Making a Gratitude Journal with Watercolor Florals

We're having a wonderful time in Watercolor Leaves and Florals for Beginners class at the Community College of Beaver County.  

We've been creating loose watercolor florals on a variety of papers.

I put together a sample gratitude journal to show my students the possibilities for using their artwork.

Here's a flip-through!

I used gesso to partially cover the type of an old book page to make it easier for the journaler to write on the page.

I found a variety of old papers, like this accounting ledger, at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.  Check them out here:

https://pccr.org/

You may recognize some of the materials I used for this project from this haul:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2026/03/upcycling-finds-from-pittsburgh-center.html

This blank music sheeting gives the perfect space for a short entry.

The cover is made from a wallpaper sample that I folded over and glued to make it extra sturdy before sewing the binding.

I used a simple pamphlet stitch on a single signature.   

I love that you can invent your own flowers and leaves using this watercolor floral technique.

I learned the technique from Wendy Solganik of Willa Wanders in her Loose Watercolor Florals class on Teachable.  You can find her course here:

https://www.willawanders.com/watercolor-leaves-and-florals?_gl=1*1uj0ask*_gcl_au*MTIzMjgzMTQ2MC4xNzc1NTg0NDc3 

Happy Creating!

New Year, New Classes!

Here's the schedule of my latest classes. You don't need any art experience to join me and find joy, self-expression and community in my art classes. I offer in-person classes, and talk you through every step of the creative process.

I hope you'll join me for one of these upcoming continuing education classes at the Community College of Beaver County!

You can register here: https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/category/arts

Beginner's Pencil Drawing

Mondays, Feb. 16, 23, March 2 & 9, 2026 from 6-9 PM

$109

Make a fresh start in 2026 with this versatile & portable art form. Instructor Betsy Bangley will lead you through a series of activities designed to help you learn how to capture the world around you with a pencil on paper. We’ll start by playing with our materials to find out how to make a variety of marks, lines and shading types, move on to sketching everyday objects, and build up to exploring perspective and textures. Discover a new way to express yourself, and embark on an art adventure!

Register here:https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/category/arts

Or by phone: 724-480-3575

Pencil Drawing: Color and Shading

March 16, 23,30 & April 6, 2026, 6-9 PM

$109

This is an extension of our 4-week Beginner’s Pencil Drawing class, and is open to all. Would you like to advance your drawing skills? Perhaps you’re a beginner who would like guided practice. Jump into drawing fruit with colored pencils, creating portraits, and exploring more exciting drawing projects with Betsy Bangley. Whatever your skill level, you will gain drawing ability through working in this supportive group and practicing weekly.

Register here:https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/category/arts

Or by phone: 724-480-3575

Watercolor Leaves and Florals (Botanicals)

April 4,11,18 & 25, 2025 10 AM to 1 PM

$109

Join Betsy Bangley for a relaxing course in watercolor florals. Paint away your stress, and learn brush strokes, color mixing and layout ideas to create beautiful flowers and leaves. Use your new skills to decorate journal pages, stationary, and framed art, or simply create for the joy of painting. 

All materials are provided.

I hope to see you in one of these classes!

You can register here:https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/category/arts

Or by phone: 724-480-3575

Community College of Beaver County Continuing Ed. News!

I was delighted to open CCBC's  Fall 2025 Continuing Education Course Guide and find myself on page 12. 

I'm honored to have my classes featured, and hope you'll join me this fall for Beginner's Pencil Drawing and Pencil Drawing: Color and Shading!

You can register for these classes by following this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

Then click on "Arts" under "Beaver County Classes."

I'll be in the studio to welcome you on the first day of classes, Monday, October 6th.

Hope to see you there!

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!

Draw Your Breakfast Challenge

 

In my Beginner's Pencil Drawing Class at CCBC, I assigned homework to keep us all drawing during the week.  This week, we have drawn our breakfasts.

Because I don't like to wait to eat until I've finished drawing my breakfast, I snapped photos each morning, and drew from the reference photos.

This project made picking out breakfast more fun!  The bagel was my favorite breakfast to draw, but these cherries were fun, too!

And the iron skillet full of sausage and eggs is a classic.

What do you like to eat every morning?  Try drawing it at the breakfast table.  

You'll be surprised how good it feels to start your day with drawing.  

Most breakfast foods are mushy (oatmeal), blobby (scrambled eggs) or formed into simple shapes like berries, fruits, eggs and sausages.  It's a great way to be creative and feel accomplished before you leave the breakfast table.  And much better for your digestion than doom scrolling!

