Being drawn to nature <g>

[Andestine]

Hello,

I love watching and drawing all kinds of things from nature (my avatar is of a wasp sadly trapped in a friend's house when she went on holiday, but I thought it was beautiful enough to sketch even when dead) I have a special love for the kinds of plants and animals which many people don't like (bats, rodents, spiders, wasps, snakes, fungi etc), so I'm looking forward to being able to talk with other people of like mind

I draw freehand, mostly from life, but when it's moving too quickly I'll draw from photos (no gridding, copying. projecting etc. as I'd rather do a bad drawing than a perfect copy). And when I've drawn something I see it differently from then on. It makes me see things I never saw before.

I spent too much of my life being distracted by other interests, and my only goal in life from now on is to improve my drawing, and along with that, increase my ability to see beauty in things other people often miss (as I did too, when I was younger).

Being alone with nature and losing all track of time and self in a drawing are endless sources of excitement and contentment for me, and having looked around the forum I'm glad to know that many other people here share my feelings.

Here's a haiku which sums it up (I can't find the author's name, sadly).

I have been gazing
At the scenery of Sho and Shung.
I realise
I am all of a sudden
Part of the landscape.


Looking forward to getting to know you

Andestine

(Already putting together a post to the Wildlife Gardening forum )

[sunnydale]

Andestine, let me be the first to offer you a very warm welcome to WAB!

I'm sure you will have noticed we have a 'Wildlife Art' section, so I'm looking forward to seeing some of your creations.

I hope you enjoy being amongst like minded people

[loripo]

That Haiku was quoted in 'The Zen of Seeing' - a book on using drawing as meditation - is that where you saw it? The only haiku poet I know is Basho, but I think he was Japanese and the book says this was a Chinese poem. I'm going to keep looking for that

[jaykay]

Hi Andestine, welcome to WAB, a great place to visit!!

Jaykay

[big bill]

Hello Andestine and welcome to Wab

[welsh.lensman]

Hi Andestine and welcome to WAB, I'm sure you'll enjoy it on here, lots of like minded people, have fun.

[Andestine]

Tracey,

Thank you so much for your welcome

I'll certainly post to the 'Wlldlife Art' section. I've put some old drawings into 'Images'. There's one below - the other three are closeby ( Trees in full leaf, birds, insects, flowers etc. are beyond my skills at present, so I'm starting with the bits I feel able to tackle )

I'm working on a marine drawing now which is driving me mad. When it's finished I'll post it.


Good morning Loripo,

I'm so glad you jogged my memory. It was the 'Zen of Seeing', and Franck attributed it to an anonymous 'ancient Chinese artist'. Many years ago that book opened my eyes to all kinds of things I had never noticed before.

I'm curious like you - always enjoying the adventure of looking things up. Do let me know if you find it, because I spent days trying to find the author, but never did.

Poetry means so much to me. Have there been any threads on nature-related poetry on the forum? (Sorry, I know I shouldn't be asking this on the 'Hello' thread, but I'm still finding out how everything works).


Jeanette, Bill and Wayne,

Thank you so much for such a warm welcome. It feels very friendly here. I have a stack of photos of unidentified wildlife to post, but want to make sure I can't find the answers from books first. There's so much to learn about identification and it can be so frustrating working alone when you're an amateur.

Looking forward to meeting you all again on other forums

Andestine

[treecreeper]

Andestine, I'll never understand haikus as long as I live, but welcome

[tcvarlh]

Already stated by loripo : The Zen of Seeing, Frederick Franck quoted from an ancient Chinese artist, whose name I can not find. Most annoying! It took me a while to find the book out, shamefully deposited in a cardboard box under the bed . Although Franck says Chinese I do think the poem has more flavour of Nippon. Pertinent anyway!
h

[loripo]

I found the other drawings you had put into the image Gallery by looking at your 'Tree' - they are superb. Please add a thread to the Wildlife art forum and show them there. There is some poetry there too - perhaps you have a poem to go with a drawing?