Highland Park in Autumn

Reds, yellows, and oranges appear in Highland Park in early fall. My paintings get a colorful glow. Pictured is the train bridge that runs from New Brunswick to Highland Park over the Raritan River.

I painted two illustrations of the scene with watercolor and gouache in September.

Then I returned to the scene in November with my uniball pen and later colored the ink drawing with watercolor.

Apples are ripe and delicious in early autumn. My favorites are macintosh, macoun, and winesap. I buy them at the Highland Park Farmers Market.

By November it gets too cold for most of us to sit outside and leisurely draw. If you are a beginner at drawing, man-made objects like an iron are easier subjects than drawing outside in nature. With the help of friends, I am working on lessons geared at teaching drawing by really seeing. Right before I drew the iron, I did a “no peeking” exercise: one is not allowed to look at the paper while drawing. It helps a person see the object.

I added this peach painting from the summer as a warm and cozy ending to this autumn blog post.