Weekly Planner: Spring Flowers!

Snow was falling as I created this new planner page. Our weather had turned from warm and spring-like back to winter, so I was hungry for some spring petals.

In Art World, you can have any season you like!

I created loose watercolor florals in the style I learned from Wendy Solganik of Willa Wanders. You can see her Teachable classes here: 

https://willa-workshops.teachable.com/l/productssortKey=recommended&sortDirection=asc&page=1

After the watercolor paint dried on the page, I played with line work around the flowers in ink, and added the dates & days. Later, I wrote in the events of the week. It's refreshing every time I open my planner and catch a glimpse of the colors and energy of spring.

What is your heart hungry for right now? I hope you create it with your art supplies.

Happy Creating!

Nature Journaling in the August Heat

A hot summer's afternoon was the perfect time to take a short walk and sit on a park bench to sketch.  The very act of sitting in a quiet, shady woods is relaxing and excellent self care. 

I'm practicing simplifying the landscape in my artwork and creating pleasing compositions. 

Sitting for a few minutes on a park bench and mindfully looking is helpful in truly seeing the scene around you.  You can pick out the parts of the landscape you want to focus on.  It helped me to unwind and to compose these two vignettes.

The first scene was right before me -- a broken sapling in a grove of maples.

The second vignette had more contrasts -- late afternoon sunlight streaming through the canopy and deep shadows.

I recommend this technique of sitting still, seemingly doing nothing -- no phone scrolling, no drawing even.  Just noticing nature around you.  Soon, you will begin to see parts of the scene that you want to sketch and paint.  After a little stillness, you might use a viewfinder, a small rectangular frame cut out of cereal box cardboard, to scope through the landscape.  It will help your eye catch on an appealing composition.

Happy Creating!

Summer Nature Journal: Nature Treasures

On walks around my farm, I notice the goings on in nature, and find myself picking up treasures.

Fallen acorns, feathers, & leaves tell the story of what's happening in nature right now, and a sketch of your collected finds makes a lovely & descriptive page.

What's happening right now in your area?

Wouldn't a handful of nature treasures be fun to sketch?

Happy Creating! 

Summer Nature Journal Update

Summer has swept me away into hikes, traveling, making art outdoors and teaching classes.  Here's a flip-through of my nature journal to catch you up!

Sometimes nature comes right to your breakfast table.  This cardinal put on a show for us every morning in July, fighting her reflection in the house window and car mirrors, a common cardinal behavior.

I hope you're having a wonderful, artful summer! 

Happy Creating!

DIY Travel Postcards

We just returned from a winter escape to Florida, where we spent our days on a lovely, natural beach. 

I carried in my art kit a few pieces of 140# watercolor paper cut into 4" x 6" pieces to make postcards with.

On the beach, I found beautiful shells to set up in the sand, and then sketched them in watercolor, adding waterproof ink lines with a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen when the paint was dry.

You can also draw the scene in pen first, then add watercolor washes when the ink is dry.  Either way works well.

If you're feeling the fear of the blank page, working on a separate sheet of paper can help loosen your hand up.  If the painting doesn't work out, you can recycle the paper and try again on a fresh sheet.  And if it does work, you'll have a postcard to send to someone!

I clipped the papers onto my travel journal, and used a water brush pen to paint.

You can see that the salty sea air caused unusual feathering in the backruns in the water & sand.  Salt attracts water, drawing the paint pigments with it and creating feathery clumps of color.  I love that the sea air collaborated with me in my art-making!

I enjoyed trying to express the incredible shades of blue and turquoise in the sky and water.

 Because postcards are so small, I could make a series of them quickly.

Back at the hotel, I laid them out in the sunshine.

I hope you'll make drawings and paintings from the photos below.

Happy Creating!

Winter Nature Journaling

Turning the page on my new mini watercolor nature journal (begun here), David and I took a hike in the state park lake on a bitterly cold afternoon.  The fresh air was exhilarating, and time in nature is always uplifting to me, no matter what the weather.

We dropped down off the ridge into the shadows along the water, where I made an ink sketch of this lovely, shadowy scene. Bundling up and hiking had kept us warm.

But, my watercolors froze right on the page.  The little dark clumps are where the watercolor iced up into flat crystals in the 27 degree weather.

Back in the studio, I finished the painting from a reference photo. 

I used a white Crayola crayon before painting to create the white-limbed sycamore trees in the background.  The wax acts as a resist, so you can paint right over the area with a light wash and keep the white of the paper.  After the paint dried, I added finer limbs with a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen.

I hope you get a chance to go out into nature and revel in the fresh air and the peace of the wild things.

Happy Creating!