Hawkweed — Framed Piece Oil an artist's working sketchbook made

an artist's working sketchbook made beautiful

This 1987 watercolour is a study in the dramatic sexual dimorphism of the species: the male's crest is one of the most theatrical displays in North American waterfowl

working with the medium's characteristic texture to suggest the depth of a cold sky and the layered recession of forested hills

the specific articulation of the legs on the flower head: all of it is there for those who look

and the choice serves the subject well: the layered pencil marks build the mountain's geological surface texture in a way wet media cannot

Hawkweed — Framed Piece Oil an artist's working sketchbook madeOrange Hawkweed against a luminous green summer meadow the flowers vivid and almost diffuse at the edges, the green of the surrounding grasses building through layered marks toward the yellow gold of the centre. A honeybee is just visible at the top. This 1964 painting is one of Glen's most atmospheric and painterly early works: the botanical subject treated with an impressionistic freedom that became rarer as his technique matured. Hawkweed was one