Nature Journal - Painting a Turkey Hen and Her Brood

Earlier this summer, I snapped this photo of a Wild Turkey hen and her chicks in the morning sun. I was so taken by the beauty of the scene and the way one chick rode on her back, that I added the scene to my concertina nature journal, the one I began with spring violets:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2026/05/watercolor-nature-journal-violets.html

I started with a pencil sketch, then began painting the hen and her chicks, working from light to dark and from the birds to the background.  The birds are painted with mixtures of earth tones (Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre) and Ultramarine Blue.

I love the way the dark trees in the background contrast with the Wild Turkey mom in the foreground.  I mixed Phthalo blue with Burnt Sienna to make a deep forest green. And I left grassy shapes unpainted to allow me to come back with a lighter green.

The little piece of watercolor paper on the right lets me test out colors after mixing them in the palette.  

Here's the final sketch.

The beauty of this concertina sketchbook is that it's a place I can make sketches without the pressure of making a larger painting.  The book tells the story of the unfolding seasons here on Hawk's Hill where I live.

What nature stories are unfolding around you?  I recommend making your own small sketchbook to create in to record what you observe.

Happy Creating!

Watercolor Landscape

The spring landscape inspires me with its ever-changing swaths of color.

Every shade of green from chartreuse to seafoam, to deepest pine green fills the landscape.  Verdant new grass sweeps in to replace the old, dead meadow plants. 

On walks, I snap photos like this one.

Then I take them back to my studio to paint my version of the scene.  I think it's important in art, to give ourselves the freedom to create our version of reality.  When I started painting, I thought I should re-created every twig and pine needle in a scene.  

Folly!

But that lesson showed me that I am at liberty to play with any element of the scene I wish!  I have simplified this landscape, and I have used purple lavishly where it might not be evident in the photo above.  Why not?  I love purple and green together.

I began by making a simple pencil sketch.  With a kneaded eraser, I lightened the darker lines to keep the pencil marks from showing through the paint. 

I mixed different colors -- Phthalo blue with a touch of Hooker's green for the apple blossoms in the center of the scene, sap green with Winsor yellow for the yellowy greens, dioxazine purple with a touch of Phthalo blue for the distant hills and shadows, and Phthalo blue and burnt sienna for the spruces.

What would your version of this scene look like?

I hope you paint or draw it!

Happy Creating!

Nature Journal Sketches from Vacation

Leaving the arctic cold at home and flying to Florida's warmth brought opportunities to see fresh foliage and wildlife.  

I snapped lots of photos while there.  Back at home, I have enjoyed recording the experience in my nature journal.

It's been uplifting to see the bright colors and vibrancy in these Florida scenes. 

Sketching from our vacation photos gives us opportunities to relive a favorite experience and to practice making art. I hope you'll dig out some favorite photos of warmer times and make some art with them.

Happy Creating!

Beginner's Pencil Drawing Sketches

The world is full of beauty, and in Beginner's Pencil Drawing, we find ways of seeing & drawing it in our sketchbooks.  

We've just embarked on a new series of Pencil Drawing classes at the Community College of Beaver County, and we're having fun exploring the world with our pencils.

The homework this week is to draw your breakfast or to draw a small piece of your life, daily if possible, even for 5-10 minutes.  When your materials are a few drawing pencils and a sketchbook, it's easy to jump right into making art.

The morning after our first class, I sat at the breakfast table, intending to draw eggs and veggie sausages, but these flowers called out to be sketched.  I started by drawing the scene before my eyes.  

I took the above photo to allow me to put more detail in the drawing after the breakfast dishes were cleared away and the light had changed. In my phone's photo editor, I translated the color photo to black-and-white using a filter.  This helps to clearly see the values in the scene.

I started the sketch with a 2B graphite pencil.

Simple marks lightly laid down were the beginning, and I held the sketch at arm's length to check it now and again.  I began adding tone with a 10B pencil once I felt satisfied with the general layout.

I wanted to show the light values of the lily by creating the darker tones around the flower.

All of the shapes of the other flowers around the lily were interesting to my artist's eye.  It was fun adding in darker values and suggesting the shapes of mums, daisies and leaves.

I took a break from drawing, and when I looked at the photo above, I realized that I wanted to add more dimension to the lily.  It looked flat.

I darkened the values around the lily.  I liked the way this popped the lily forward.  Then I added a few dark spots within the lily, unifying the composition.

Looking at a photo of your artwork or simply stepping back from it lets you focus on the whole composition and assess what needs work.  Or what needs to be celebrated! Sometimes you step back and see that something beautiful has developed.  Make sure to be open to that possibility.

Remember that the more you sketch, the more opportunities for discoveries you create. Each sketch -- whether you love it or don't --builds your drawing skills.

Happy Creating!

A Trip to the Beach

I recently escaped winter on a trip to Florida.

I took lots of photos, and sketched while I was on the beach.

When I returned home, I extended my travel experience by painting from some of my photos.

I laid out each painting with a few pencil marks, then painted the sky, with large washes first, blotting the wet paint with a paper towel to create clouds.  After the first washes dried, I added shadows to the sky and clouds.  

I worked on both of these little paintings at the same time, practicing my painting on the vertical version, and then repeating each step on the horizontal layout.

When the paint was dry in the sky, I began laying in washes for the ocean and waves, avoiding painting the white foamy areas.  When each layer was dry, I added another layer, building up colors and complexity.  I finished with layers of earthy brown beach sand.

The wet sand along the shore was darker.

After all of the paint had dried, I added some cloud reflections on the water with a white gel pen and white acrylic ink applied with a dip pen.  Above are the tools I used.

I propped up the finished paintings with a few seashells on my art table to remind me of the Florida sunshine.

I hope you'll dig out some old vacation photos and create art from them.  It's a lovely way to extend the joy of a getaway.

Happy Creating!