Watercolor Sketches on a Lake

Over the weekend, my husband and I rented a pontoon boat at the Raccoon Creek State Park Boat Rental.  The weather was gorgeous and sunny.  

As we motored slowly around the lake, I made slapdash sketches of the scenery.  Above is the boat rental seen from the water, with colorful kayaks stacked up along the shore.

The sunlight and cloud shadows created beautiful effects on the trees and forests surrounding the lake.  The distant hillside was in a cloud shadow, while sunlight shot through the near trees on the left.  Days when the lighting is dramatic like this, I love to create art that zooms in on these high contrast areas.  

In artworks, areas of contrast attract the viewer's eye and create visual interest.  You can capture boldly contrasting values and colors to create a more dramatic composition.  

For instance, greens and yellows dominate this painting of the boat rental.  The red & blue-violet kayaks along the shore catch the eye because they contrast with the colors around them.

When I started painting these two scenes, my only goal was to play with my paints for the joy of it. I simply was present in the moment, exploring with my brush.

Trusting the process and going out to sketch, you make discoveries, try experiments, and find new ideas to explore.

As messy as these sketches are, I love them.  They represent a snapshot of the afternoon -- an escape to the lake with David on a gorgeous afternoon.

 Sketching in this way can foil the inner critic's voice -- you know, that voice within us that demands we make masterpieces.  

Our job in sketching is simply to "take notes" on the scene before us.  We are focusing on ways to represent what we find fascinating in the world.  We are not bound by reality.   As artists, we are not cameras!  We can omit parts of the scene, change colors, remove trees, or whatever we want!

Remember: When you are sketching, your job is to explore what you find fascinating.  If you do that, you have succeeded, no matter what your sketchbook looks like to anyone else.  

I hope you'll take lots of opportunities to make sketches this autumn!

Happy Creating!

Making Tiny Watercolor Paintings

I have a friend who likes to paint small paintings.  Jenny works on watercolor paper cut to fit frames she already has, starting at 2" x 3" and 3" x 5". Inspired by Jenny, I cut up some 140# watercolor paper and played with a garden flower watercolor theme.

The first two sketches I simply made up, imagining a bright summer day in a garden.  Phthalo blue for the sky, permanent rose and Azo yellow for the flowers, and mixtures of Hooker's green & phthalo blue, as well as sap green & Azo yellow for the greenery. All done wet-in-wet.

Later, I sat out in my sunny garden painting zinnia blooms.

I started with a Faber Castell XS permanent pen, then painted the flower.  For the background, I painted the area around the flower with clear water and touched in watercolor, letting it blend and flow.

Below is a Sacred Basil plant growing among the zinnias.

I love tiny paintings!  

They take very little time to complete, and you can try out an idea quickly, then move on to something else. It's easy to make a series.  

These little paintings would add a beautiful spot of color in a small space in my home, or become a beautiful card to send someone I love.  

Jenny has a box of her paintings and rotates them through her frames.  It's a great way to celebrate your creative explorations!

Happy Creating!

Watercolor Nature Journal: Black-Eyed Susans

Preparing for a class like Nature Journaling means visiting the park to see what's going on there -- what flowers are blooming, which birds dwell there, and what new nature developments have arisen since I last visited.

The wildflower garden at the Raccoon Creek State Park Wildflower Reserve is lush with native blooms this summer.  Volunteers tend this colorful garden.

The day I visited, sun splashed down through the nearby trees, and filled the garden with light.

I delighted in the way this Rudbeckia bloom contrasts with the dark forest behind it, and decided to add this scene to my concertina sketchbook.  A simple pencil sketch, then layers of Azo yellow and Yellow Ochre in the Black-Eyed-Susan petals, followed by layers of lighter and darker greens in the background brought this sketch together. It's more of an impression than a finished painting, and I like the looseness that approach creates.

I hope you'll paint your version of this scene from the photo above.  Or better yet, take your nature journal outside and see what's happening in nature near you!

Happy Creating!

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!

Painting in a Wildflower Garden

Yesterday, I spent the morning in the wildflower garden of the Raccoon Creek State Park Wildflower Reserve, where the light poured through the colorful blossoms of Blazing Star.

As I gathered my supplies and drove out to the site, I felt myself grow nervous at the thought of "Making a Painting," fearful of making a mess & failing.  My harsh critic, the Hobgoblin, was hard at work!

I reminded myself that I was allowed to paint without expectation, to simply go through the process rather than forcing myself to make something my inner critic deemed "good."

When I arrived at the garden, I decided to simply sketch with my paintbrush, skipping the pencil sketch.  Lost in the process, I didn't take photos of the progression.

 I began simply with splashes of the pink Blazing Star blossoms, with a mix of permanent rose & permanent blue-violet.

The stems and leaves came next, a mixture of sap green with a touch of permanent rose. 

The final step of the painting was the background -- interspersing areas of sap green with dark splashes of Hooker's green & permanent blue violet.  I touched in a bit of pink here and there to echo the flowers, and called it done.  

About midway through the process, I met two park staff members -- interns Audrey and Natalie.  We talked about their work at the park, about our shared interest in watercolors & creativity, and about pushing back against that frustrating harsh inner critic.

I've noticed that when I talk about the process, and talk about my own self doubts, it eases my struggle.  I get out of my head and notice how illogical the harsh critic's messages are.  

Is there any real danger in making a painting that I don't like? Not at all.  Every painting teaches me something.  Even if it shows me a technique or color mix I don't like.  I'm still learning and gaining ground.

In the end, I felt buoyed by my conversation with Audrey and Natalie. As the old saying goes, "A burden shared is halved. A joy shared is doubled."

