Spurred on by “The Kids’ Nature Book: 365 Indoor/Outdoor Activities and Experiences” by Susan Milord I gathered a bag of black walnuts and one of acorns with the kids.  Once home I did a little more research and realized that getting to the heart of the black walnut meat is a long and messy process.  We gave them to the squirrels  for breakfast the next morning and laughed at how noisy they were!  I gave up on the acorns too after boiling them probably twenty five times at least and still finding them bitter.  I certainly am glad we don’t have to live off the land.

This is a painting of the tree from which we harvested the nuts.  I spent quite a while on the sky with different washes, mixing blues and oranges and a bit of payne’s grey here and there.  The same night after the sky dried I used a round brush to paint the tree branches and some details of the leaves with black ink.  It was my original intent to leave the painting alone but the next day I felt compelled to add more detail and color to the leaves.  The result is this pleasing almost Chinese-brushstroke effect.  I’m surprised how well it all turned out considering my one-year-old was climbing in and out of my lap (what’s left of it since I’m 37 weeks pregnant) as I finished it up!