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!

New Mini Nature Journal

I've begun a new concertina nature journal made out of 300 lb cold press Stonehenge watercolor paper.

On a cold afternoon in late November, David took his camera bag and I grabbed my mini nature journaling kit, and we popped out to the state park for some creative time.  Being out in the 20-degree weather forced me to draw quickly and finish my art back in the warmth of my studio.

Above is the reference photo I used to help me flesh out my drawing, and below is my mini watercolor kit.

I started with a wet-in-wet wash of ultramarine blue for the sky, then added in tree shapes with ultramarine blue mixed with burnt umber.  Yellow ochre created the general rock color.  You can see where my impatience in not waiting to let the sky dry before I worked in the trees caused some of the colors to bloom into each other.  I decided to leave it that way and not scrub out the "mistake."

I added some roots with a light gray Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayon.  I like the way those crayons work right over top of darker values, and you can move the pigment with water if you like.

A final wash of burnt umber and ultramarine blue mixed to make a chocolate brown bark color to darken the main tree trunk.  I used a very dark mixture of the two to create the grooves in the bark.

Working small and quickly creates a magic of its own, allowing you to focus in on one small portion of the larger scene.  

I hope you give mini journals a try!

Happy Creating

Bluebird Art Hike Day

I took advantage of a lovely day out in my EV Bluebird, and hiked the state park with my mini art kit.

I sat down on a log and laid in a pencil sketch.  Before I could layer on permanent ink, I noticed a tick crawling up my leg.  Yikes! I brushed the tick away and snapped a photo of the scene in front of me so I could finish my art at home. 

Back in my studio, I added ink with a Lamy Safari fountain pen, then began adding a in washes of color.

Mixing phthalo blue and burnt sienna created the evergreen foliage, ultramarine blue for the sky, and a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna or burnt umber made the greys in the trees.  Burnt sienna and yellow ochre filled the forest floor with leaves, and sap green and yellow ochre created a moss color.

The crooked little sapling caught my eye from the moment I sat outside in the park, so I saved that tree for last and treated it lightly.

Comparing the photo to the painting, you'll see plenty of "artistic license" being used.

Remember that as the artist, you get to decide what to include in your artworks, and you can emphasize angles as I did with the little sapling here.  

You can make choices based on what you'd like to see in the composition and leave out trees or other elements as you choose.

I enjoyed keeping one light colored tree that caught my eye while I was sketching.  There are some things a photograph can't convey.  I'm glad I made a pencil sketch first to capture that fresh feeling you get from creating art from life.

Happy Creating!