Illustration: fall leaves

Here, in the Northeast, the leaves are starting to change. Hear the subtle crunching as you walk outside. Gracefully, they float down from the heavens like orange and yellow snowflakes. Although the air is crisp, the colors will soon illuminate the vista with brilliant warmth.

Do you look at the different shapes and try to identify what tree they are from? What tree is common in your area?

I made four watercolors, and then turned them into postcards. Feel free to check them out at my store.

illustration: white oak

White Oak hardwood trees grow throughout the central and east part of North America, ranging from Texas up to Maine, also reaching up to Canada. They are described as white oak due to their bark being white-ish, in comparison to their oak cousins. Its acorn nuts provide an important food source for deer, squirrels, blue jays and turkey. A distinct identifier of the white oak is its leaf shape which has seven to nine rounded lobes.

painting: sycamore

While biking through a park, I come across a pile of giant leaves. I believe it is called a Sycamore. It is big enough to cover my head from the sun. My watercolour of the Sycamore leaf shows it in all of its Autumn spikiness.

illustration: sassafras

To continue my series of fall leaves from last year, I made a watercolour of a Sassafras leaf I found while hiking. I love the way they are shaped like dinosaur tracks in the mud.

chestnut oak

The Chestnut Oak tree is native in eastern North America. from Mississippi to Maine. Wildlife, such as blue jays, woodpeckers, squirrels and deer rely on acorns of the oak tree as a source of their diet. The average life span of an oak tree is 60 years.

maple

Here is my painting of an autumn leaf from a maple tree.
Happy Thanksgiving all !

sweet gum

Watercolor painting of an autumn leaf from a Sweet Gum tree.

the cardinal

I used to think that all birds fly south for the winter, but since I started hanging a bird feeder, I learned that there are certain birds that stick around even through the winter. One of those birds is the Cardinal.

If you are an avid bird watcher or animal lover, hanging feeders can be addicting, not to mention birds start relying on you as a source for food in their daily routine. Displayed just outside my window, I have three kinds feeders – a seed dispenser, a thistle bag and a suet cage, so that I can observe a diverse group of visiting songbirds.

In the spirit of season, this is my little sketch of a cardinal on an Autumn tree.

drawing: oak tree

The average life span for Oak trees is 100 to 300 years. There are over 150 species of Oak trees, including Black, Bur, Northern Pin, White and Swamp White. This drawing of mine is of the Red Oak species which characteristically turn a brilliant red during the autumn season.

Its acorns are enjoyed by White-tailed Deer, squirrels and Blue Jays.

fall leaves

I’ve collected a pile of leaves this fall season, while walking the dog.  I can’t seem to identify the round one (middle, lower row).   It is not as common as the maple and oak species, and it has a interesting pattern of veins.