When I began this art journal spread, the only inspiration I had was to do something with green. I’d been leafing through an L.L.Bean catalog and noticed there were many green items, and so cut out a lot of small color bits. I then began cutting small leaf shapes from the color swatches. I didn’t think about it, I just did it. Apparently however the spread turned out, there would be green leaves in it. Given that, why not use some pink paint? (Yes, a nonsequitur.) Here’ the f

I finished the art journal spread I made using my recent watercolor painting, and I think my instinct to use the painting in a spread led me in a fruitful direction. I like the journal spread better than the painting. art journal spread incorporating bits from a watercolor painting To be fair, I began the painting just as an exercise in seeing how far I could go with watercolor in a fairly complication (for my watercolor level anyway) design. my watercolor painting of a mouse

A few days ago I finished the watercolor painting I’d been working on. Watercolor is not a comfortable medium for me, so it was quite a challenge. Nevertheless, I did finish. watercolor painting of a mouse looking for his friend My last step was to add the mice, and once they entered the scene, I was reasonably happy with the results. But I wasn’t sure what to do with the painting. Just for the fun of it, I uploaded it to Redbubble to see what a few of their products would lo

My fascination with wildlife began with my admiration for bears. And then, when I learned that it was likely that bears were the first creatures humans worshipped, I could certainly see why. They possess immense strength, a fierce protective instinct, a talent healing, and an introspective mind. To me, they’re the forest’s first mother. In my last blog post, I discussed the beginning phase of this art journal spread which was painting the sky—with apologies, of course, to Vin

I did a little sketch of a bear then wondered what to do with it. I could finish it as a drawing or painting but instead decided to use it in an art journal spread. It was less likely to get lost that way. So I sprayed it with fixative then glued it onto a page in my art journal, using my favorite fixative, Krylon Workable Fixatif. OK for step one. But then I didn’t know what to do for step two. After some pondering, I decided to a “Starry Night” knock-off behind her (with de

Whenever I draw, I portray subjects that are beautiful and interesting to me, but every once in a while my subject has special importance. And that’s the case this week. I drew Grayson. Grayson recovering Drawing an Important Subject Grayson is a diminutive stray cat who showed up in my garden last summer. I welcomed her, fed her with the others (a total of three showed up last year), talked to her and interacted with her whenever I could. She was very wild when she first arr

After observing my in-process art journal spread for the past week, I was still unsure exactly what to do to finish it. But there were a few obvious things to work on, so that’s where I started. Sadly, I didn’t take photos along the way. All I have is views of the finished piece. Here’s the whole thing. The finished Wolf Guardian art journal spread The Guardian Wolf’s Mission I added some writing to the lower left quadrant with black pen. First, I modified the area by adding

Each morning before breakfast, I spend quality time with my beloved cat, Clydie. He’s been with me for nearly four years now after showing up one morning out of nowhere. After a while I gained his trust, but he insists on being an outdoor cat. He used to spend a lot of time right around the house and he often helped me work in the garden or sat beside me on the deck when I was simply enjoying some quiet time. But other cats have shown up over time and Clydie has sadly decided

I finished the art journal spread which has been part of my recent adventures with watercolor. With my last few projects, I think a new branch of my art path just opened up! It’s a watercolor celebration! the finished art journal spread, bear visits the garden I’m pleased with this spread because it’s full of little creatures, happy, and joyful. And I’m thrilled to have found a way to work with this medium that has eluded me for so long. I described the start of this project

Several ideas were in my head for this next art journal spread, but I finally settled on recording some of the things I’d learned in my holiday adventure with watercolors. In the past few weeks, I’ve made several groups of cards with watercolor, pen, and pencil. Now the holidays are over and I’ll be returning to my usual practice of drawing and painting with acrylic. But I want to remember the watercolor fun. You can find out more about making the cards in my last blog post h