Watercolor Vignettes of July

I finished a page of vignettes from earlier this summer.  You can see the photos I used for reference on this post entitled "Nature Photo Walk": https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2025/07/nature-photo-walk.html

Do you ever take walks in nature and find yourself whipping out your phone to snap a photo of a butterfly or beautiful leaf?  As I read through Rosalie Haizlett's Tiny Worlds, I realize that I see nature in detail -- the inchworm dangling from an invisible thread, the goldenrod blooming brilliantly in the sunshine, a single turkey feather dropped on the path.  Details capture my artist's eye.

 It's these small facets in the landscape -- the young cottontail rabbit I saw ahead of me on the grassy trail, the Redstart warbler who surprised me with his quick movements and bright call, the coneflower blooming elegantly in my flower bed-- that bring back that one walk earlier this summer. 

What catches your eye right now outdoors?  I hope you snap a photo of it, and make a sketch of your tiny worlds!

Happy Creating!

Light in the Forest

Out on a hike with David, the beauty of the afternoon sunlight streaming through the forest caught my eye, and I snapped this photo with my phone.

Back at home, I sketched the tree trunks and the road lightly in pencil, and began painting this 5" x 8" piece.

I used a mixture of phthalo blue & quinachridone gold for the deeper, cooler greens, and Winsor lemon & French ultramarine blue for the lemony yellows.  

The gravel road, the shadows and the tree trunks were painted with varying mixtures of French ultramarine blue & burnt sienna, which makes a beautiful array of colors from blue grays to dark, earthy browns.

I love how, as the artists, we get to choose the details within a scene to paint.  Select your own favorite parts of any landscape scene, and focus your attention on them, allowing the rest to be abstract shapes.

I hope you get to paint, draw or create in some other way this week.

Happy Creating!

The Artist's Eye & the Camera

On a hike back in April, I made a rough sketch in my nature journal of the central tree in this photo.

I didn't have time to finish the drawing, so I took the photo, thinking I'd finish later with a gouache painting over top.

Scrolling through my photos later, I nearly deleted this picture, as it's just not a good nature photo.  But, it is a good reference for my purposes.

I used it when painting this scene right over top of the original pen sketch I made in my nature journal.

I'm sure you can see plenty of variations between my painting and the reference photo.

I often tell my students, "You're not a camera, you're an artist!" 

You don't have to perfectly render any part of the real world.  

There's no requirement to make photorealistic art.

Realistic drawings and paintings are valid, fantastic pursuits, but you, the artist, don't see things the way a camera does.  You have feelings, and interests that focus your attention on certain portions of any scene.  You likely will become fascinated by one bit in a larger scene, for me it was this tree. That fascinating part of the larger scene is where the magic is. 

Let your eyes dwell in the places that attract them. Stay true to your personal vision. Never feel you must draw or paint every part of a scene.  Simplify.

What makes artwork sparkle is your enchantment with what you're drawing or painting.  You'll notice that the part of a drawing that comes alive is often the part that you delighted in looking at and drawing.  

Let the painting or drawing grow out of that one bit that caught your eye. For me in this case, it was the dark, crooked tree limbs held against the sky, with fresh spring growth just unfurling.  It was the spring bringing color to a landscape that had been winter drab for too long. 

Next time you're out for a walk, notice what catches your artist's eye.  What in the world holds magic for you?  What enchants you? Let your eyes dwell there.  

If you have time, make a sketch, take a photo, embark on an artwork, and show the world your artist's vision of what's fascinating to you.

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024. All rights reserved.

Self Portrait in Watercolor

 

The other day, my photographer husband and I did a photo shoot by window light.  I liked one of the resulting photos so much that I decided to paint a watercolor self portrait from it.

I decided to use  purple hues of the fabric for the cool shadow colors.  I find that repeating a color throughout a painting unifies the composition.  Of course, I happen to love this particular purple -- Permanent Blue Violet by Van Gogh Paints.

Painting a self portrait is a great way to practice your art skills, whether you're drawing or painting.  And, it's a great form of self-expression. If you don't have a selfie you like, a small mirror is a great help in capturing a live image of yourself.  I hope you give it a try!

Inspiration from an Old Stump

Out on a hike with my Nikon D-70s, I found this battered stump just as I was returning to my car at sunset.  The vibrant moss and the wild tangle of vines caught my eye, and I snapped a photo.

At home, I downloaded the file to my computer and set up my studio for painting.

I made a quick pencil sketch, and broke out my gouache paints.  Gouache is like watercolor paint, but opaque if you keep it thick. 

I love taping off the margins on a nature journal page, and then setting to work laying in the colors -- big areas first, then delving into the delightful details.

Of course, I picked out the details I liked and painted the rest in generalities.  At the end, that's the beauty -- we get to focus on the parts of the scene that inspire us.  We're not creating another photograph, but a painting.  And in that painting, we express our artist's eye & our spirit.  

May you get to follow your artist's eye and express your spirit soon!