Jackson Hole Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park is located within the Jackson Hole valley in northwestern Wyoming. Ten miles south of Yellowstone, it is much smaller, about one-seventh the size of Yellowstone Park. A diverse variety of mountain terrain and captivating wildlife can be observed and enjoyed here, on foot or in a car. There is a 42-mile scenic loop of its breathtaking scenery which can be completed in about two hours.

 Day 75 ~ SE-75-25

Wilderness is a Spiritual Necessity

“Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity,
an antidote to the high pressure of modern life,
a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium.”
~ Sigurd Olson

Day 61 ~ SE-61-25 

Nothing So Delightful!

 “I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing.” ~  Vincent van Gogh  Working from my old sketchbooks brings a wealth of reference material and  inspiration.

 Day 38 ~ SE-38-25
💙✍️💙

Drawing From Life

 "The ability to draw from life determines the artist's skill.This is why live drawing classes have always been at the top of the curriculum for properly structured academic workshops."~ Igor Babailov “Drawing from photos is all well and good, but we also need to draw from life, because our brains process 2D and 3D information differently. Just like a musician practices the same piece of music over and over, if you want to improve as a fine artist, you must train in the same way.” ~ Sandy Sandy

See photos of my roly-poly subject and more about drawing from life here: https://www.sketchingeveryday.com/2021/06/everybuddy-needs-buddy.html

Learn how I do 2 minute gesture drawings in pencil from life here: https://www.learnlovecreate.com/drawing-lessons.html

Day 26 ~ SE-26-25 ✍️

Everybuddy Needs a Buddy

"The ability to draw from life determines the artist's skill.This is why live drawing classes have always been at the top of the curriculum for properly structured academic workshops."
Igor Babailov

This is my "Study Buddy" Roly-Poly Pony, Rudy. I love this miniature figurine of my real-life fur baby, Rudy who was a big part of my life for 34 years. Anyway, I love drawing this little guy and it always puts me in a good mood. He’s a perfect model because he’s made up of simple shapes.

 Drawing from photos is all well and good, but we also need to draw from life,
because our brains process 2D and 3D information differently.

What do you love?

If you don’t have something you enjoy drawing, it can get really hard to keep going. What do you love? I love whimsical things, but you don’t have to! Get yourself a "study buddy" that fits your preferences and sensibilities. Toys and figurines make great models.

 

 Go to your local thrift shop or to a garage sale with something specific in mind. Or just be open to a little serendipity. The consequence of serendipity is sometimes a brilliant discovery: (happy) chance, (happy) accident, fluke; luck, good luck, good fortune, fortuity, providence; happy coincidence.

I have sketched Rudy and my other favorite "Study Buddies" so many times, that the actions involved in doing so are ingrained into my muscle memory. Just like a musician practices the same piece of music over and over, if you want to improve as a fine artist, you must train in the same way.

"Repetition is the key to mastery."
Sandy Sandy 

See How I Use My Study Buddies To Improve My Skills Here

"Drawing, or in other words 'the art of sketch' is the highest point of all Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Drawing is the source and the soul
of any painting, it is the root of all the sciences in art."
Michelangelo Buonarroti - on drawing from life

Relax and Avoid the Overwhelm of T.M.I
(Too Much Information)

This Summer, My Motto is: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
For Myself and for My Zoom Course Students

 

Even if you are not planning on joining me for our 2021 class,
I'm still hoping YOU WILL get into sketching and painting
this summer!

Join our Facebook Group
and participate in the
Free #SketchWithMeChallenge!

Make Progress and K.I.S.S. This Summer!

• You don't need a big chunk of time. With just 10
minutes a day, you'll see improvement.

• You don't have to show your sketches to anyone
or post anything.

• It's a refreshing and rewarding task if you look
at it the right way.

• No judgment, just practice.

• Do it for yourself and for your sanity.

• Think of it as a pleasant mini-escape
or meditation for your day!


GET MOTIVATED AND ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS WITH US!

 
This class has a course lifetime access,

so there's no worries about having enough time

to take full advantage of all the great course material!

 

 

 

HUGS & HAPPY CREATING TO YOU,

X ♥  O

 

"Thank goodness for our art!" ~ Maxine Fuentes

#ThrowBackThursday - Way Back!

‪"Perhaps one of the most essential exercises in learning to 

draw or paint is the copying of master works." 

~ Igor Babailov

Leonardo da Vinci's‬ Horse

Although da Vinci did hundreds of drawings, only a handful were ever finished.
 Known to be a procrastinator and a perfectionist, it is very hard to find a drawing
of his that hasn't been left undone.

Copying old masters (or new masters) drawings are a valuable aid in art development. 

If you are up for a challenge, why not break out of your comfort zone and give it a try!

"When you copy a drawing by a highly skilled artist, you are not only exposed to his
or her drawing techniques, but at the same time you study their thinking process.
If the drawings are studies for a finished painting, you can also learn how the artist
developed an idea from beginning to end."

See a good little article with some tips, techniques and insights here.

The Thinking Process

Wordless Wednesday . . .

