Backyard sketches

These warm July days are pretty nice for sketching in the backyard, and observing animal life. The birdbath is a popular spot for thirsty visitors. A big black bird stops in for a bath but doesn’t stay long enough for me to add him in. I really need to observe birds to be able to draw them, but unfortunately it’s a quick bath, not a long soak, and I can’t get the shapes that quickly.

Alice doesn’t move much when it’s warm outside, until I put down the first few marks of my pencil. She flops over and I have to start again. That’s no excuse, though, for making her front paws too long.


20 Comments on “Backyard sketches”

  1. Soni says:

    face it !!! Alice has your number 🤣 She’d probably paint you if her dew claws were thumbs

    i just love your subtle yet lively sense of color – yes, your courses are a huge boost but you’re the master

    thanks for sharing as always – we’re a lucky audience

    • Soni, Alice had my number a long time ago : )
      As for lucky, it is me. Thanks to you and to everyone who follows and comments.
      It will be ten years soon, for this blog, and I still love sketching and writing as much as I did almost a decade ago.

  2. jeanne1937 says:

    Great sketch. Nice to see you make mistakes in your drawing too :-).

  3. Marilyn Hansen says:

    Love this! The wheelbarrow is a main staple for me at our barn! Here, it looks so pretty in the garden; a nice decorative addition instead of a work horse (pun intended LOL). Alice look like she just loves being the perfect model!

  4. deedster56 says:

    Ah, lovely to see the familiar wheelbarrow so beautifully captured in this pretty spot in the garden. Alice, oh how I love your long graceful limbs!

    • Thanks Deedster. Alice does actually have long legs. She’s part lab and part something else so she doesn’t have a typical squat lab body. She’s a good runner and has always been quite thin. And graceful too, of course.

  5. Merillion says:

    Even with her paws too long, I love it.

  6. Merillion says:

    And – try and take a picture of the bird – they are almost too fast for a pic, but try it.

  7. Judy Sopher says:

    I think this is so beautiful. A good balance of shapes and colors. And the leaves are fascinating. Love a painting that I can’t stop looking at. (Or at Alice’s lovely legs)

  8. Patsy says:

    You’re amazing Shari, all these wonderful little paintings that say so much, you’re an inspiration. I think we’re getting rain in England today which will be good for field and garden! Very best wishes

  9. Nice painting of the bird bath, I like how you captured the Wheel Barrow, and the Hosta.

  10. It is always fun to see your yard and the wheelbarrow without being surrounded by snow. lol


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