Weekly Planner: Spring Flowers!

Snow was falling as I created this new planner page. Our weather had turned from warm and spring-like back to winter, so I was hungry for some spring petals.

In Art World, you can have any season you like!

I created loose watercolor florals in the style I learned from Wendy Solganik of Willa Wanders. You can see her Teachable classes here: 

https://willa-workshops.teachable.com/l/productssortKey=recommended&sortDirection=asc&page=1

After the watercolor paint dried on the page, I played with line work around the flowers in ink, and added the dates & days. Later, I wrote in the events of the week. It's refreshing every time I open my planner and catch a glimpse of the colors and energy of spring.

What is your heart hungry for right now? I hope you create it with your art supplies.

Happy Creating!

Spring Nature Journal: Tiny Things

Out hiking in the state park, I noticed some little green plants that had emerged from the spring earth.  Dutchman's Breeches are an early spring wildflower.  Even though these plants aren't blooming yet, the newness of their growth inspired this watercolor sketch.

After a long winter, what a relief to see little green signs of spring!

I love to zoom in on little details in nature.  Tiny things can tell a bigger story.

What's new in nature near you? I hope you'll make a sketch of whatever small details that capture your eye.

Happy Creating!

Nature Journal: Signs of Spring!

Spring is beginning to dawn. 

Birds are singing abundantly, spring peeper frogs are chirping in wild ponds, and the very first blooms are opening. What a relief!

I have a little pond off our front porch that I made years ago out of a mortar pan. Every summer, I put a goldfish in the pond to eat algae and mosquito larvae.

Last fall, as the first cold snap approached, I was catching the goldfish to put into deeper water for the winter, and was surprised when a frog kicked against my hand in the bitterly cold water. 

 I figured the frog knew what it was doing, and I left it there, but thought about him all winter long, especially when the temperatures bottomed out at -10 degrees F.  I read that frogs can survive being frozen for a short time. Was he still alive?

From the little sketch above, you may guess the answer to that question!

I was scooping dead leaves out of the mortar pan pond the other day, and that frog surprised me again!  

It inspired me to make art.

A friend gave us some very old photo printer paper designed to go to an outdated system.  It's shiny and smooth like old photographs.  I used a fountain pen to make some sketches, but it kept getting clogged by the shiny finish material on the paper.  Colored pencil worked well, and watercolor worked surprisingly well!

Sometimes when you have upcycled materials, it frees up your creativity.  Often the materials were headed for the trash can, and you are saving them.  They may have properties you're unaware of, so it's natural that you'd experiment with them.  You can take on an attitude of "I'm just testing this stuff out."  No pressure. 

That's a magical attitude to have, and you'll find it releases you to make free art.

Keep an eye out for materials that could be used for art in a thrift shop, yard sale or other second-hand source.  Look for "trash" that could become art. 

Happy Creating!

Upcycling Finds from Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse!

A recent trip to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse turned up all of these great finds!  

The interior pages of an old book, a 1979 street map of Orange County, CA, wallpaper samples, embroidery floss and several types of old paper.

I set out to get creative with these items and upcycle them into art!

The wallpaper was fun to paint on with watercolors. I created a postcard and several fancy bookmarks.  I plan to use another wallpaper sample as a cover for a small book I'm making. 

I used Prismacolor colored pencils to add a little definition to the watercolor paint, then glued a piece of cardstock to the back of the wallpaper sample to make an even place to write a message.

I painted loose watercolor florals on some of the book pages.  I learned this technique from artist Wendy Solganik.  You can find her wonderful course here:

https://willa-workshops.teachable.com/p/watercolor-leaves-and-florals  

Once the watercolor flowers were dry, I glued the pages to pieces of fancy wallpaper and added lace.

I love to read, and these bookmarks add a fun touch of whimsy to my reading habit!

I plan to make more items with the materials I bought.  

I've noticed that when I get "new" secondhand art supplies, I often get a surge of inspiration and fresh ideas.  I've learned not to wait, but to strike while the iron is hot and get creating right away!

Are you spring cleaning?  Maybe you'll come across some things that could be turned into art. Have you been out to a thrift shop and found funky artsy stuff?  I hope you make use of the inspiration to get swept away into creating!

Happy Creating!

Creating Depth in Your Drawings

When we draw, we are trying to fit a 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional surface.  It's quite a trick when you think about it.

Here are a few tips to help create the magic of depth in your drawings.

Overlapping 

When one object overlaps another, it's obviously in front.  You can see that happening in the drawing of apples on a table above.

