A New Mini Nature Journal

What is it about these mini journals that makes them so easy to fill up?

A hike in the woods, a pencil sketch on a tiny square, and a splash of color with a limited watercolor palette -- each step feels easy, do-able.  And in a matter of days, I have covered miles of ground and filled another mini sketchbook.

The power of taking only a limited set of supplies is surprising!  With just a few choices, there are fewer decisions to make, and less gear to haul.

Less is more.

The entire accordion-fold journal measures 5.5" x 28", making each page about 5.5" x 4.5".

I love that I can mix a wide array of colors from a tiny kit.

My paints, pencil, pens and palette fit in this 3.5" x 8.5" pouch.  I tuck a water bottle, water spritzer and cup in a small bag and am ready to hike and work in my sketchbook.

The simpler kit makes creating easier. I find I create more.  I've been painting nearly every day for a week or more, and once you get the ball rolling, the momentum carries you into a satisfying rhythm.  You're more likely to create, so you're more likely to try new things.

Most of these pages were made in the field, or started outdoors, and then finished in my studio. 

I took a photo of these milkweed pods, and illustrated the scene in my studio.

Here are some of my reference photos.  I hope you'll feel inspired to practice sketching & painting from them!

Happy Creating!

The Beauty of Limitations: Recent Gouache Paintings

I recently was inspired to try gouache after seeing some original paintings by Pittsburgh artist Joan Brindle at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination.  Her rich colors and lush landscapes drew me in.  I admired the way that she used repeated strokes in water ripples and grass stalks. 

I pulled out my 5 tubes of Winsor & Newton gouache: Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow Pale & White.

I laid a 3 x 3 grid over a reference photo, and cropped the image until I got a pleasing composition. After making a quick pencil sketch, I began painting.  

The limited palette would seem like a hindrance, but it turned out to be an artistic advantage.  I mixed the paint to match as close as I could to what I saw, but with only five colors, exact color matches weren't possible.  How freeing to know I couldn't be perfect, so I could focus on getting close enough.  

The resulting paintings had a wonderful feeling of unity and harmony due to the narrow color palette.  And because gouache is opaque, I could paint light colors over darker colors.  

The white clouds in the November scene above were created by leaving the paper unpainted, then adding shadows, but the light colored grasses along the roadway were painted over the green. I liked the effect of repeated grass strokes in pale yellow, green and indigo blue.

An autumn color scene.

Summertime goldenrods along the fence with the neighbors' cowpasture.

An Anglewing butterfly from a reference photo by Brad Silberberg.

A Canada Goose in winter from a reference photo by Brad Silberberg.

A new medium changes how we see possibilities, and gives us a new venue to express our creativity.