Book Review: Discover the Art of Field Sketching

I just got this wonderful guide to field sketching by Kristin Link, and every time I pick it up, I feel the tingle of new possibilities.

Her photos of the Alaskan backcountry and of her nature journal pages make me feel as if I have been instantly transported to the pristine wilderness that she calls home.  The book itself feels like an adventure.

Link shares her love of nature journaling, remarking, "Sketching combines art, place and nature.  Developing a sketching practice helps us slow down and be present in the places we inhabit... Sketching can be a tool for grounding, reflection and noticing at a slower pace."  

She walks the reader through the process of sketching a natural subject in pencil, then ink & watercolor with 30 photographs and step-by-step sketches of her own.  

The book is chock-full of photographs of Link's beautiful illustrations, journal pages, creative experiments and natural scenes.  She also includes tips for creating shadows and texture, watercolor basics, and how to measure to create an accurate drawing.

I've already started using her approach of listing 5 things she sees, 4 things she hears, 3 things she feels, 2 things she smells and even something she tastes.  I find it slows me down, and gives my busy brain something to do as I slip into the pace of nature.

I highly recommend Discover the Art of Field Sketching.  I hope you get a chance to pick up a copy at your local bookstore or library!

Drawing My Favorite Things

I have two Black Cherry trees on my hill that I love to look at and draw in any season.  Sometimes, when I go out with my nature journal, I try to find "something new and interesting" to draw, as if drawing old favorites is bad or wrong.  My Hobgoblin (inner critic) shouts that these favorite subjects are unimportant, and overdrawn.

Yet, often artists develop their craft by working in a series, taking one subject and drawing it in different seasons, in different light, with different materials, etc.

I recently read some wisdom from artist Louise Fletcher, who reminded me that the things we love are important to our art, even though other people might not appreciate them and so we feel they are unimportant too.  

We often downplay the beloved subjects our muse is just begging us to draw or paint. For me, it's scraggly weeds, little treasures like acorns and leaves, and these two Black Cherry trees.

Emboldened by Louise Fletcher, I sat in the grass Saturday and let myself revel in the beauty of these tree friends.

I used only a black colored pencil, studying the wriggly branches and the light and shadow in the scene.  A flock of starlings swooped through, so I included them in the drawing to express this season of flying leaves and migrating birds.

Simply sketching a favorite scene like this one brings me joy. As I draw, I observe closely the way the tree limbs twist and branch, the way the leaves flutter on the wind, and the shapes and shadows of the brush around the trunks.

 What do you love that you may have overlooked as being unimportant?  I hope your favorite subjects get to be the center of your creativity!

Mark Making Experiments

Igor Adameyko, Gerd Günther, Wim van Egmond, Benedikt Pleyer

Last week, in an email from the New York Times, I discovered this gif of microscopic life.  You can read the article here: Videos of Microscopic Life

I'm getting ready for the start of my Pencil Drawing Workshop at the Community College of Beaver County, and we'll be talking about mark making.  I find images like these spark new ideas for me.  After watching this gif, I quickly filled a page in my sketchbook.

Practicing making different marks is a good way to keep your hand in drawing practice, to exercise your imagination, and to generate new ways to express texture & shading.  Different types of marks make your art more interesting.

Look at the way that varied marks create texture and vitality in this drawing by Vincent Van Gogh.

Wow! Van Gogh's landscape fairly vibrates with life!

Though Van Gogh used a lot of straight lines and cross-hatching, look at how vibrant his Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin (1888) is.

Let's try our own mark making, inspired by the video of microscopic creatures.  I hope you'll join me and sketch your own version of this!

I started by holding my pencil -- a 7B -- at the end to loosen up my lines.  Try it!

I loved this little character, and made lots of loopy lines to create a second one.

After blowing out a candle, I noticed the way the smoke rose up, wobbly and curly.  It inspired the swoopy lines at the bottom of the page.  I smudged the soft pencil marks to make them more smoky.

For more control and different marks, I hold the pencil closer to the tip.

But I'd never get the long, flowing lines of these branching marks by holding the pencil that tightly.

Next step -- now try a page of marks that imitate Vincent Van Gogh's.

For a touch more inspiration, here's a link to a wonderful YouTube video by Ed Lax of a simple mark making exercise: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZVim6ECWss

Happy Creating!

Artist's Date to a Cyanotype Show

David and I attended the opening of the show "The Light Divides and the Story Multiplies" in Pittsburgh last Saturday night, and I came away with a wonderful sense of inspiration and fresh possibilities.  

Each of the 6 artists used cyanotypes -- the same system that makes sun prints -- to create their art.  (You can read my post about making basic sun prints here.)

Dan Hendrickson, photographer, artist and curator of the show, printed a digital photo using cyanotype and added layers of watercolor to create Archaeology of Venice, 2024, above.  I love the dreamy effect of adding the watercolor and gouache to the print.