An Artist is a Sketchbook

I hate to waste time! Whenever I know I'll be waiting, I try to be prepared to draw.  Watching the clock makes me anxious. When I'm in "right brain mode" I feel relaxed and time quickly melts away. On my recent art adventures to New York City, I knew there would be time to pass while en route and while waiting in the train station. I packed a couple of greeting cards as reference material and a little notebook and was good to go! These little hummingbirds kept me company and helped make the journey more fun and relaxed.

 "Draw everywhere and all the time.

An artist is a sketchbook

with a person attached."

~ Irwin Greenberg

Wordless Wednesday

A Kitten, A Horse and Two Hummingbird Drawings

Pencil Drawing - Opie Darling III 

I did this pencil drawing this morning from one of the shots of my new little ginger kitten. As my friend Nan says, I'm smitten with my kitten(s)! Several photos of Opie are now available for license on iStock here! Maybe he'll even be a calendar kitten someday. ♥

"It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens."  ~ Cynthia E. Varnado

I drew this cute little horse knickknack on Friday.

2 minute gesture drawings

As usual, I put the figurine up high, close to eye level. I then gave it a quarter turn every two minutes. Isn't he cute? He reminds me of my pinto, Rudy.

A line drawing done in pencil

Pencil sketches of a couple of our many hummingbirds

A hummingbird line drawing done from my photo

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As always, I look forward to receiving your emails and comments!

Thanks for reading, keep creating and have a great weekend!

♥

Cats, Birds and a Landscape

Introducing our new little calico kitten, Princess Cutie Pye.

And our little boy, Opie Darling III.

 You can see the watercolor painting done from this sketch

on my other blog here.

We had quite an exciting weekend here!

You can read about it on my web-log.

There was not much time to draw,

so I did this little three minute gesture sketch.

Again, some quick gesture sketches from snapshots of my current obsession.

Ok, ok, here's some relief from the cats.

I might even try a painting of this one some day!

It's been wonderfully crazy here with all of the kitten excitement,

so I quickly sketched these bird carvings that we have. 

The wren carving and the swan above,

were moved one quarter turn every two minutes.

I hope you are all having as fabulous of a summer as I am!!

Don't forget to write me
and keep your creative juices flowing!

Hugs,

Lions, Tigers and BEARS, Oh My!

There was a large black bear spotted in our area last week. Our neighbor just reported that something got into his trash last night and really made a mess. AND, there were huge claw marks on his garbage can. Awe, I'm sure the poor guy just wandered out of the woods looking for food.

Bear symbolizes an awakening to power and is always a good sign. 

Mostly a shy and solitary creature, the bear teaches us to take time out for ourself, like taking time out for drawing or some other self-improvement activity.

It may be time to step back from the noisy world.

In alone time and through our dreams, we can get in touch with the universal creative mind and our own higher self.

I wanted to use some different mediums on these bear drawings. The first three sketches are done with a Bruynzeel design - Aquarel - 8635 - black watercolor drawing pencil. I only have black and have never used them wet. I did a step by step demo of this last watercolor sketch today. I was not happy with the photos, so I want to reshoot them before I post. If anyone wants a sketching challenge, here is a good shot of a black bear to draw from. Use your imagination! I started out with a bear here last year. You can also type "bear" into my search this blog box in the right column to see more bear exercises and drawings.

You can see the bear painting I did today from this final bear sketch on my web log. 

"If the human race is to survive, then we must respect the rights of other species to survive. Sharing bedroom space with a grizzly bear is not practical but sharing wilderness space is. We must therefore, restrict human activity in spaces where threatened or endangered species live. We must stay out of their bedroom. Set aside some wild spaces while they yet exist. Closing the wild spaces after all of the wild things are gone will not work." - Bob McMeans

How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck?

This week, I have been obsessed with woodchucks! Our little resident Chuckie, turned out to be a Chuckita and she now has six roly-poly little ones! I got some photos this past weekend and I am in the process of learning how to do video with my new Nikon D7000 camera! I hope to video them in the next day or two, because after reading about them in my nature books, it seems they don't stick around long after they are a couple of months old. Which of course, is a good thing, seeing as how having seven groundhogs living here in SandyLand may be a bit overwhelming!

Hey, what's up Woodchuck?

This one's a mommy's boy (or girl) and sticks to her like glue.

They are curious

and endearing!

I went online and searched for lessons on drawing groundhogs and found a wonderful site; Exploring Nature Educational Resource. These drawings were done using Sheri Amsel's step by step woodchuck drawing as reference.

I contacted Sheri and she was gracious enough to give me permission to use her material here on this blog. She wrote; "Your animals are beautiful and full of motion – something with which I struggle. I was trained as a biomedical illustrator, so draw animals in much more static poses."

Sheri has quite an extensive list of how to draw mammals and birds on her site. She also has a section on keeping a journal and lots of other educational materials! 

I'd be interested to know if any of you decide to draw a woodchuck from Sheri's and / or my step by step approach. I'd like to see your results and / or just hear your comments! Which approach seemed easier to follow? Which one worked better for you?

As always, your feedback is very important to me.

"If nobody ever offers an opinion or takes the slightest interest in one's production, one loses not only all pleasure in them, but all power of judging their value." ~ Fanny Mendelssohn Hense

Country landscape