Seeing red

And yellow and orange and gold! It's that time of year again when the turning leaves become such a distraction as you drive along the lanes around here. With the vivid blue skies we've been enjoying the autumn colour is impossible to ignore and it's hard not to end up in a ditch.

I probably showed very similar photos on the blog this time last year - I know what I like!! The fruits and berries glowing in the hedge at the back of the garden look good enough to eat and, judging by the activity I see from my kitchen window, the foraging birds agree too.

I had a few minutes to spare while dinner was cooking last night and made the most of them by adding a very quick pen and pencil drawing to a page of my art diary that I'd already collaged with a photocopied red oak leaf.

Using a fine liner pen is a good technique if you're normally a bit fiddly with your drawing. There's no rubbing out mistakes so it concentrates the mind wonderfully and eliminates hesitation.

The colour was applied within the pen lines using water-soluble pencils - scribbled on with a wash of plain water added, leaving some of the paper white to give the impression the fruits are shiny.

I strolled round the garden with camera in hand this morning and now I'm spoilt for choice. I'm undecided whether to paint these gorgeous leaves next or  the red apples from one of our trees. Both subjects sum up an October moment perfectly.

Mind you, a big bowl of apples makes such a lovely centrepiece on the table it almost wouldn't matter if we didn't eat or draw them - we could just enjoy looking at them! The tree was a gift from a schoolfriend to my younger daughter on her 5th birthday. It was little more than a stick back then but you have to have faith and patience don't you? I probably will paint both the leaves and the apples if I have time later today.

I'll let you know if I managed it next time.
Thanks for reading - Linda x