Nature is a Common Language

“Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.” ~ Jimmy Carter This is the underlying line drawing for my next grid drawing of my 2026 Calendar sketches.

💚 Day 60 ~ SE-60-25 🦅

A Crow in Hand

A Crow in Hand
5.5 x 7.5" - transparent watercolor on 140lb Arches paper, matted to 8 x 10"

Today's watercolor was inspired by 

yesterday's sketch.

♥

Merry Meet, Merry Part and Merry Meet Again

Merry Magick
5.5 x 7.5" - transparent watercolor on 140lb Arches paper, matted to 8 x 10"

Have you gotten into the fun Halloween spirit yet?

- Free Coloring Pages for Your Personal Pleasure -

Please feel free to print out the following line drawings for yourself, a friend, your children's or grandchildren's coloring fun! Each line drawing fits nicely on a standard 8.5 x 11" sheet.

This drawing is a take off from last week's "Three Witches" sketch.

And here's the "Crazy Cat Lady Witch".

An idea for this year's Cranberry Festival booklet cover.

Or possibly this one? According to tradition,

there's a different Jersey Devil and theme every year.

On Thursday, Jerry and I celebrated our 15th Wedding Anniversary. As always, he showered me with love and gifts; including, flowers, candy, beer and a great Mexican meal. Here's the colorful sunflower painting done from this drawing.

Kitten Helpers, Jersey Devil, Halloween and Elephant Sketches

Wordless Wednesday . . .

Wordless Wednesday

Hummingbirds and a Bear - Free Coloring Pages

Hummingbird - 4 Ways - #1

5.5 x 7.5" - Colored Pencil on Yupo paper, matted to 8 x 10"

 SOLD •

This was done with Prismacolor pencils on Yupo paper. I have never used pencil on Yupo before, but I liked working on the the super smooth surface which I thought yielded an interesting effect.

Last month's personal challenge doing the sunflowers and hydrangeas four different ways was fun and inspiring, so I thought I'd do the same thing with my hummingbird sketch. I recently took an online photography course with a man who talked about "failing with a purpose". When I go into a project with this in mind, it frees me up to discover new possibilities. All our pieces do NOT have to be keepers! I find that I learn the most from my failures. We have to allow ourselves that freedom and we don't have to show people everything we do! Doing the same composition in various approaches helps me to to play, experiment and go a little crazy.

Hummingbird - 4 Ways - #2

5.5 x 7.5" - Colored Pencil on Yupo paper, matted to 8 x 10"

SOLD •

This is Bruynweel design black Aquarel (water soluble) pencil on Yupo paper with water applied. I had never used it wet before and was pleased with the soft effect.

Hummingbird - 4 Ways - line drawing

This is the line drawing I used for my hummingbird - four - ways - challenge. I know a lot of people, (myself included) like to color. It's a very relaxing and satisfying pastime.  

Please feel free to print these out for your personal, a friend's, your children's or grandchildren's pleasure. Each line drawing fits nicely on a standard 8.5 x 11" sheet.

If you do print and color any of these, I'd be pleased to hear about it and would love to see a photo of the end result!

I'm still being inspired by the "Spirit Bear".

This is my first rough drawing of a barn/yard commission that I have taken on. The client wants a lot of components in the final painting, including a pond, outhouse and horses. This first draft was just to determine a general composition, size, layout and the relationships of the elements. I think I want to simplify the pond a bit so it doesn't detract from the center of interest (the barn). Also I was thinking it would be nice having the silhouette of a horse's head looking out from the open doors of the barn. Once I get the owner's feedback,  I will proceed with a final drawing (which will also be framed and be part of the final package) before proceeding to the painting. Upon approval of the final drawing, I will give the client a price. I am thinking the size will be 18" x 24" framed.

I spent most of the past week experiencing waves of tears and sadness over the loss of my studio kitty, Princess. I drew this battered old bear on Saturday which in my somewhat depressed state, I could really relate to.

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I've got more art, pictures and some exciting news posted on my web log today! Be sure and check it out here!! 

Thanks for reading! As always, your reactions, opinions and comments on my posts are most appreciated!!

Contour Drawing is Fun - Sunflowers and Hydrangeas

I have been finding some exciting and awesome artists on the web these past few months. Their work inspires and energizes me.  Going through my past year's SketchingEveryday drawings, I realized that I have not done much contour drawing. Sure, I did a few blind contours as warm-up exercises each summer, but  drawing the contour of something can be so much more! Case-in-point, check out Nora MacPhail's contour drawings with watercolor on her blog. Aren't they fun? 


Here are yesterday's and today's line drawings. I decided to try a couple of my favorite flowers (Sunflowers and Hydrangeas) in modified blind contour drawing. I say modified, because I did look at the paper (about 20 percent of the time) while I was drawing. 80 percent of the time, however, I only looked at the reference while my pencil moved. I like how these came out for study accuracy, but they look stiff to me. I decided I'd challenge myself a little more on these and do each one in watercolor four times. Each time, I'll vary my approach and technique. So far, I've got two sunflowers done and two on the board for tomorrow. You can see today's paintings here.