Tags
butterfly, dragonfly, insect, monarch, Morton Arboretum, nature, nature art, photography, pleinair, prairie, sketch, sketchbook
Made it to the prairie twice this week! Took my weekly hike at the prairie when it was hot, humid and threatening rain. I was told of some prairie gentians that were possibly blooming at the end of my session and so I had to come back to sketch them. There was a 20 degree difference in feel between the two days and they were only 2 days apart! The lower temperature makes all the difference in the world when you’re trying to focus on drawing. Taking some extra time on this second sketch, I learned that prairie gentians are closed up in the morning and open up quite a lot as the sun gets higher in the sky. That was a bit frustrating but beautiful to see at the same time. Afterwards, I spent some time just observing. Monarchs flitted through and fed on the blazing stars and an orange-winged grasshopper flew past with a loud buzz-another new one for me! Dragonflies were zipping and darting around and I counted over a dozen green darners in the sky at one point. I tend to get melancholy at the thought of summer ending and it turns out that this is the last page of my sketchbook. I started it in April with the bloodroot flower and now have ended it with another beautiful flower, the prairie gentian. Enjoy this last weekend of summer!
Day 1
Rough blazing star
© 2018 Karen A Johnson
Day 2
Prairie gentian
© 2018 Karen A Johnson
Karen's Nature Art 
You captured the end of summer beautifully, and your sketches are always a delight!
Thanks, Peter! It’s on to fall now 🙂
Beautiful post — words and images! Love what you are doing for prairie, Karen.
Thanks, Cindy! And thanks for the heads up on the prairie gentian!
Beautiful! Especially love the blue gentian. It really showcases your skills as a natural science illustrator.
Thanks, Jean! I appreciate that very much!
Always a breath of fresh air from you, your camera and paintings! Thank you for sharing your gifts from God, the beautiful butterflies and flowers!
Well, thank you, OC! I’m so glad you enjoy these posts 🙂
Thank you, Karen. Loved this post but especially blue gentian sketch — you captured it so beautifully!
Thanks, Beroses!
I’ve loved every minute of looking at your sketchbook, Karen. Thanks for sharing all of your entries!
Carol
Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks, Carol! It’s been a good summer of getting outside and exploring!
Nice photos, and drawings, did you do the colour with watercolour, they really have a botanical illustration feel to them.
Thanks, Shawn! Yes, the drawing is ink with some watercolor. It’s easier for me to work with watercolor in the field.
Karen,
This is your most poetic post, ever!
The shots, the sketches and sentiments are a lush and nostalgic delight.
Awww…Thanks, Resa! The end of August must have brought that out of me. ☺
🐝🦋
I get melancholy at this time too. Summer is always too short. This post is beautiful, Karen; I love all of it – the words, the photos and the wonderful sketches!
Thank you, Clare, that’s very sweet of you to say. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my prairie posts. I was toying with stopping my series in August, but there’s still so much happening there that I think I’ll continue for now. I will say that I am looking forward to cooler weather…
Lovely! Reblogging to sister site “Timeless Wisdoms”
Thanks, Ana!
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