Bluebells

This morning I started off the day compiling a replacement ID sign for the Aquarium. I had an email from Jonny yesterday to say that the Picasso Triggerfish had died, from old age, and that there were no plans to have another triggerfish brought in to replace him. So the ID for this species would need to be removed and replaced  with a revised one showing just the two other occupants of the tank a blue grouper and a porcupine pufferfish.The ID file for this tank was of the Quark format so I had to copy the info across onto an Illustrator file. Once printed, and trimmed to size, I went across to the Aquarium to meet Jonny to get it up on show.

The rest of the morning was filled with bits and pieces; Phil had been to the fortnightly OPs meeting (as usual) and on his return ran through the news and information from it. I also fiddled some more with the spider illustration - having now changed my mind a little on how I was going to do the background. More of that in another post, when I have got something to show.

Before lunch I needed to make a decision. Was I going to take a chance with the weather and get myself out to Hollywood Towers this afternoon. The bluebells are all out and looking lovely, apparently, so I would really like to get out there to get some photo's and do some more sketches. As explained in my other blog Phil allows Anna and I to have one morning/afternoon a fortnight to work on projects. For Anna it's photography  - she is doing a behind the scenes series of photos of the zoo, staff at work, animals, events etc. I use my half day for sketching whatever I want- not a choice I usually have with regards to my subject matter at the zoo. So it's really good to be able to choose what I'd like to sketch. I started off doing sketches of animals around the zoo, but for the last year I have concentrated my efforts on The Hollywood Towers Estate. This is owned by the zoo and is just outside of Bristol and there are plans to develop it into The National Wildlife Conservation Park.  

I have been going out there when I can, on my sketching morning/afternoons, to take photos and do a few sketches around the estate as a kind of archive of it before the development takes it over.

As the rain was holding off around lunch time I decided to take the chance and go. I had my cold and wet weather gear so I should be fine, it was whether the light would be good enough to photograph the bluebells well, that was concerning me.

The afternoon passed by pleasantly.. a bit of rain and a few moments of lovely glittery sunshine in the wet woodland. As I walked across the field towards the wood when I first arrived I spotted a male pheasant and then I startled three roe deer females that were browsing in the hedge fence line.

Needless to say they sprinted away as I approached, but I did managed to get some photos...

They still look quite scruffy, as they moult out their winter coats. I saw two other roe deer, both bucks (may have been the same one), their heads carrying the upright rounded prongs of their antlers in velvet. I didn't get any photo's of them as they were too quick and in the woodland they disappeared from view within a second or two.

My first sketch was at the bottom of one of the main tracks leading into the wood. The wood is a long thin ribbon covering, and following, a steep slope running around the edge of several fields on the higher level and down to more fields on the lower level. Since my last visit at the beginning of March it has changed qutie a bit in that everywhere is greening up with fresh bright colour. The ground is a carpet of green leaves of varying shapes and now intermingled with them are bluebells. One or two in places and patches in others.  The air is noticeably scented with ramsons (wild garlic) and the trees are starting to fill out their bare branches with newly sprouted leaves.

I sat on my lovely seat under a big black umbrella to sketch. I got very cold last time I was here, but my bubblewrap is my secret weapon... it's great for keeping in body heat, so with a sheet of bubblewrap over my lap and round my legs I kept warm and dry.

This is the scene I was looking at - the photo was taken in a brief moment when the sun broke through the clouds. I actually enjoyed sitting there in the rain, listening to the birds around me as I dabbled with m'paints.

And this was my one hour sketch. I used a waterproof ink pen first to draw the details and then added watercolour. I make notes around my sketches of what I can see, hear, smell as an added record of the time the sketch was done.

I moved on round the line of the wood towards the east side of the estate looking for the splendid bluebell swathes I had been told about. I found several patches which I stopped to photo and sketch but I think the main carpeting of them was futher on and I didn't have time to get round to them. I hope I can see them on my next visit, hopefully in a fortnight's time.

I found a potentially nice little sketch scene of some bluebells set against the dark form of a wet fallen tree. I decided this time to go straight in with the paint and not to do any drawing to start with. Rather be about form, I wanted to try and capture the colour.
This sketch was done in about half an hour.

All too soon it was approaching 5pm (home time the staff on site at the estate) so I had to make my way quickly back to the car so that Mike, Horticulture Manager, could lock up and go home. I had parked in the compound by the greenhouses which needs to be locked, so I had to get back to move my car. Had I done what I have done previously and taken the gate key and driven round into the estate middle and parked up near the old walled garden of the manor house, I could have taken my time on leaving and dropped the keys into Mike's house (on the estate) before I left. On my hurried way back, as I crossed the fields, I saw a very handsome male pheasant with two light coloured females. It was lashing down with rain and they were too far away to get a photo of any worth. I cursed myself for parking where I did and must remember not to do that again... the best of the wildlife is usually seen as the light fails towards the end of the afternoon.... a time not to hurry!