Sketching Druid Hill Creek, Part 2

Someone once condemned April as "the cruelest month," but seems to me in our latitudes February or March would be better candidates. Last month we began with bitter cold and then continued with snow and ice and gray days. Happily, there was no need to brave the elements. I sketched from the studio window. These are a few more images from last month.

The first shows the creek completely frozen and deep in snow. The sky had cleared to a deep, crystalline blue. And as the note says, a thaw was eagerly anticipated by everyone here in flyover land. A day or two later, the air itself began to feel as if spring was lurking somewhere nearby. The snow melted, or perhaps some even evaporated, and the creek began to flow once again. 

The watercolor on the right shows the creek and a pair of houses downstream. The day was more gray than usual, but warmer, and gray open water ran downstream. The trees seemed gloomier than usual, too. I included a couple of houses in this one, though I generally leave them out. These sketches don't show identical scenery mostly because as I do them I'm picking and choosing what to leave in and what to leave out. The choices don't always work as well as I'd like, but the point of sketching isn't to diddle and fiddle but to capture the idea and the image as best one can, with minimal revisions.

This sketch from a day or two later gives a good idea of how the light began to change toward the end of the month. The warmer temperatures seemed reflected as warmer light on parts of bare trees along the banks of Druid Hill Creek. This image is from mid-February, and despite snow on the banks and continued cold weather, even the dead grasses began to look more cheerful.

The last February sketch, from a week and a half later. Here I was most interested in the flattened and dry grasses along the bank. The day was gloomy but the grass and the far banks seem to promise that it won't be long until spring. One can only hope.


The season advances this month as the sun climbs higher and the earth begins to warm. The creek continues to change and the change has accelerated. Tiny hints of green peek out of a dense litter of leaves and twigs on the floor of the woods. Meanwhile a pair of cardinals forages for nesting materials and the local squirrels have emerged to play tag. The creek flows smooth as the sky it mirrors. It won't be long until foliage bursts out. More sketches to come.

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Previously
Sketching Druid Hill Creek