I’m really enjoying autumn colours at the moment. Where I live (in The Fens) we’re short on trees, so when I see some beautifully coloured leaves it feels like a special treat these days. In other places I’ve lived I had ancient woodland almost literally on my doorstep and I do miss it at this time of year.
One exception: our neighbour’s massive ash tree is currently dropping its leaves and I think at least 80% of them fall into our small garden where they smother everything (and in summer it blocks out the sun). This seems unfair.
From my sofa (and my studio) I can see down the row of gardens on our street. Someone at the end has a cherry tree which has lovely golden leaves. I always see them and think hmmm, I really should make a print or something but this year - like every other year - the wind has blown the leaves away before I’ve acted on this thought and my leafy inspiration has vanished. I’ve realised this is how life passes you by.
On a rather cold walk today at Wicken Fen I particularly enjoyed the cadmium yellow of the birch leaves. It turned out to be quite a grey day so I tried to make a mental note of the colours I was seeing - the dun of the Koniks, yellows in the reeds, the bluish greys of distant fields, the scarlet of the hawthorn berries and rosehips, the grey on the rumps of the fieldfares, the deep, dark almost purplish brown of the peaty soil (or was it deep blue? not sure).
Pencils are some of my oldest friends
This box is the pride of my colour pencil collection. These are Berol Karismacolor pencils which I bought (on the cheap from Northamptonshire County Supplies) when I was 15, I think. They are my favourite pencils - really soft, quite waxy and they also smell great. The box is a work of genius… the pencils are held gently in place so that they can be transported with little danger of breakage.
With only a few exceptions they are the original pencils that I used for my Art & Design GCSE a VERY long time ago. I found out that Berol stopped making them 18 years ago, and now sets of Karismacolor pencils go for frighteningly large prices! I am a bit scared of using up and wearing out these lovely pencils so I try to be gentle with them.
In the past couple of years I have added a few other pencil brands to my armoury - Caran d’Ache Pablo and Faber-Castell Polychromos, and I received a tin of Derwent Procolor pencils as a present. They’re all good in their own ways, just not the same as my faithful old Karismacolors.
Here’s a thing I’m working on at the moment - but it’s a commission for Christmas so I can’t share my progress or what the whole thing looks like. Colour pencil work is very different from printmaking but I do love it and I probably should do more…
I have heard of the legendary Karisma and am quite envious! I am getting to like coloured pencils after having ghastly ones as a child. I love the soft tones of Derwent Graphitint and their Drawing pencils too.
Beautiful Katie. Makes me want to go outside and take in all the colour. And how wonderful are your pencils!