couple of minutes, it turned and left. It felt that we were holding our breaths all of that time.  How cool was that?!