Noisy Hedgerows
5 - 9 May, 1st Microseason of Rikka (Beginning of Summer)
Hello and thanks for reading my newsletter, on art and the seasons.
It does indeed feel like a new microseason - and not too far off Japan’s sekki, ‘Beginning of Summer’ - on this sunny morning, there is a forecasted 23 degrees!
I’ve chosen something a bit different to focus on this microseason. I learned that it is ‘ National Hedgerow Week’ - a week dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness about hedgerows as an important home for much of our wildlife here in Britain.
I’ve enjoyed listening to the bustling activity of our local hedgerows. We have had a pair of blackbirds move into our backyard (above), though I have mixed feelings about this development, as we have a lot of neighbourhood cats…
Perhaps my favourite recent development are the sparrows - seemingly more loud and adventurous in recent weeks. I am assuming this is related to their breeding habits, as male sparrows will often chirp to attract females to their nesting sites.
Sketchbook Notes: I have drawn from a couple of photos from unsplash.com. I always gravitate towards autumnal colours, so this isn’t such a seasonally appropriate likeness! For this, I used more wet materials than I have lately, returning to my gouache collection!
Materials:
Inks
Diamine Drawing and Calligraphy Ink: Blue Black, Canary Yellow, Emerald
Daler Rowney Acrylic Ink: Red Earth
Ecoline Liquid Watercolour: White
Walnut Ink
Paint
Windsor and Newton Designers Gouache: Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre, Pale Rose Blush
Holbein Artists Gouache: Ash Blue, Elm Green
Pencils
Faber Castell Polychromos: Light Yellow Ochre, Earth Green, Burnt Ochre, Olive Green Yellowish
Caran d’ache Luminance: Raw Umber 10, Burnt Ochre 10, French Grey
Derwent Inktense: Mild Vermillion
Derwent Drawing: Mars Violet
Derwent Lightfast: Mars Black
Pastels
Neocolour II: Pale Yellow, Ochre, Olive Brown, English Red, Cinnamon
Learn more about hedgerows here.