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!