Fall Collection 2023
My desk is littered with signs of the changing season. It started with a walnut and an acorn and quickly turned into a full-on collection. I love recording these small treasures, though I’m happy to clean up and have my desk back, too.
Tips and Techniques– What treasures are you seeing as the season changes? Take a walk or a hike and see how many tree nuts, seeds, and fruits you can find. What’s nice about sketching things like this is that they are easy to bring home and work with as time allows. You can add things as you collect them until the page is full and a beautiful seasonal display appears in your sketchbook.
Coming soon! COLLECTING NATURE IN YOUR SKETCHBOOK
Thursdays, October 19, November 2, 9, 30. Sign up for one or all of the sessions in this series. Taking inspiration from the Paper Museum of 17th century Roman collector Cassiano dal Pozzo, this series explores ways to record a variety of subjects with intention, beauty, and cohesion in your sketchbook. See details on the Workshops page.
Drawn In 
This page layout is one of my favorite ways you create journal pages. Approaching scientific illustration style, but with beautifully artistic “Mackay” style and flair. You invite close examination through the vertical alignment of subjects separated by just the right amount of breathing room. What a fascinating variety of trees grow in your woods; the noodle bean (great name!) and horse chestnut (superior rich shine) are super special. Ha! I see you have also found a little “catch and release” freeloader ….. the little bug balances the composition perfectly.
I’m glad you noticed the tiny freeloader. It crawled out some leaves as I was finishing and took its place on the page. I put it in a magnifying box and it molted overnight! So, you never know what will happen when you pick up a walnut. Look where it leads.
Gorgeous! Love the variety of subject, the layout, the shadowing, lettering …… and what a special treat to take a peek of your workspace! Thanks so much for sharing Jean. Now I must run to gather a few handful,s of acorns before the squirrels get them all!
What a wonderful way to start the day—a page from your journal to study and enjoy and a new “Jean” class to take. I just signed up. Regarding the page—I could almost smell all those fall fragrances; love the layout and the subtle but important light purple shadows and the insect who just wandered by. I’ll take my collecting box when I head out for a walk today. Thank you.
Hi Judy– Hope you have fun collecting. You can draw from your collection box for the first class or use what I provide. Glad you’ll take the class! Thanks for checking in– it’s nice to connect at the start of the day.
I was really taken by the strong vertical lines of the bean pods and the walnut branch, wonderful balance. But my favorite is the small photo of your desk with painting journal and found objects – so homey and welcoming!
Indeed. What you said. 🙂
Thank you! My desk was a cluttered mess of wonderful things. I cleared it, but it’s starting to build up again.
This might be my favorite illustration. The shapes, the placements, the colors . . . Just what I needed to inspire me to return to the drawing table. Autumn has its own allure. Besides, my little collections are brittle and some disintegrate too easily when touched.
Your work is always beautiful.
Thanks Bobbie Jean. I was struck by how similar the greens were in these fall objects. It’s fun to look more closely and things like this and to figure out how to put everything together on the page. I hope you get out to do some collecting and drawing!
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