Yes, I know it’s January 22, and I’m ten days behind in the Artist’s Journal Workshop January sketch challenge. That’s the way these challenges often go for me, and I know I’m not alone in that. I’ve been so busy preparing for my upcoming classes that I haven’t been taking the time to do a […]
Category: Sketchbook Journaling
January Sketching – Days 5-9
I’m always at least a day behind on this January challenge, but I’ve decided not to stress over it. After all, it’s supposed to be fun, right? Well, here are five more sketches that I’ve completed… Day 5 – Draw a bridge This is an old stone railroad bridge that spans Ten-Mile Creek in Jefferson, […]
A Very Chilly Morning
It’s been absolutely frigid here for the past week, and it looks like it’s going down below zero again tonight. Our house is perched on top of a hill, so we are buffeted by winter winds all season long, and it’s really been shaking the house today! But we’ve had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. […]
January Sketching – Days 1-4
After a busy holiday season during which I took care of all the things I had to do, I thought it would be fun in the new year, to do something just because I wanted to. I didn’t have much time for sketching in December and when I don’t get a chance to draw and […]
It’s Here! Grab a Copy of “Sketchbook Journeys: Italy”
Ever since I finished my Italy travel journal, I’ve been wanting to publish it as a Blurb book, just like I did with my Ireland sketchbook back in 2011. But it’s been over a year since I put the final brushstroke on that last sketch of Pisa, and this project just kept getting pushed to […]
Fall Harvest Journal Page + Step-by-Step Border
This page from my new nature journal shows a selection of what I collected the other day when I took a walk in the woods near our house. I wanted to see how many “crops” (seeds, nuts, and berries) I could find as fall dwindles down and winter moves in. Ink & watercolor, two-page spread […]
Out & About
One of the homework assignments I give my sketchbook journaling students is to paint a variegated wash on a sketchbook page without any thought as to what they might decide to draw later on the page. Then, after the wash dries, they are to begin their sketches, using the earlier wash as a unifying color […]
September Garden
With the cooler days we’re having now, I was feeling a little sad to see summer on its way out. I really enjoy all the flowering shrubs and perennials that brighten up our yard in the summertime, and I’m just not ready to say goodbye to them yet. Then I started looking a little closer […]
Mushroom Sleuthing
I was on a quest. A mushroom quest. As I rambled through the woods, I had noticed a few colorful little gems peeking out from under the carpet of dried brown leaves beneath my feet, and that only made me want more. Aquabee Super Delluxe sketchbook, 9″ x 12″, watercolor and Sakura Pigma Micron 01 […]
Step-by-Step Watercolor: Lake Scene
I visited my mother last week at Alpine Lake, West Virginia, and while I was there spent a wonderfully relaxing couple of hours following the walking trail that meanders through the woods along the shoreline. There are so many pretty, sketch-worthy scenes, but I finally chose this one: Stillman & Birn Zeta series sketchbook, 7″ […]