They halved my struggles with the Hobgoblin and doubled my joy in painting.

I jumped back into my painting with more spirit, and liked the finished piece.  Not perfect, but pleasing to me.

After wrestling with my Hobgoblin/inner critic, I felt a sense of peace, as you do when you've just exercised and rest in the afterglow.  

My tips:

• You don't need a big kit of supplies.  Use a small collection of your favorite paints, pencils, etc. -- whatever feels comfortable & familiar to you.
• Give yourself permission to make a mess!  No expectations or pressure.
• Find the part of the scene that really appeals to your artist's eye.  You don't have to paint the whole scene before you, just the part that's fascinating & exciting to you.
• Allow yourself sketching time to warm up.  You could try different mark-making to express the textures you see in your subject or simply swatch the colors you see. 
• Focus on exploring and making discoveries rather than making a pretty picture.
• Think about what you are learning.
• Encourage yourself as you would a friend.  Be kind to yourself and your art.

Does your inner critic tell you you can't make good art? I encourage you to push back against that voice, remind it it's wrong, and go out and make imperfect art.  It feels good to face the Hobgoblin down and to learn from each painting or artwork.

Here are some photos from the wildflower garden at the Raccoon Creek State Park Wildflower Reserve.  I hope you'll use them to create your own art!

Many thanks to Natalie & Aubrey for stopping by to talk with me as I painted!  Our conversation was uplifting!

Happy Creating!

Welcome, Summer!

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, and I celebrated with a painting of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Pterourus glaucus) on Blue Spire Larkspur from my garden.

I started with a pencil sketch, then began adding in the black markings on the butterfly with an India ink brush pen.

I sketched in the Larkspur in waterproof ink.

Then I began painting the scene, starting with the butterfly first, and moving on to the Larkspur.

I found that I would have been better off painting the yellow of the butterfly first, then adding the black markings in India ink.  The yellows I used: Winsor Lemon and Azo yellow showed on the black ink, so I had to dab those areas with a paper towel while they were wet.

I began adding in greens and shadows made from the purple I was using -- Permanent Blue Violet mixed with Phthalo blue -- and cool Hooker's Green.  I love the dark, shadowy colors that result.

If you mix violet with a yellowy green like Sap Green, you get a muddier shadow color.  But cool greens and cool violets create a luscious, dark, purple-indigo shadow color.

I love the bits on the top left where the cool greens, violet and dark indigo interact.

Butterflies are fiddly little things to paint and draw.  They have so many details, and those details are mirrored in their symmetrical wings.  I remind myself that my goal is to celebrate what I see in nature with my art.  It's okay not to get everything perfectly accurate.  That's what field guides and photographs are for!

If you love butterflies, I hope you'll use these reference photos of the Tiger Swallowtail to make art!

Happy Creating!

Sketching at Nature Camp

When I was in high school and college, I worked at an educational summer camp called Nature Camp.  I recently visited this favorite place to teach watercolor workshops.  

I had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and sitting beside the creek that runs through camp, soaking in the peace of nature while sketching.

Here's a 1-minute video of one of my favorite spots in camp.

And here's a demonstration painting of a piece of birch bark that I made during one of the workshops.  I started with a pencil sketch (HB), then lightened up my pencil marks and began with a wash of yellow ochre mixed with burnt sienna.  I touched in a charcoal gray mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. Then I let it all dry.

I finished the sketch with some details: a shadow made from ultramarine and burnt umber, the horizontal marks (lenticels) and the darkened edges. 

Here's a photo of the bark if you'd like to make a sketch or painting of it yourself.

Happy Creating!

Mornings with a House Wren

Every morning, this Northern House Wren sings the loveliest burbling song in my garden.  His ebullient music drifts in through the open windows and lifts my heart.  I took the photo below the other morning to use as a reference so I could add him to my spring nature journal.

I started with a light pencil sketch, then layed in the browns & grays of his plumage, touching in some ultramarine blue for darker shadows.  I mixed burnt sienna, burnt umber and ultramarine blue to create the grays. Warm azo yellow created the bold yellow of his beak, and I used yellow ochre, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue in the stick he's clinging to.

Next, I painted the entire background area with clean water, being careful to work around the wren and his stick.  Then, I touched in mixtures of Hooker's green dark, sap green, ultramarine blue, and azo yellow.

I finished the sketch with my black fountain pen -- adding a few lines and the wren's eye, and used some Prismacolor colored pencils on the stick and a white gel pen to create the spots in the wren's plumage.

When I'm painting animals or other fleeting subjects, I like to work from a reference photo.  It allows me to luxuriate some time on the details.

Somehow, this little guy looks like he's yelling!  I think I got his posture a little off -- a reminder to me to keep stepping back early in the sketching process.

What is going on around you in nature?  I hope you get to take some time to record your observations in a nature journal!

Happy Creating!

Weekly Planner: Spring Flowers!

Snow was falling as I created this new planner page. Our weather had turned from warm and spring-like back to winter, so I was hungry for some spring petals.

In Art World, you can have any season you like!

I created loose watercolor florals in the style I learned from Wendy Solganik of Willa Wanders. You can see her Teachable classes here: 

https://willa-workshops.teachable.com/l/productssortKey=recommended&sortDirection=asc&page=1

After the watercolor paint dried on the page, I played with line work around the flowers in ink, and added the dates & days. Later, I wrote in the events of the week. It's refreshing every time I open my planner and catch a glimpse of the colors and energy of spring.

What is your heart hungry for right now? I hope you create it with your art supplies.

Happy Creating!