Relative Size

Notice how the closest apple appears much larger than the distant apples.  This works from still life drawings to landscapes.  You can check it by measuring the apparent width of the near apple and comparing that measurement with the width of one of the distant apples.

Softening Edges & Contrast

We see softer edges and less contrast in objects that are farther away.  Notice how the little shed has crisp edges and high contrast, but the more distant trees are really just shapes without much detail, and the far hill is reduced to a single tone.

The photograph of the scene shows this clearly, but we can also exaggerate the effect in our drawings if we want to create more depth.

Converging Lines

Notice how the little lane is quite wide at the bottom of the frame, and narrows until the sides seem to almost touch towards the top of the drawing.  Parallel lines converge as they move towards the horizon.

Here's the reference photo for this drawing.  You can also see how the little trees to the right of the lane get smaller and closer together as they get more distant.

You see more detail in the nearest part of the scene -- the weeds at the bottom right & the tree shadows over the lane, vs the single tone for the distant forest and the simplified trees near the top of the hill. 

Foreshortening

Foreshortening can be maddening at times.  

You see something coming towards you (or receding away from you), and your brain believes it knows how to draw that simple object.  Yet, when you draw what your brain tells you is right, it looks wrong!

You might be drawing a simple object, but from a complicated perspective.  It's important to trust your eyes.  Look carefully!

Remember that the closest parts of the object will appear much bigger than you expect.  I drew the close end of the baguette 2x the size of the distant end.  You can measure this with your pencil or other straightedge, even a ruler if you like.   Measure it yourself on the photo below.

 Here's a post from another artist about how artists measure the things they draw using the pencil & thumb method:

 https://blog.artlounge.in/blog/2024/2/22/how-to-sketch-using-pencil-and-thumb-method

Notice the way lines converge.  

You can hold your pencil in the air in front of you and rotate it like the hands of a clock to get the correct angle, then lay the pencil on your paper in that angle and make a quick line to help you see where the line you draw should really go.

Remember that the foreshortened view shows you a compressed view of something.  

For instance, long loaves of bread will appear much shorter than you expect. Measure the width of the broken end of bread. Now compare the width to the length of that loaf.  I find that the length of the bread is almost 2x the width of the bread -- much shorter than you'd expect.

Negative space shapes.

 We call the area around the subject the negative space.  When you look at the shadows and shapes around the object you're drawing, it helps you to see the true shape of the foreshortened object.  You can compare these negative space shapes with the corresponding shapes in your drawing to make sure you got the shape of the object right.  

For instance, notice the V-shape between the two baguettes in the photo above. Notice that I got the distant V-shape between the loaves right in my drawing, but not the V-shape closer to the front.  It's easy to make mistakes. Double checking the negative space shapes helps you make a more accurate final drawing.

These negative space shapes help you to see if you've drawn the foreshortened object right.  If you have the same shape in your drawing, it's right! 

Foreshortened objects look weird!

Remember, after you get done with your drawing, the foreshortened object may still look weird.  Foreshortened views look strange.  Do the best you can; then take a break!

Come back a little later, and your drawing may look more natural to your eye.

Remember that all of these techniques take time and practice.  The more you draw, the more you learn.  I hope these techniques help you to create a sense of depth in your drawings!

Happy Creating!

Weekly Planner in Spring Colors

A recent visit to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse turned up some pages from a vintage book of children's fables. I love the black & white images, and have felt a hunger for spring.  I tore out a few images and laid them out on the weekly planner spread.

After gluing the images down, I added splashes of watercolor in spring colors.

Finally, I added the days, dates and events of the week.

Limiting my collage & paint project to a smaller size made it easy to jump into and begin.  

Do you have any printed material destined for the trash can that you could turn into collage art? I hope you give this technique a try!

Happy Creating!

Drawing in the Museum

Last Friday we wrapped up the Osher class Drawing in the Museum.  We had a lot of fun!

Here's a look at some of my sketches.

The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History allow artists to bring in only a sketchbook and pencils.  Turns out, having a limited list of supplies simplifies the drawing process and helps me to kick my creativity into gear.  The art and artifacts in the museums are fascinating, and you can imagine yourself as an early adventurer sketching a Native American mask (above) or a Goliath Beetle (below).

Next time you plan a visit to a museum, or even a new park or cultural spot, make it an adventure and record what you see with a pencil and a sketchbook!

An urn in the Hall of Architecture.

Details on a statue.

A detail of a lion capturing a horse in the Hall of Architecture.

I hope you'll take yourself on an art date, and bring your sketchbook along.

Happy Creating!