Swallowtail on the Sunflower

I love this time of year when the butterflies are abundant in the garden!  The sunflowers are blooming and I am painting in miniature on this bright and sunny day.  It's been close to 100 degrees for so many days in a row, that I've fully acclimated to the heat.  I'm completely comfortable in the shade for hours!  Good thing, because this heat wave is expected to last for another week at least!  Painting number 4992 in 4992 days 

Swallowtail and Sunflower

We've had some really beautiful swallowtail butterflies in the flowers, and I just had to capture one in paint!  Ink and watercolor is my chosen medium today on this miniature paper.  This is a great size when I only have minutes to get in a sketch.  I hope to paint another black and blue swallowtail that I also saw today - he caught my attention from across the garden!  I've never seen one like it before, but alas, my time is short.  Painting number 4964 in 4964 days. 

Phlox and Swallowtail

 

I love painting the world that surrounds me, even in miniature when my painting window is tiny.  These little moments stolen in the garden are my reprieve from the weeding and constant cleaning that comes with many flowers. Each is a beauty to behold, and the insects that cling to them are so very interesting, too. As the butterflies dance, they won top billing over the tiny snail on a leaf. Perhaps he'll appear in a later sketch!  Painting number 4958 in 4958 days. 

Swallowtail and Pumpkin

 

Butterflies and pumpkins are showing for a few more days at Powell Gardens. The butterflies have been plentiful in my garden, so I sketched as I waited for another to fly by.  Then, I would capture their form and color as fast as I could before they moved on to a new bloom.  The mums and cosmos keep them coming, but it's only a matter of time before a frost comes our way.  I am working on new paintings to go into their gallery space next week, so come see them for the holidays! Painting number 4684 in 4684 days. 

Swallowtail and Pumpkin

 

I love these beautiful days in the garden - with my paints!  The butterflies have been so abundant in recent weeks, so welcome after their sparse presence earlier in the season.  This has been the first year I've noticed a decline in their numbers around our farm.  With so many wildflowers and pasture land, pollinators have been plentiful through the years. This one will be heading to Powell Gardens next week. Painting number 4636 in 4636 days. 

Phlox and Swallowtail

 

There's always time for a quick sketch in my garden - especially when the phlox are in their glory!  All of our recent rain has pumped up the vibrancy on these lovelies.  My very first start was from Grandma Bessie's house on Olive, many years ago.  I've planted them all over the property through the years, and now, their heavenly fragrance fills the air, and brings back memories.  Those are the very best flowers to surround oneself with. This one is headed to Powell Gardens for the Butterfly Festival and is painting number 5093 in 5093 days. 

Zinnia and Swallowtail

How fun to spend a little time in the garden watching butterflies!  They really love the zinnias, so I could work on the zinnia while waiting for my models to arrive.  As one comes close, I start stretching furiously, stopping as they leave.  Another arrives, and I can finish the form, even if the colors are different.  The swallowtail is my favorite butterfly - and I'm lucky we have so many in the gardens took choose from!  Painting number 2758 in 2758 days. 

Phlox and Swallowtail

After spending time on a difficult commission, I am unwinding in the garden with these gorgeous phlox!  My reward for relaxing patiently with pen and paper?  A beautiful swallowtail joined the party, lighting on several blooms before moving to the next bed.  Thankful she tarried long enough to be sketched!  I have uncapped a favorite TWSBI Diamond fountain pen, to show the nib.  LOVE this pen for all my art needs!  Painting number 2744 in 2744 days.

Swallowtail on the Allium

Things have been so hectic around here, I'm simply overwhelmed.  I have not even had time to try and remember all that needs to be done around.  I am dropping balls right and left, and still the demands increase.  I really need a few hours to myself to unwind and actually breathe.  Squeezing in a drawing amidst the squealing boys chasing the dogs and trying to clean up after them!  Chaos reigns at my house these days.......drawing number 1276.

Swallowtail on the Allium
Pen and ink on paper, 6x7
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Swallowtail

Swallowtail
Pen and ink on paper, 5x6

Today, I draw butterflies!  No more of yesterday’s stressful cafe scene painting for me.....well, not today.  I do need practice, and practice I will, but for now I am retreating to my happy place!  I am using Pitt pens, black india ink, to complete this butterfly drawing.  I work loosely with my pens, letting the image unfold as the strokes spill out the tip.  I have not kept up with completing a pen and ink drawing every day, but I will continue to draw whenever I get the chance.  I sure wish there were more hours in each day, I never have enough time.  This pen drawing makes 1171 in 1171 days.