A Nature Hike Revisited

When I made the first rough sketch of this lake scene (below) the weather was warm and lovely. I had only brought a waterproof black pen and my nature journal on the hike.

I wanted to include more color and details, so I took a photo with my phone and planned to finish the page later.

This latest cold snap, had me thinking of that sunny warm day and how I wanted to finish my sketch.  

Cozily tucked in my studio listening to music, I added color to the scene using 

Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons.

Just looking at the blue sky and puffy white clouds in the photo felt uplifting on a gray day with wind-driven snow flying through the air. Adding color with the crayons worked its usual magic, and I dropped into that relaxed, timeless state of art-making.

I invite you to make artwork using this photo as a reference.  Find the most interesting part of the scene to you, and let that be your focal point. I hope you'll use your favorite media to create your version of this scene. 

Happy Creating! 

Nature Journaling with Pen & Ink

On a recent afternoon, I took a little time to sketch the simple things in my life around my home: my cat drinking water from a bowl, bare mint branches, and the birds at the feeder outside my studio.

David & I went out for a hike, and on the way down our long driveway, we had to stop to remove this dead spruce tree that had fallen over the drive.

Out at the park, we hiked down to the lake, and I took a few minutes to sketch the scene at the water's edge. Perhaps I will add watercolors or gouache to flesh out the scene.

Back at home, I brewed up a mug of tea, and sat out on the kitchen stoop in the 45 degree F weather.  I have an old, battered cushion retired from use on our wicker sofa. I pull it out of the closet and plop it down on my welcome mat to make a comfortable seat down at earth level.

 As I sat down to sketch, the weeds caught my eye, and slowed me down.  Why is it that simply following the contours of last summer's wildflowers and grasses makes me feel calm? 

My cats kindly posed for my sketches.  They seemed happy to take in nature's balm, too.

I hope you get the opportunity to feel nature's balm, whether by a window with a mug of tea or out on a hike with your nature journal.

Happy Creating!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024.

Pet Portraits in Colored Pencil Workshop!

In just one week, I will be teaching a workshop on drawing portraits of your pet using colored pencil at the Community College of Beaver County.

Wednesdays, January 10th & 17th, from 6-9 PM

on the CCBC Monaca, PA campus.

This class is designed for beginners, and all you need to do is bring a photo of an animal you'd like to draw, a sketchbook, and a pack of colored pencils, and we'll take it from there!

You can find more details & register for the course here:

Register me for Pet Portraits in Colored Pencil!

I hope you'll join me for two relaxing evenings of sketching the animals you love!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024.

Happy New Year Art Journaling!

Even though December is done, I continue to enjoy Kasia Avery's Care December 2023 art journaling class.  You can access it for free anytime here:

https://www.everything-art.com/p/care-december-23

The prompt that I loosely followed was the New Moon prompt from day 4. 

I picked out a page spread, gathered some Prismacolor colored pencils in shades of blue, and began intuitively making swirling lines across the page. 

I had just been flipping through old nature journals made when I lived in Ohio, and revisiting those journals allowed me to revisit my favorite park there, Oak Openings Preserve Metropark. Going out into nature then, as now, helped me to relax, feel grounded, and to connect to nature and my creativity.

As I recalled my afternoons wandering the park with my nature journal and Prismacolors, my art journal page organically grew into a representation of the Oak Openings sand dunes that I loved.

I found that as I listened to the quiet, tiny voice of my intuition, that inner guide suggested colors (yellow ochre) and ideas (draw winter grasses & dead weeds).

I listened and sketched, all the time remembering the joy I felt in nature hiking the Oak Openings trails, reliving the gratitude I felt for time to spend in my favorite park.

The memory of a nature escape brought up the same feeling of refreshment that I felt all those years ago. 

What a powerful practice nature journaling is to provide a well of renewal to dip into again and again!

May the new year bring you opportunities for renewed creativity!

Copyright 2024 Betsy Bangley. All rights reserved.

Humble Beginnings

Winter is the season of decluttering around here, and as I was culling through papers, I found a tiny book -- my first nature journal, dated 1981, when I was in high school.

I can see how tentatively I painted each scene, afraid to dip into the paint too heavily, to make my marks too bold.

I can appreciate how sensitive that earlier version of me was to the beauty around her young eyes and spirit.

I carefully labeled each painting on the reverse with the name of the place, plant or animal.

At the time, I was a counselor at a summer camp called Nature Camp in Vesuvius, Virginia.  My days were filled with teaching children how to draw and paint from nature, leading nature hikes, and working with other nature nerd counselors.  It was a summer of discovery and adventure for me.

I lived with the other counselors, and campers, immersed in nature, focused on studying the plants, animals and ecosystem around us.

I can see how very much I wanted to capture the plants and animals around me with accuracy and a sense of beauty. 

That summer led to a lifelong pursuit of nature journaling.  

Beginnings can often look humble, simple, even clumsy.  Yet they get us started learning and exploring.

 And though I feel I am always falling short of my goal, I delight in pursuing it regardless.

Begin. Pursue. Develop.

What new art projects would you like to begin? I hope you jump right in and start your explorations!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2023.  All rights reserved. 

Care December: Coldness

I love the idea of tuning into the coolness of the color blue in this prompt.  

Blue looks cooler when you put it next to warm colors like spots of yellow and orange 

by the candles' glow.

This morning, I set up in my studio at dawn with a hot pot of tea and my art supplies to take on the Care December prompt:Coldness.

I had prepared a page spread of vellum paper with clear gesso, so that I could easily draw with Inktense colored pencils and NeocolorII crayons.

A wet brush moved the pigment and brought the colors to life.

I love how the vellum looks like stained glass when held up to window light.

I hope you get some time to create -- this project took me about 15 minutes.  Even a little time spent creating can be great self care.

Happy Holly Holidays!

I took these photos of American Holly sprigs earlier in the autumn, and knew they'd be great reference photos for future drawings.

I invite you to use them to create from -- sketch, draw, paint, collage or whatever you like.

Happy Creating & Happy Holidays!