Spring Nature Journaling and a New Class!

The warmer weather has arrived, and we can finally sit outside in the sun and paint.  What a beautiful season to keep a nature journal!

I've been wanting to use watercolors to paint scenes in my nature journal, but the paper in my current journal is designed for pencils and dry media only.  It's impossible to move the watercolors once they've been applied to the paper, and it's simply frustrating to work on paper not meant for painting.

I solved the problem by cutting 140 pound Canson watercolor paper to fit my current nature journal.  When I want to paint, I clip a piece of watercolor paper to the front of the journal, and when the page is finished, I tape it into my book.

Would you like to learn more about keeping a nature journal?  I'm teaching a 3 week starter course in Nature Journaling at the Community College of Beaver County in Monaca, PA on Mondays, July 7, 14 and 21st, from 6-9 PM.  We will start indoors with practice activities and inspiration, then go outside to make observations and sketches.  Please dress for the weather, though in rainy or stormy weather, we will create indoors. All materials provided.

For more information, and to sign up, follow this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/course/nature-journaling-washington-county2

 

I hope you join me!

Spring is Dawning

Spring is dawning down the country roads around me.  Weeping willows have turned spring green, the grass is brightening up, and the woods canopy has begun to flush with color.

My husband and I were driving down the road the other day, and I was so taken by the beauty of the  willows, that I took quick phone snaps through the windshield glass as he drove.  Sometimes, the phone focused on the glass, not the trees outside, so they came out fuzzy.  

That happened to the pic below, but I liked the composition.  Despite its blurriness, I used it as a reference photo for the watercolor sketch above.  After all, in watercolor painting, we start with the general shapes, colors & values, and add details selectively.

The blurriness of the photo helped me to simplify the landscape even more.

When it was done, I taped the little painting into my nature journal and dated it. Sketching helps us to observe so much more than simply snapping photos.  

What season is it where you are right now?  What stands out in nature to you?

I hope you make a sketch to lock in the memory of it.

Happy Creating!

 

Is Copying Other Artists Cheating?

I often flip through favorite artists' books for inspiration, and sometimes find a page so inspiring, I want to learn how the original artist created the painting.

That's the case with the page above from Erin O'Toole's book Create Your Own Artist's Journal.

Hungry for the beauty of spring flowers, and admiring Erin's beautiful work, I copied part of her painting, adding my own twist.

I learned new ways of composing paintings of flowers, and discovered how lovely it is to have a light, soft wash of color behind more distinct, defined features of that same color.

That's the beauty of copying other artists -- you learn their techniques. As long as you don't present the painting as your original work, it's not cheating to copy another artist's painting.  It's a great way to learn!

Happy Creating!

Spring Hike & Sketch

David and I hiked through a wetland, in search of Spring Peepers singing.  

While he was taking photos of the area (like the B&W film photo above), I sat on a boardwalk and sketched the landscape with colored pencils.  

The past few days had been rainy, and the water was muddy and turbulent.  Not the best conditions for hearing frogs sing, but we did hear a few.  We'll have to come back when conditions are better.

Still, it's been fun getting out in nature to see what's happening.  And it feels uplifting to be using more colors to draw in my nature journal than the grays and browns of winter!

Early flowers like Coltsfoot are blooming. What a delight to see bright signs of life again in the woods!

I hope you take time to make some observations in a sketchbook or journal this week.

Happy Creating!

Weekly Planner: Spring Blooms

On a recent walk in Pittsburgh, I saw these flowers blooming.  Their shapes looked like fairy skirts, and the blue color inspired me.

So I decided to decorate my weekly planner page with them.  I sketched the flowers with my Lamy fountain pen and black waterproof ink, then added color with Caran D'Ache Aquarelle watercolor crayons.

I added the dates, and the page was ready to be filled in with the events of the week.
 

A little art can enchant even a weekly list of appointments and responsibilities.

Happy Spring!

Nature Journal Updates

It's been a wonderful time to take my nature journal for a hike.  The ephemeral wildflowers have begun blooming in the woods -- like this Spring Beauty -- and curiosity is rewarded around every bend of the trail.

Even last year's dead weeds have taken on a new beauty next to the greening grass and the forest canopy beginning to leaf out.

Skunk cabbages have been blooming for some time in the low wetlands, and now unfurl bright green, cabbagey leaves.

Salamanders wriggle in creeks again, and the acorns that survived being eaten over the winter now sprout to begin new oaks.

Back at home, perennials are returning in the flower beds.

And just sitting on the front porch for a half hour yields a long list of signs of spring.

I hope you are enjoying the turn of the season where you are.

Happy Spring!

Figure Drawing with Model Selena

 We finished our Osher semester with model Selena and a focus on Dance and Movement.  We began with 6 x 2-minute gesture poses, grouping them together on our paper in 3's to represent 3 dancers in motion.

Selena gave us graceful, dancerly poses.

Next, we challenged ourselves with a 2-minute, continuous gesture. Selena moved slowly but constantly from one pose to another, and used a long, flowy piece of tulle to help express her movement.  

It was hard to try to complete one full gesture drawing of Selena in any pose, but we watched mindfully as we drew, and relied on our memory to complete each gesture.

Though the end drawing looks scribbly and imperfect, the process of drawing this continuous gesture sharpened our skills and exercised our visual memory.

We wrapped up our gestures with a 5-minute upside-down pose.

After a break, we moved on to the long drawing, beginning with a 4-minute sketch to determine how we wanted to lay out our final drawing.

I was glad I took the time to lay out my drawing, as I realized exactly where I wanted Selena's body to land on the page to give her space to look up, creating the composition I wanted.

Many thanks to model Selena for her beautiful poses and inspiration!

Weekly Planner: Stenciled Feathers

A recent visit to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse (https://pccr.org/) turned up a wonderful selection of used stencils for 25 cents each.  I decided to test some out in my weekly planner.  Because I wanted to be able to write with a ballpoint pen on the page, I used watercolors.  I dabbed on the paint first with a brush, but found that it spread too much, so I tried a makeup sponge.

After the paint dried, I added in some definition and design with a few Posca paint markers.

When I looked at the finished results, I liked the design, but realized that the paint was too dark for the details of the week to be legible.  

I turned the page & started fresh with the Posca markers.

Adding a few feathers in lighter colors with Posca pens worked out well, decorating the page but not being so dark or detailed that I couldn't see what I wrote on each date.

If you create something that doesn't turn out as you like, turn the page and start fresh! You now have valuable information about what doesn't work, and probably have lots of ideas on how you could do it better.

Happy Creating!

Worms Inspire Art!

In spring, my thoughts turn to gardening.  I've wanted to set up a worm composting bin for ages, and finally made it happen.  

When the UPS package of worms arrived, I assembled all the parts, added some vegetable scraps, and then created this art journal page about my vermicomposter (worm bin). I used collage, colored pencils, ink, and alphabet stamps.

The page shows the thrifted tote I punched drainage holes into the bottom of and used as the worm bin, the shredded paper that became the worms' bedding, the mortar pan to catch water drips, and the worms that I dumped on top of the bedding.  I can't tell you how exciting this is for me! 

I had a worm bin years ago when I worked as a park district naturalist.  Setting up my new worm bin brought up feelings of nostalgia and happy memories from those days.

Celebrating the things we love in our art journals is a way to deepen our enjoyment of them. 

Happy Creating!