The beauty of attending the opening of a show is that you often get to meet the artists, learn how they made their art, and what inspired them.  We got to speak with Christine Lorenz about her use of dried wild strawberry leaves to tone her cyanotypes.  I was fascinated to learn new uses for the plants I love.

One artist I didn't meet, but whose work inspired me was Michele Randall.  Randall took ocean waves as her subject, using photos and the ocean waves themselves to create her cyanotypes.  

Randall created Flotsam and jetsam, 2024 above, and the work below 

I love the way she added gold and white inks to her prints.  In her artist's statement, Randall notes, "I am interested in drawing attention to the sublime beauty and fragility of the ocean against the backdrop of environmental threats.  I want to invite the viewer into a moment of contemplation and impart the nostalgia of an unblemished world."

Cathleen Richards, an artist and boutique travel agency owner, melded her love of travel to Jordan with cyanotype printing in her artwork Worn by Time, 2026, above.  

Richards printed digital photographs of the ancient city of Petra, and a historic tile mosaic floor onto a linen blouse, then added embroidery in the traditional style of the region, imbuing the garment with her cherished memories, weaving deeper connections into a simple shirt.

I hope you make the time to visit The Light Divides and the Story Multiplies before it closes October 30, 2026.  For more information about the show, visit The Associated Artists of Pittsburgh website here: https://www.aapgh.org/

Experiencing this art opening sparked fresh ideas for me about using photographs to make cyanotypes, and adding layers to prints.  I felt so excited about new art potential that I woke up at 4:30 am unable to sleep any longer!

I decided to use this photo of the morning light glancing over a meadow.  I love the contrast, the long lines of light & shadow, and the textures of the wild plants catching the sunshine.

I needed a black-&-white negative to create my cyanotype.  Luckily, Jacquard, the company that sells cyanotype supplies, has a free & easy-to-use photo editor here:  

https://www.jacquardcyanotype.com/

I created the negative above, printed it on a transparency specifically made for my printer, and used it to create the sun print below.  Note: it's important to use a transparency made for your type of printer.  The wrong material can melt on the drum and ruin your printer.

The weather was overcast, and I set a timer for 15 minutes, but I overexposed the print so it looked more like nighttime & moonlight than morning sun.

Inspired by Michele Randall's ocean prints, I added acrylic ink marks to my dry print.  I like the result -- like lightning bugs flashing in the dusk.

I exposed a second print, above, for 5 minutes so it looked like daylight. When it was dry, I added watercolor washes as Dan Hendrickson had.  I love the effect!

These are test prints, and I plan to make more photographic prints the next time the sun comes out.  I had some difficulty with a warped drawing board that I used under the paper, negative and top glass. It's important to have the negative pressed right against the paper to make a clear contact print, otherwise the image goes fuzzy.  I have found a level board to hold the paper flat against the top piece of glass.

My mind percolates over loads of different photos and images that would work well for this project.  All from attending one art opening.  I can see why Julia Cameron recommends that artists take themselves out on "Artist Dates" routinely.  

What sort of art date would you like to take yourself on? Make a list!

Wishing you a deep well of inspiration to fuel your creativity.

Inspiration from the Past

Do you ever go back and flip through old sketchbooks and notebooks?  It's a great way to see the terrain you've covered as an artist.  You can witness how you've grown, and find bits of inspiration that reignite your current art practice.

I was decluttering in my studio recently, and found the notebook pictured above.

The colors on this page caught my eye right away, and the quotes felt uplifting. Inspiration struck and I got out my watercolor crayons.

I made a wash of colors -- from magenta through scarlet, orange and yellow -- in two different notebooks.  

I used a General's Sketch & Wash water-soluble graphite pencil to write out dates, & events, adding doodles to decorate.  I love the way that a weekly planner invites loose creativity with no expectations.

 This type of no-expectations play with art supplies is essential to developing your creative ideas.  You may hear your inner critic complain that it's a "waste of time."  Please remind that voice that an art teacher (me) told you that it's super important (it is!) ... and it's fun.  We could all use more Vitamin Fun!

I hope you take some time to playfully doodle soon!

Some ideas for those who don't use a homemade weekly planner:

1. Work on loose paper so there's no pressure to add another "pretty picture" to a journal or sketchbook.
2. Pick up an art supply that you bought and never or rarely use. Or, use nontraditional art supplies, like a highlighter, a ballpoint pen & a 3-hole punch.
3. Grab a stack of 3"x 5" index cards and create a bunch of small doodle-pages. Does less space to fill make you feel less pressure?
4. Create on found materials -- junk mail, a receipt, used wrapping paper, a fallen leaf, whatever catches your eye!  Using "trash" releases us from any expectations or pressure to make "good art."
5. Tell yourself you're just making "pretend art." I take this idea from The Unexpected Gypsy, who makes pretend paintings -- real paintings with no pressure behind them.
6. Try to intentionally make "bad art" by using your non-dominant hand, or by drawing/creating under a time-pressure. For instance, you could try drawing the worst bird you can imagine, or try drawing a cat in under 1 minute.

Happy Creating! 

