Autumn Still Life in Pencil

A great way to build your drawing skills is to set up a collection of objects you find appealing and then draw or paint them.  I'm currently teaching Beginner's Pencil Drawing at the Community College of Beaver County, where each week we set up still life scenes like this one and draw them. 

The subject of this still life is texture. With only graphite pencils, we can express the shiny texture of a teapot, the woven sides of a basket, the grainy nature of wood, the papery husk of an onion, and the grooved surface of a pumpkin, all with mark making.

I used a 4B and a 6B pencil, a tortillion, also called a blending stump, and a kneaded eraser.  The tortillion is simply a pencil-shaped blender made of rolled up paper.  It has no lead of its own, but when you rub it over pencil marks, it smudges them to create a smooth, uniform area of value.  It's a little like painting with graphite.

Sometimes, it's hard to discern the values in a scene.  I "cheat" and take a photo, then edit it using the filters on my phone to turn the scene into a black and white image.  This technique helps me to see the relative values in an orange pumpkin, a brown teapot, and a burgundy onion.

I encourage you to set up your own still life scene and draw it.  It might feel more challenging to draw from life, but you'll get a more vibrant drawing.  And it's great practice to help you with seeing values, and observing shapes, depth, & details. 

When you set up your still life, place it by a window or find one single light source.  Otherwise, you'll have a confusing array of shadows -- one from each light source.  I happened to be lucky enough to have a sunny day and a south-facing window.  A desk lamp will serve if you don't have any sun!

Happy Creating!

Bluebird Nature Journal Update: Autumn Colors

Here's a glimpse of my day off to hike the woods and sketch.  I traveled in my EV Bluebird to Raccoon Creek State Park, where I added another entry into my Bluebird Nature Journal.  You can read the backstory to this journal in this post: 

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2024/11/turning-my-art-into-stickers.html

Above is the accordion fold journal, now halfway filled, and below is the scene I painted.

You can see that I intensified the colors a bit in my painting.  Remember that as an artist, you are not a camera! You may omit parts of the scene, simplify it, or even change the colors as you choose. Let your intuition guide you.

I started with a quick pencil sketch, then splashed in the overcast sky and the colorful foliage around the cabin.  When that dried a bit, I painted the little cabin using a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.  Touching in a bit of sap green to the roof expressed the moss. 

I used the same blue-brown mixture to paint in the tree trunks.  You can add more burnt sienna to make the mixture more brown, or use more ultramarine to get a steely blue-gray.  It's a very useful combination!

You can create your own journals by cutting a large sheet of paper into long horizontal segments, then folding them to make the page size you like. Large pieces of 140# watercolor paper work well for this. 

I used a 12" x 18" sheet of 140# Canson XL watercolor paper to make the Bluebird Nature Journal, cutting it in half lengthwise to make two elongated strips.  I folded each strip in half, then into quarters and glued two ends of the accordion folded strips together to make it extra long. I made covers out of blue mat board and glued them to each end.

I hope you give this journal-making technique a try and fill it with your creative explorations!

Happy Creating!

Sketching Fall Leaves in Watercolor!

Fall has arrived and the colors are reaching their peak in my neighborhood.  I gather up brilliant leaves on every walk.  

Here are yesterday's leaves.

I picked out three sassafras leaves that drew my eye, and made pencil sketches of each, then laid in a wash of azo yellow and let it dry. This technique, called glazing, creates glowing, rich colors when you paint other layers of color over top.  

After the yellow wash dried, I drew in the leaf veins with a white wax crayon to create a resist and keep the veins yellow.  I brushed in layers of oranges made from azo yellow mixed with either alizarin crimson or pyrrol red.  I added table salt to some of the wet washes and let it all dry.

After the salt completely dried, I brushed it off and added some final marks.  The salt didn't have a big effect on the washes.  I think the paint had begun to dry and wasn't at its best point for this trick.

I love adding the little spots where a bug chewed the leaf, etc.  These create a more realistic appearance.

Autumn leaves are a wonderful subject to draw and paint -- they're small, beautiful and endlessly fascinating. And it's such a human habit to gather natural treasures, especially in the fall harvest season. A walk in nature with some creative time is a lovely way to slow down and practice self care.

I hope you take some time to create with fall leaves!

Happy Creating!

