The Corner of 82nd and Latona

10/19/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood

From a distance, the blazing red maple popped out among the other trees surrounding it and grabbed my eye. As I began making this small composition, however, I became intrigued by the many different tree shapes and types of foliage on this one residential corner. I walk past this corner nearly every day, but it took a red maple to make me appreciate the rest of the trees around it. 

 Technical note: After filling up the last one, I just started a fresh Field Notes Signature as my mostly-daily-carry sketchbook when I take walks. Its dimensions (4 ¼ by 6 ½ inches), light weight and thinness make it especially attractive for taking along on walks. Its paper is sufficient for spot color, but I was disappointed that my Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles lacked their usual richness in this sketch. And I couldn’t spritz the page in my typical manner because I knew the paper wouldn’t hold up to that much water. As the weather gets colder and wetter, I won’t be making as many full-color sketches during my walks, so I don’t want to bring my 5 ½-by-8 ½-inch Stillman & Birn Beta as a daily-carry, but I sure missed it on this day. I’m going to try the pocket-size (3 ½ by 5 ½ inches) version of a Beta for a while. The Signature’s larger size is nice to have, but it’s always a tradeoff: Better paper or slightly more real estate?