Goldenrod Dancers
Slow drawing is just my speed this weekend. I was laid low this week by a terrible cold, and I’ve barely had energy to do anything but rest on the couch. I was glad I felt up to sitting at my desk yesterday and today to be absorbed in the curled and complex leaves of goldenrod that was stunted by the goldenrod bunch gall midge. I loved just turning off everything else—the cough, the sore throat, the impending snow, the projects that didn’t get done this week—and just drawing. This may get… Read More
Perfetto
In Italian, perfect. I am grateful to share sketches and photos of an extraordinary week teaching Sketching the Fall Nature of Umbria with Winslow Arts Center. The weather, the setting, the accommodations and, most importantly, the workshop participants were, in a word, perfetto. I thought I’d write a longer post to share the experience with you. Feel free to skip the details and enjoy the images if you prefer. 1. Friday- My husband Dan and I fly nine hours to Rome the day before the workshop begins, arriving at 1:30am Eastern time/6:30am… Read More
Decisions, Decisions
A single lime. So simple, yet so many decisions. I had made an artist’s first decision: subject matter, but next came choices about style, composition, materials. I knew that once begun, each line or stroke would narrow some possibilities and open others. More decisions would follow: color, value, precision. At long last, I chose two paths—one botanical, the other more abstract. I worked on both at the same time, alternating between them as paint dried, until finally, I had only one final decision: when to stop. And now, you decide: which appeals… Read More
Jean Mackay
The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook
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Drawn In 