I’ve been sketching up a storm and managing to stick to the challenge rule of drawing directly with a pen. I occasionally bend the rules a tiny bit by using a pencil to lay out the lettering, like in the sketch below, but the subject matter is all drawn in ink. (All sketches are done […]
Category: Sketching
The First Fruits of Summer
Today was a scorcher, just what the first day of summer should be! I spent an hour in the garden early this morning, as the sun was just peeking over the trees, and did my weeding and harvesting before it got too hot. Watercolor & ink (Lexington Gray) in Stillman & Birn Alpha Series sketchbook […]
75 Day Sketch Challenge: Days 6-10
I’m already reaping the rewards of the 75 Day Sketch Challenge… and I’m only on Day 11! It’s becoming second nature to draw directly with a pen. No more fussing around with a pencil drawing first. Now I simply observe closely and record what I see. It’s saving me time and energy. And I think […]
75 Day Sketch Challenge: Days 1-5
I’ve accepted the challenge – the 75 Day Sketch Challenge, that is! Artist Brenda Swenson came up with the idea as a way to encourage people to hone their drawing skills and gain confidence as an artist. You can read all the details on her blog. Basically, the challenge involves doing 75 sketchbook drawings in […]
Garden Marauders
After tending my patch of June-bearing strawberry plants for weeks, carefully weeding, mulching, and watering, I could hardly wait for the berries to ripen. The plants were loaded with pink berries – they only needed a few more days till they’d be ripe, juicy, and ready to meet their destiny swimming in a bowl of […]
Summer Fun – Try Sketchbook Journaling!
Summer is a great time to indulge in doing something just for you, whether that means napping in a hammock in the backyard or spending an entire afternoon in a beach chair with your nose in a book. Perhaps you have a yearning to explore, to try something new and different. Maybe reading this blog […]
Mug Shots
Everyday things, collected over time, tell the story of our lives. They’re reminders of the people we love and places we’ve been. It makes me happy to use things that hold memories for me, like these coffee mugs, which I painted the other day in my 7″ x 10″ Canson Montval watercolor sketchbook. Watercolor with […]
A Very Happy Ending
For the past month, we’ve been having issues with our well. We think it all started with a lightning strike that fried the entire system – the well pump, storage tank pump, and all the wiring. After having everything replaced, we thought we were all set. Until I turned on the faucet one day and […]
Step-by-Step Watercolor Painting: “My Own Sweet Time”
“My Own Sweet Time”, 10″ x 15″, watercolor & ink This post is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into my sometimes focused, often haphazard, approach to painting the watercolor shown above. If you don’t care to read all the details, just scan through the pictures, but if you’re like me, you might find it interesting to see […]
Sketching While Out and About
I’ve been working on some very detailed painting projects lately, which I’ll share with you soon, but it’s gotten me in the mood to do something looser and quicker. So, this morning when I had to drop my van off at the Chrysler dealer for yet another recall repair, I brought my sketchbook along for […]
