Vignettes from a Summer's Day

Mornings in the summer, I like to take my art supplies outside to a picnic table in my back yard and paint in my watercolor nature journal.

My cats join me for this quiet work.

I've been enjoying a technique of painting the little details that catch my eye in the landscape.

I begin by drawing a series of shapes -- circles, squares, rectangles, etc. -- then pick an image to fill each shape.  

I start each vignette with a pencil sketch.  Once the sketch looks right, I add watercolor & India ink.

A refillable Lamy fountain pen filled with waterproof ink works well for adding lines.  You could also use a Micron pen or a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen. Once the ink is dry, the watercolors won't cause it to run.

You can add more details over the watercolor with colored pencils.  I used Prismacolor colored pencils for some of the details, and for all of the thistle scene. Feel free to mix your media!

These little scenes were from a walk around the farm I took August 8th.  As I walked, I looked for beauty, and took lots of photos.  I selected 9 images to illustrate, including my cat, Grover, sleeping beside me on the cushion.

By breaking the page into many smaller shapes, the overall scene doesn't feel as overwhelming as a larger composition.  And, I am able to include the beautiful details that I love in any scene.

Here are a few of the photos I used for references.  If you're looking for something to sketch or paint, give one of these a try!

Happy Creating!