Weekly Planner: Portrait of an Oak Leaf

My studio worktable is covered in autumn leaves!  

Putting my weekly planner together on Monday, I chose a leaf that caught my eye and painted a sketch of it directly with watercolors.  

I like the way one leaf tells the larger story of the place and season.  

This oak leaf weathered summer thunderstorms, insect attacks, and diseases that left little black spots behind. Part of the leaf's beauty in my eyes is its parchment-like texture, the varying colors from ochre to buff to Burnt Sienna, and the little black spots. Those are the facets that made painting it fun for me.  And the fact that I love oak trees.

What do you love in this season?  I hope you find some time to sketch, paint, or creatively record the things that draw your artist's eye.

Happy Creating!

Weekly Planner: Fun with Gouache!

I love fall!  The colors, the cool, crisp weather, and the abundance of nuts, veggies, and fruits.  I let that delight spill over into my weekly planner as I reused gouache from a painting project.  

What do you love?  What inspires you? Can you funnel that delight into your art?  Working in a sketchbook or simple planner as I've done here lowers the stakes and encourages experiments.

Happy Creating!

Fall Leaf Study

Fall leaves are terrific subjects for sketches in your nature journal.  They're fascinating, but limited in size so you can spend some time in the details without feeling lost.

Here's one I drew on a recent hike in the park.  I'm always picking up nature treasures like acorns and leaves. Halfway through our walk, we stopped at a spot with a convenient picnic table where I sat and sketched.

I started with a pen sketch.  It was a little wonky and imperfect, but I just kept drawing.

I added layers of colored pencils in canary yellow, goldenrod, burnt sienna, sepia, dark brown, grass green, black and white for the veins.

 

I invite you to take a walk in nature, find a small treasure or two and make some sketches.

Give yourself the gift of time spent admiring the beauty of nature as you sketch.  It's a satisfying way to slow down and absorb the calming effect of nature and your own creativity.

Don't judge your drawing as you make it.  Simply focus on what you see, and let your hand follow your eye as you draw.  

You're not a camera!  Your job is to make a sketch, to explore and experiment, not make a "pretty picture."

Slowing down makes the experience more calming and pleasant.  You'll notice more, too.

Happy Creating!

Sketch Autumn Leaves with Me!

A recent hike in the state park turned up a wealth of colorful sassafras leaves.  I had my nature journal and a pack of Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons.  I began with a pen and ink drawing, then added colors with the watercolor crayons

A bit of blending with a wet brush mixed the colors.  

Here are some photos from the hike. I hope you will to make your own colorful autumn leaf sketches.

Happy Creating!