Tiny Art from a Photo

A day spent out with my eldest kid in Frick Park, Pittsburgh yielded this photo, the perfect inspiration for the quick watercolor sketch below.

I didn't make a pencil drawing, just loaded up my brush with Permanent Rose and Rose Madder Hue, and set out to sketch with a brush on a 6" x 7.5" piece of watercolor paper.

Playing with watercolor sketching in a nature journal or just on a sheet of watercolor paper is a fun way to warm up for more creative projects.  Let loose, general shapes be your goal.  After the first pass, you can add more details.

Happy Creating!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024. All rights reserved.

The Artist's Eye & the Camera

On a hike back in April, I made a rough sketch in my nature journal of the central tree in this photo.

I didn't have time to finish the drawing, so I took the photo, thinking I'd finish later with a gouache painting over top.

Scrolling through my photos later, I nearly deleted this picture, as it's just not a good nature photo.  But, it is a good reference for my purposes.

I used it when painting this scene right over top of the original pen sketch I made in my nature journal.

I'm sure you can see plenty of variations between my painting and the reference photo.

I often tell my students, "You're not a camera, you're an artist!" 

You don't have to perfectly render any part of the real world.  

There's no requirement to make photorealistic art.

Realistic drawings and paintings are valid, fantastic pursuits, but you, the artist, don't see things the way a camera does.  You have feelings, and interests that focus your attention on certain portions of any scene.  You likely will become fascinated by one bit in a larger scene, for me it was this tree. That fascinating part of the larger scene is where the magic is. 

Let your eyes dwell in the places that attract them. Stay true to your personal vision. Never feel you must draw or paint every part of a scene.  Simplify.

What makes artwork sparkle is your enchantment with what you're drawing or painting.  You'll notice that the part of a drawing that comes alive is often the part that you delighted in looking at and drawing.  

Let the painting or drawing grow out of that one bit that caught your eye. For me in this case, it was the dark, crooked tree limbs held against the sky, with fresh spring growth just unfurling.  It was the spring bringing color to a landscape that had been winter drab for too long. 

Next time you're out for a walk, notice what catches your artist's eye.  What in the world holds magic for you?  What enchants you? Let your eyes dwell there.  

If you have time, make a sketch, take a photo, embark on an artwork, and show the world your artist's vision of what's fascinating to you.

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024. All rights reserved.

More Tiny Art:A Portrait of My Cat

A little scrap of watercolor paper suggested itself to be used one morning in this watercolor sketch of my cat.

I find that starting with an animal's eyes establishes the scale.  Eyes express the life & personality in a creature.

It's fun to play with colors rather than match reality.  As long as you get the correct light-to-dark values, you can use any colors that appeal to you, and the painting will look real.  

I hope you'll try your hand at sketching animal portraits.  You can use this photo above, or one of your pet as a reference.  If you're looking for more good photos, you can use these to practice drawing or painting animal portraits:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/pet-portraits-in-colored-pencil.html

Happy Creating!

Tiny Art: Morel Mushroom

Out hiking the other day, we found this morel mushroom under a bower of Christmas ferns.  I snapped this photo and then painted the scene in gouache in my studio.

I'll bet you could scroll through your phone right now and find a photo of a flower, or other inspiring bit of nature you'd like to make a drawing or painting of.  

Making it small and simplifying the scene will help to prevent feeling overwhelmed.

Remind yourself that you're just going to play around with art supplies.

When you're done, set it aside and come back to it a day later.   It took me about 12 hours to decide I liked my little gouache painting in my nature journal.

Happy Creating!

Art Journaling with Word Art

Part of what makes art journaling so freeing is the fact that there is no wrong way to do it.  You simply follow the little sparks of ideas you get when you pick up art supplies -- from paints to butterfly wings, to old books.

Above is an Altoids tin I glued vintage book page bits, tea bag paper and other ephemera to. It stores snippets of text for art journaling.

Words snipped out of old books, magazines or wherever you like can be added to your art journal pages.

Clipping them out can be a relaxing way to slip into your creative mode, and you can assemble them into poems that don't have to mean anything to anyone but you.

I was thinking of a dream cruise to Alaska, and found these bits in an old travel book.

You can often find old books in thrift shops, rummage sales, and in free piles at libraries, etc.

The books I use were mostly saved from going into a dumpster.

Why not give some old text a new life in your art?

Happy Creating!

Tiny Art Journal

I just finished teaching my Tiny Art class at the Community College of Beaver County.  We had a wonderful time painting small natural items with gouache.

For our final project, we made journals using old books and book covers, and mounted our paintings inside.

I removed the text from an old, tattered textbook, and refilled it with 140# watercolor paper cut to size.

I simply tied the folded pages in with a thick piece of cotton string. No sewing or binding required!

My class demonstration paintings are mounted on the pages within.

Several pages remain blank at the back -- space to add new paintings to my book.

I love the handwriting in old books, and the worn, yellowed look. It adds character.

I invite you to take a class with me.  For a list of my upcoming classes in Beaver & Washington Counties, PA, follow this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

Click on "Arts" 

You can also check out my "Take a Class with Betsy" page here: https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/online-art-classes.html

Happy Creating!

Art Studio Refresh

One of my favorite self care projects of late is decluttering and resetting my creative space.  I enjoy sorting through my art supplies, finding some that I had forgotten about, some that I love, and some that I'm ready to pass on to another artist. 

I gather art supplies I'm done with into a box bound for the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.

Clearing  off my entire work table and putting fresh paper on it makes me excited about possibilities.  It makes my creative space feel sparkly.

I can re-decorate with cards and artworks that have meaning to me, like this birthday card from my eldest, and a note written on a magnolia leaf from my best friend.

Fresh candles, a fresh perspective, and I feel excited to start new projects.

A quick spring cleaning - even of just part of my studio -- re-energizes me.

Happy Spring Cleaning!