Finishing Unfinished Art

In August of 2024, I visited the loveliest historic site: Old Economy Village in Ambridge, PA, where I started a pen and ink drawing.  I drew on an Arches watercolor block with waterproof ink, planning to finish the drawing with watercolors. 

If you've never used one, a block of watercolor paper allows you to paint on 140# paper without taping the edges as the paper is glued around all 4 sides.  When you're done, you simply slide a palette knife (or a butter knife) into a little slot that's been left unglued, and run it around the edges to free the paper from the stack.

This drawing sat in my studio for over a year,and every time I wanted to use that watercolor block to create something new, I'd mutter to myself about finishing the artwork some day.

I finally pushed myself to finish the painting, using this reference photo.

I simplified the scene in my drawing, omitting the fence with the grapevines and a few other details.  The brick house against the shadowy hills was the focal point, so I wanted to reduce clutter in other areas.  I had fun with the shadows in the apple tree on the right.

 What a good feeling to free up that watercolor block!  

There's often a fear of ruining an unfinished work that you like.  I recommend that you warm up with other art play, then make a plan and start in.  In this case, I played with abstract watercolors, then worked from the background to the foreground, from general to specific, and from larger washes to finer details.

As hard as it might seem to reignite the energy to finish a piece, I like to think that until it's finished, my art isn't what I want it to be.  If I leave it to gather dust, it hasn't developed its full potential.  By taking the risk and finishing the painting, I give the artwork a chance to be complete.  

My art never turns out exactly as I'd imagined it.  It's more a process of discovery and exploration focused on a scene that inspires me rather than the pursuit of a specific outcome.  

When you finish your artwork, even if it takes a turn you didn't see coming, you have the peace of completing the artwork.  That can boost you to move on to something new.

Every painting can teach you something.  This painting shows me how cool greens appear to recede and warm greens look closer. It gave me a place to play with contrasting colors: the orangey red of the brick house against the blue green trees and hill.  And it reminds me to always simplify the landscape -- pick out the focal point and delve into detail there, omitting other details.

What an uplifting feeling to put the final brush stroke on something that's been nagging you to be finished!

I'm looking forward to using my watercolor block for the next spark of inspiration that sweeps through.

Happy Creating!

British Isles: More Photos of Cobh, Ireland

After returning from Fota House, we climbed Cobh's steep hillside to St. Colman's Cathedral above the port and train station. 

Every facet of the cathedral inspired me with its beauty.  I feel like this door alone could be a painting.

A resident Peregrine falcon perched high atop the spires and gargoyles.

Full of beauty, Cobh charmed me at every turn with sights like this door labeled "Magic Place."

Even the tiny ferns and flowers growing out of the ancient rock walls inspired me.

As we walked back down the hill to return to the QM2, I marveled at these eye-catching houses, stalwart and brilliant.  Their vivid colors must remedy the gray skies of winter.  

I hope you find something here to inspire you to make a sketch or splash some paint on the page!

Happy Creating!

British Isles Voyage: More Photos of Fota House

Fota House and its grounds were so beautiful, so different than where I live, that I took loads of photos.  I thought you might like to come along on a tour of its arboretum and grounds.

Massive, ancient trees greeted us from the moment we set foot on the grounds.

Majestic beeches, oaks, and exotic trees like this Eucalyptus cordata (below) from Tasmania filled the landscape.  

Autumn's colorful show had begun.

Over and over again, I was fascinated by the ancient, magical-looking trees that seemed to be enchanted personalities from a fairy tale.

I half expected to see elves and fairies dancing beneath them.

The Victorian gardens mixed the rugged beauty of ancient stone walls with formal, courtly plantings.

I loved the garden gates and the sense of having rooms within the landscape.

I hope you've enjoyed this armchair tour and found something to make a sketch or painting of.

Happy Creating!

British Isles Tour: Dolphins!

Sailing near Oban, Scotland, David photographed these dolphins riding in our bow wake.  How exciting to see the dolphins racing through the water right alongside our ship! It was as if they wanted to play with the great ocean liner.

I took a quiet afternoon in our stateroom as we sailed on and used his photo to create this watercolor sketch.

I was taken by the way the wind caught the tops of the waves and blew the spray, so I played with wet-in-wet techniques to express that motion.

I hope you'll make your own sketch of these dolphins!

Happy Creating!