Outdoor Canvas
I’ve been creating a new perennial garden this week, which has left little time (or energy) for painting. Still, I had to sneak in a page of plants to record what’s going in the ground. I love taking the plants out of their containers and seeing the roots all wound round or tangled. I could get lost sketching them in detail, but then my garden would still be sitting in pots. So I am content (for now) to use my yard as an outdoor canvas, and to sketch with soil and plants instead of paint and paper, knowing that this garden will provide inspiration for many future paintings.
Why Sketchbooks Work
“The reason that sketchbooks work is that they don’t count.” –Craig Frazier, illustrator
The beauty of a sketchbook is that it is simply that: a sketchbook. It’s a place to do what you want as an artist. It is ideas and experience and creativity and experimentation crammed between two covers. One blank page after another, it becomes something extraordinary when filled earnestly and honestly. Yet, in the end, it doesn’t really count. And that is a beautiful thing, too. There is no price tag, no commission, no gallery wall waiting for it. It’s just for you…and so, it is one of the freest places for an artist to make a mark.
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This page was an experiment in capturing dogwood blossoms using “negative painting” techniques. I like the effect and look forward to trying it again on higher quality paper. Unfortunately, the pages of this spread came stuck together with a bit of glue seepage at the gutter, so it’s pretty rough there. But, it’s just my sketchbook, so it doesn’t really matter.
Bluebird Post
It’s no wonder the bluebird is associated with happiness. This lovely thrush is a harbinger of spring, chattering its warbled song as soon as the days start to warm. I have had the good fortune of seeing and hearing bluebirds frequently over the last few weeks. And whenever I do, I can’t help but feel grateful for its brilliant flash of blue and notes of good cheer. Thoreau was right: the bluebird carries the sky on its back—and glimpsing it is one of the simple pleasures of spring.
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A little more about this journal page: I love this quirky fence. Made of old bed posts by my friend Camille, it makes a great backdrop for her country garden. I was short on time and drawing fast directly in ink, so I didn’t quite get the proportions right. Maybe that was good. I didn’t fuss much with the painting either, which gives it a loose and casual feel…much like the garden and fence. Drawing and text were done with Micron 02 pen with a couple of washes of watercolor in a Stillman & Birn Beta journal.
Boxed in – Springing out
There’s always a lot happening in April—both in my life and with the seasonal shift to spring. I thought I’d try a grid in my journal as a way to make time for small sketches that would capture some of it. Unfortunately, I found myself feeling increasingly boxed in by the design. Instead of drawing more, I was drawing less. Then I found violets growing in my yard. So small, you’d think they would be perfect for a tiny box. But they seemed to beckon for more, which led me—finally—to turn the page and spring out.
And here’s April’s grid:
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Watercolor and ink in Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook
Work in Progress
This page—like my diet—is work in progress, but you can see where it’s headed. And now that I’ve started this record of my downfall, I’m reluctant to find reasons to complete it. I ate with abandon most of last year and decided it was high time to change course and get back to healthier habits. The only problem is that I love desserts and snacking. The good news is that once I put these delectable downfalls on paper, I realized why the scale didn’t show progress last week, and I renewed my resolve to do better. So…hopefully, the page will remain unfinished for a good while longer.
Click to view larger. Watercolor and Micron 02 pen in Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook.
Thanks to Charlie O’Shields and the Doodlewash blog team for featuring me as a guest artist last week– and thanks to those of you who became fans because of the post! Doodlewash includes lots of fun sketchbook pages, product reviews, and guest artist features. Check it out!
Opportunity Knocks
Opportunity knocked this week in the form of a pileated woodpecker that died on the roof outside my office window. Cause unknown. The chance to study and paint it lay before me – literally. How could I pass it up? Would you? There was only one thing to do: climb out the window, retrieve it and get sketching.
It’s quite a privilege to hold a bird like this in your hands, and just a bit grim. Keeping it without a permit would be a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so I worked on the page, took a few reference photos, and laid it to rest in some nearby woods.
Click to view larger. Sketches and text done with Micron pen 02 and 005 pens and watercolor in Stillman & Birn Beta journal.
What’s in a name? I was curious about the name “pileated,” so I did a little research and learned that it means having a crest covering the pileum, which is the top of a bird’s head from bill to nape. The word comes from the Latin word pileus, which was a brimless felt cap worn in ancient Greece.
Welcome and thanks to all the new followers of Drawn In who found me through Turning the Pages: A Look at the Sketchbooks of Artists. Sorry to start you out with a dead bird—I promise to mix it up in the coming weeks!
Orchids
Let’s just say, it’s going to be hard to go back to beets after painting orchids. My recent trip to Washington included a visit to the US Botanic Garden—a lush and beautiful oasis amidst a busy city. More than 5,000 specimens of orchids are included in its collection and a special exhibit featured many of them—to the awe and delight of a steady stream of visitors. I found a few quieter corners in which to paint, using just a simple set of watercolors and a waterbrush (Pental large size, with a surprisingly pointed tip for finer lines). What a delight to spend a few hours with such exotic and beautiful plants!
Orchids in Focus is on display through April 17, 2016. If you’re in the neighborhood, don’t miss it.
100!
This is my 100th post. Thanks for being along for the ride! If you enjoy getting my art in your inbox, consider helping me reach farther by sharing my blog with your network. And please leave a comment if you have feedback or questions!
Hand Lettering Workshop
I’m excited to share that I have a workshop coming up in April:
Hand Lettering for Sketchers
Sunday, April 10, 2016 • 1-3pm
Clinton Art Gallery, 20 East Main St., Clinton, Connecticut
Visit the Workshops page for details!
Old Birds
The lifespan of most small birds is short—just a few years and then they’re gone to predation, disease, or hazards. These birds were given a second life, of sorts, after being “collected” in the 1800s and placed on display at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. During a recent visit I got to see about 500 birds on display—a minute fraction of the 640,000 specimens housed and maintained by the museum, which has the third largest bird collection in the world. How I would love to look behind the scenes! But I was happy enough to sketch these old favorites.
Beautiful Ending
There is a point when I am midway through a painting that I have to hold my breath and hope I don’t wreck it. That’s especially true when I’ve invested in a careful drawing as a base for the watercolor. So I’m especially pleased to come out the other side of this piece with a beautiful ending. (See last week’s post for the beginning.)
Drawn In 