Winter Rock Pile, drawing, 2016

Many of the acreages in our area near Bancroft were old pioneer homesteads.  I don't envy those who had to clear this rocky Canadian Shield land! There were field stones everywhere that had to be painstakingly gathered up and piled. This particular collection is out behind our house on the hill overlooking the valley. The stones are very colourful with the blues, greys and pinks of granite, and white and rose quartz mixed in. There are also some patches of turquoise lichen growing on them. To soften the colours, I used my white pencil  as a final layer on the rocks. Besides the dark green of the conifers, the distant tree tops, bare of leaves, are a muted purple  and brown colour, getting darker as the hills recede. This time of year the large hare on the text page would still have its winter white coat.