Happy Creating!

Pencil Drawing Class: Your Eyes are Your Most Important Tool!

We had a wonderful first session in Beginner's Pencil Drawing class, testing out our supplies and trying out techniques.

I asked everyone to bring in a small object they loved, and we tried drawing it from memory first (my demo is below), then drawing it from observation (above).

What a huge difference using our eyes made in seeing the real form and details!

This was my object - a piece of wood that looks like an award a fairy might give a child for swiftly racing down a woodland trail.

We also played with blind contour drawing to connect our eyes and hands.  We only looked at the object we were drawing, and never at our papers.  The result?  Weird drawings, yet within the chaos were real, alive lines describing part of what we drew. Below is my blind drawing of a feather.

After the blind drawing, we were all practiced up, and allowed ourselves to steal quick glances at our papers so that we could align everything in a more organized way.

Many thanks to my students for their willingness to try new things and for their enthusiasm!

Looking forward to our next class!

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!

Spring Nature Journal Update and Class Announcement!

On a recent hike with David, I stopped to sketch one of many Trilliums blooming along the trail.  A few minutes, and the memory of the spring woods was locked in for me to savor any time I leaf through my nature journal. 

Down the trail, we met a morel mushroom hunter, weary from his day's hike and search.  He shared his story with the song of American Toads providing the background music.  

Back at home, the American Goldfinches seem to be nearly through their spring molt.  Most of the males' feathers are bright canary yellow, though a few still have some patches of olive colored winter feathers, like this fellow above.

Following the seasons with sketches and observations in a nature journal has brought me a sense of grounding and peace.  I feel connected to my wild relations, knowing what's happening in the woods, fields and streams. This practice slows me down and helps me hone my drawing skills.

Would you like to get started in Nature Journaling?

I invite you to join me at my next Nature Journaling class: 

Tuesday, May 14th from 6-9 PM at the Community College of Beaver County's new site: 

625 E McMurray Rd, McMurray, PA 15317

To register and for more information, follow this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/category/arts1

The course will be an introduction to keeping a nature journal. No drawing experience is required. Learn techniques for recording what you see in nature, and discover the self care benefits of keeping a nature journal. We'll begin indoors with inspiration and an introduction to techniques, then go outdoors to explore and create!

All materials are provided. Please dress for the weather.

I hope to see you there!

Tiny Art!

Today begins my Tiny Art class at the Community College of Beaver County.  I'm looking forward to class!  

We will be making small paintings of tiny things like flowers, snail shells, seashells, butterflies, feathers, and whatever else inspires us.

Right now, so many tiny buds are opening in nature, unfurling flowers & miniature leaves.  It seems the ideal time to make tiny art.

Above is a photo of Spring Beauty, a native wildflower now blooming.  Its blossoms are 1/2 inch wide, and when you get down close to the flower, you'll see tiny pink veins in the petals.

We will be painting our tiny subjects with gouache, an opaque paint that allows us to layer light marks on top of darker areas.  

Here is a nature journal entry I made with gouache, finishing the details with colored pencils.

If you'd like to take a class with me in person, you can check my class schedule here:  https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/online-art-classes.html

And, you can follow this link to my CCBC Continuing Education Classes: https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

Click on "Arts" under Beaver County and Washington County and you'll find my classes among the other art courses offered there. Each instructor's name is listed with the course descriptions.

I hope to see you in a class soon! 

Watercolor Spring Flowers

I've been teaching Watercolor Spring Flowers at the Community College of Beaver County, and we have had so much fun in class, that I come home inspired to paint more. 

I brought in Erin O'Toole's book Create Your Own Artist's Journal to class last week to share with my students.

I was drawn to this painting in Erin's book.

After class, I painted my own version of it, enjoying using a variety of colors and splashing them in wet-in-wet.

During our last class, one of my students suggested painting bookmarks with flower designs.  Here are a few that I painted the next morning while drinking tea in my studio.

I started by sketching with a white crayon on white watercolor paper.  The white Crayola resists the watercolor paint, keeping the spots where you add it white.

I wet the paper, and touched in loose wet-in-wet splashes of color.

After that had dried, I added more detail in the foxglove flowers, leaves, & stems.

I finished by splattering on some white gouache.

A bit of ribbon added the finishing touch!

I have enjoyed giving these bookmarks away.

Starting small with bookmarks, and taking inspiration from another artist are great ways to get started with Watercolors.  If you're in the Northern Hemisphere like me, it's uplifting to see beautiful blooms and colors this time of year, even if they're painted on paper.

Happy Creating!

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