Harris Neck NWR

Here’s an album of the art I created while I was traveling last month. I had a lot of fun drawing the alligators at the Okefenokee NWR and Harris Neck NWR. They’re good models because they don’t move much. There really is no substitute for drawing from live animals, although I took a ton of photos, too. Other than the one at the top, they’re in chronological order, starting with New York. All but one pencil sketch was done with a Sakura Micron .02 black pen. I used a Pentalic Nature Sketch 7×5″ sketchbook, a very handy size. Drawings on white paper are difficult to scan or photograph. I lightened them as much as I could.

Calfornia sea lion, Central Park Zoo, New York

Resting grizzly bear, Central Park Zoo, New York

Turtles, snow leopard cub, Central Park Zoo, New York

Pronghorn head mount and hat, Explorers Club, New York

Cheetah mount, Explorers Club, New York; White ibis, Okefenokee NWR, Georgia

Ibis in tree — White ibis in tree, Okefenokee NWR, Georgia

Water lily, Okefenokee NWR, Georgia; River cooter (turtle), Harris Neck NWR, Georgia

Alligator 2 — Alligator, Harris Neck NWR, Georgia

Alligator leg 3 — Alligator front leg, Harris Neck, NWR. Georgia

Alligator Crazy 4 — “Crazy”, 12′ long, 800-900 lb. bull alligator, Okefenokee Swamp Park, Georgia

Farmstead, Okefenokee Swamp Park, Georgia

Alligator details 5 — Alligator details, Okefenokee Swamp Park, Georgia

Bald Cypress tree — Bald cypress tree, Okefenokee NWR, Georgia

Cypress roots — Bald cypress roots, Okefenokee NWR, Georgia

Cypress and alligator — Bald cypress, American alligator, Okefenokee NWR, Georgia

Live oak and moss — Live oaks and Spanish moss, Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Island, Florida

Savannah, egrets — Savannah NWR, South Carolina

Pencil birds — Birds, Hudson River Valley, New York State

When I got back north and was up in the Hudson River Valley, I visited Olana, the home of American artist Frederic Church. The house wasn’t open but the grounds were. It was windy and pretty cold, but I was determined to do at least a couple of watercolors since the view from the house is famous and has been painted by a number of artists over the years.

Hudson River from Olana, New York State; 8×8″

Catskills from Olana — Catskill Mountains from Olana, New York State; 8×8″

I also spent a couple of days with an artist friend at his home in the Hudson River Valley. We spent one morning on location at this lovely pond.

Pond wc — Pond, Hudson River Valley, New York State; 8×8″

I’m currently on a road trip in southern Georgia. I flew to New York on March 10 (which is why there was no blog post last week) to attend the Explorers Club Annual Dinner (ECAD) and had a terrific time. The opening of the group exhibition “Wildlife Art: Field to Studio” is the evening of March 31 at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut. What to do in between? It didn’t really make sense to fly home to California for two weeks and then fly back, so I decided to see what there would be to do on the east coast where it was warmer and in the same time zone. After considering a number of possibilities, some more ambitious than others, including flying to Paris for a week or going to somewhere like Belize or Costa Rica, I took another look at the map, Florida being too expensive and everything pretty much booked, and saw….the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, somewhere I’d wanted to go since I was a kid. Plus there’s the barrier islands of the Georgia coast. Sold! I flew down on Monday to Savannah, picked up a rental car and drove to my first of three Airbnb lodgings, this one near Brunswick. The next day I did quite a long drive over to the western entrance to the swamp. Here’s some of what I saw:

I sat at the end of this boardwalk to sketch and do a watercolor.

There was a large flock of white ibis all around

Of course everyone wants to see the alligators, but they're a wild animal, so you never know. But this little one swam right across in front of where I was sitting. — Of course everyone wants to see the alligators, but they’re a wild animal, so you never know. But this little one swam right across in front of where I was sitting.

On the way back I spotted this red-shouldered hawk

I was on another section of boardwalk over water and there was suddenly a loud "galoop" of water. This whitetail doe came out from underneath. I walked right over where she was. But she stopped, had a little chin scratch and then started to browse the leaves on the trees. — I was on another section of boardwalk over water and there was suddenly a loud “galoop” of water. This whitetail doe came out from underneath. I had walked right over where she was. But she stopped, had a little chin scratch and then started to browse the leaves on the trees.

I took a break at a bump-out seating deck and there was this green anole (currently turned brown) who stayed around for me to take quite a few photos

I got up to leave, walked over the balcony. looked down, saw a movement in the water and spotted this water snake (non-poisonous) swimming by

The next day I met up with artist and fellow Explorers Club member Alan Campbell, who took me around Harris Neck NWR.

The refuge is known for it's wood stork rookery. — The refuge is known for it’s wood stork rookery.

Wood stork carrying twigs back to the rookery. The birds have recently been removed from the endangered species list.

We twice drove the route through the refuge so went a couple of times to a dike bordering the big pond where the storks since things are always changing. The second time we saw this turtle!