Sweet autumn clematis

The sweet autumn clematis is blooming with wild abandon once more--as it has every fall, without fail, at both our houses.

The aging grill, huddled beneath its cover, looks like a little black ghost, awaiting Halloween.

This was my first try at using masking fluid. The contents of my three-year- old jar have taken on the consistency of marshmallow crème, so it went on in clumps. I used a small, inexpensive craft brush to apply it. Waiting through the drying time does add a significant amount of time to the sketching process, as I expected.

Beefsteak tomatoes

This was a good year for tomatoes from our back flower bed. These are some of the last.

Flower bed in July 

Sedum budding, grass going to seed, Knockout roses in bloom, echinacea wilting in heat, volunteer cherry tomatoes ripening....bird song.

Garden growing wild

A volunteer sunflower has sprung up among the weeds in the back garden.

My spiral Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook is almost full. I'm not as observant about paper quality as some sketchers, but the paint color does seem more intense than in any other sketchbook I've tried so far. I don't know if this is from a higher rag/cotton content, or what.

Ink and watercolor pencils.
Related reading: Weed Challenge Winners (James Gurney's weed challenge, along with Richard Bell's spring weed video, gave me the idea of drawing weeds.)

Bouquet