The season has begun when we can sit outside by a flower garden and make watercolor sketches.
The pages above were in my garden at home, and below were from Highland Park in Pittsburgh.
Pick your favorite medium, whatever feels best in your hand, and get outside to explore what nature is doing in the garden!
Remember, you can do anything in a sketchbook. Have no expectations of making "perfect pictures." You're an explorer, and your pencil, pen or brush is your tool for making discoveries.
If you decide that a sketch didn't work out, turn the page!
If you don't have a few pages that look like a total mess, you're not trying hard enough.
Here are a few of my recent messy pages that I chalk up to experience.
Each of these were practice and taught me something. The one above taught me that rainy days can make for low-contrast, dull paintings.
The sketch below reminded me that when I'm in a rush and very excited to see a wild turkey in my yard, I'm not at my best as a sketch artist.
The rest of these are just warm-up practice.
It's a normal part of sketching to make some inelegant drawings.
I find it freeing to accept these messy pages as part of the process and move on.
Happy Creating!