Book Recommendation: Little Things in a Big Country by Hannah Hinchman

Author & artist Hannah Hinchman has given me years of inspiration with each of her books, including Little Things in a Big Country.  Her words feel alive and express the essential nature of a place, a moment or a creature.  

She has managed to describe ineffable human experiences like truly seeing colors in nature after a half-hour's hike, or drawing the intricate light and shadow patterns on a silver teapot.  She expressed human experiences -- from anxiety to wonder, editing her words down to the essential heart of the matter.  Anytime I pick up her books, I feel inspired to be a better artist, writer and human. 

Even if you're not looking for a deeply human encounter with a book, simply seeing into another person's sketchbook is a golden opportunity.  We humans are curious about our fellow humans.

Hannah hand-wrote this book, and her writing adds a beautiful energy to the storytelling.

I hope you take the opportunity to check out Hannah's books!

Hannah's books:

A Life in Hand: Creating the Illuminated Journal, 1991, Peregrine Smith Books.

A Trail Through the Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place, 1997, W.W. Norton & Co.

Little Things in a Big Country: An Artist and Her Dog on the Rocky Mountain Front, 2004, W.W. Norton & Co.

I heartily recommend them all!

Happy Reading!

New Year, New Inspiration!

I recently visited the Text and conText Lab at the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library, where I met artist Sydney DuBose (above).

Sydney is an improv comedy artist in the Pittsburgh area who works at the Text and conText Lab.  She was making New Year's prints on the lab's historic Columbian printing press. 

Sydney kindly showed me step-by-step how she inked the linoleum block, laid a piece of paper on top, then used the printing press to transfer the print to the paper.

She even let me operate the antique machine!

Sydney designed her art with a pencil sketch on paper, then transferred the design to a linoleum block, and carved the design using linoleum cutters like the one shown below.

Here's a look at the carved linoleum block with gold ink applied to it, ready for printing.  The numbers had to be carved in reverse for the design to read correctly on the final print.

Here's the final print in gold ink on black paper.  

Visiting the Text and conText Lab gave me that flush of inspiration you get when you see where other artists work.  Seeing a studio space, the tools, examples of artworks, and art in action, sparked new ideas for me.

If you're in a creative lull, or you just would like to have sparkly new ideas pop into your head, I recommend visiting the Text and conText Lab in Hillman Library.  If you're not in the Pittsburgh area, is there a creative place you've been meaning to visit -- an art gallery, art school, theater or museum? 

I hope you take the time to take yourself on an "art date" to a place like the studio where I met the kind and talented Sydney DuBose.

If you'd like to learn more about Sydney, you can follow her socials

 @sydneydcomedy

The press Sydney was using was designed in the United States and built in England in the 1800's.  You can read more about it here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/AaMVk9uhRw28FzOsdH6a5g

Many thanks to Sydney DuBose and the staff at Univ. of Pittsburgh's Text and conText Lab.

Wishing you a Happy New Year and New Inspiration!

May 2026 be filled with creativity for us all.

What Do You Love?

 The best artworks we create are the ones that are made from inspiring subjects.  Drawing  the things you love to look at & that make you feel inspired, is the fast track to feeling energized when you draw.  As a result, you create drawings you love!

It's a worthy exercise to take a walk in nature and say to yourself, I love ... 

...the way the low autumn sunlight slants through the forest, lighting up the last of the colorful leaves.

...the way the rain makes tree trunks look dark, especially against the orange and golden leaves of oaks and hickories.

...the way I can see the burnt sienna tail feathers of the Red-Tailed Hawk when she soars in the bright sunshine.

...the way the wind catches wild cherry leaves and sends them sailing in the blue sky.

...tiny things like little mushrooms growing in a forest of moss.

Your list may vary wildly from mine, but it's worth it to take the time to make your list, even if you simply state it to yourself.

Your list may change over time, so it's worth your time to repeat this exercise.

I encourage you to make a list of the things you love, and then use that list to suggest ideas for artworks when you're looking for inspiration.

Happy Creating!

Summer Travels: The George Eastman Museum

Earlier this summer, my husband, David, my best friend, Robin, & I traveled to Rochester, NY to see the George Eastman Museum.  

We came to see the museum's collection of historic cameras and photographs, from early Daguerreotypes and box cameras ...

... to a massive camera designed for the NASA Lunar Orbiter Project in 1967.

An unexpected gem for me was getting to tour Eastman's home and gardens.

Here's a view of the flower garden from the second floor of the mansion.

I felt inspired by the beauty of his gardens, and snapped reference photos that I hope to revisit this winter when the world is cold and gray.

If you find any of these photos inspiring, I hope you'll make a sketch, a drawing or painting from them!

Inside George Eastman's house, we were treated to the elegance of a time gone by.  My favorite room was the library, full of books and comfy chairs.

Imagine unwinding in this quiet space!

Every detail within the house was artistic and inspiring.

We got to try our hands at opening Eastman's safe! Instructions were provided on the cabinet door.

We had a wonderful visit and I highly recommend it!

Happy Creating!