Summer in America has arrived. The mornings are still cool but the blazing sun gets brutally hot in the afternoons. I get up earlier these days, actually as soon as it gets light, around 5.30 am. Often I choose a spot near the river from which it is said it is the oldest river in the world. The French Broad moves slowly through its path. The greenery is dense and good for a plein air painting or pen drawing.
I watch the birds and make a pen and ink drawing of trees for my students. They say that drawing trees is the most difficult thing to do. It is because there is no fixed definition, so you have to look really well at the values to find the outline of a certain tree.
The Pisgah National Forest is great to go for hikes. The trees cool down the atmosphere and the paths are clear. Yesterday when I was going for a short hike, a couple came running out yelling, “Don’t go there, there is a bear”. But black bears are naturally part of the forest and actually don’t do any harm to humans if they are not attacked. They are intimidating because of their size, but they are more interested in munching on berries than eating a human leg.
I went into the forest anyway, looking for bears, with the couple slowly following me at a safe distance. I did not see any bears.
Here is a tour of my studio, https://vimeo.com/931512569?share=copy
Northlight studio’s, 357 Depot street, Asheville
