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Pushing Colored Pencil
I’m always amazed at the intensity of color many colored pencil artists achieve. I’ve never been able to do that, and I’m not sure why. A...

Kaaren Poole
Apr 14, 20252 min read


What Medium to Use?
Here are my finished three bunnies, but it took a while to get here! When I don’t have energy for anything else, it seems that I can find...

Kaaren Poole
Apr 7, 20253 min read


Flower-Obsessed Fox
After interrupting myself with a few other projects, I got back to my fox, sparrow, and flowers this week, and it’s finished! Those...

Kaaren Poole
Mar 31, 20252 min read


Back to Frames
After a little side trail about chinoiserie, I returned to my latest art journal spread with my original intention—a profusion of frames....

Kaaren Poole
Mar 25, 20254 min read


Chinoiserie, Sort Of
I thought I’d continue to work on my fox and florals painting and that that’s what I’d be posting about this week. But instead,...

Kaaren Poole
Mar 17, 20253 min read


Integrating
Here’s a new project I’ve been working on. I began it a few weeks ago with a drawing. I’d been watching a few videos by Suzanne Allard....

Kaaren Poole
Mar 10, 20253 min read


Parakeets in Paradise
The parakeets find the perfect camouflage among the colorful tropical foliage. Don’t they look happy? Appropriately, this journal spread...

Kaaren Poole
Mar 3, 20253 min read


A Bold Departure
It took a lot of creative courage, but I finally got to adding the first stage of the flowers to my portrait of Nikki. As I said last...

Kaaren Poole
Feb 17, 20252 min read


An Inauspicious Start
I started this piece with great enthusiasm, but it was soon replaced by dismay. It was to be a great new adventure. But after this start,...

Kaaren Poole
Feb 10, 20253 min read


The Process of Illustration
I’ve been working on illustrations for my next Milkweed Christmas book and wondered if you’d be interested in seeing and hearing how an...

Kaaren Poole
Feb 3, 20253 min read


Venturing Beyond my Color Comfort Zone
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to encounter trouble once I ventured outside my color comfort zone. Purple, red, and orange: what...

Kaaren Poole
Jan 27, 20253 min read


Intentional Errors
With this drawing, I was trying to accomplish a full value range with pencil, and I think I succeeded. There are areas that are the...

Kaaren Poole
Jan 20, 20252 min read


The True Nature of Squirrels
I was enjoying drawing with Ida Anderson Lang’s 2025 New Year’s Drawing Retreat so much that I just kept on drawing after the retreat was...

Kaaren Poole
Jan 13, 20252 min read


New Things
I incorporated a few new things in my latest art journal spread, "Hares and Moon." It’s graphite pencil and collage, where the collage...

Kaaren Poole
Jan 6, 20253 min read


A Great Time
I’m giving myself a treat these nine days! I’ve joined Ida Anderson Lang’s 2025 New Year’s Drawing Retreat and am really enjoying it, as...

Kaaren Poole
Dec 30, 20242 min read


A Dream Come True
For years—even decades—I’ve been dreaming of making a mouse house for a Christmas decoration and I’ve finally done it. Almost! I was on...

Kaaren Poole
Dec 23, 20242 min read


The Rest of the Story
Last week I posted the first part of a very short story (which I call a “vignette”) along with its illustration. Here’s the second and...

Kaaren Poole
Dec 16, 20244 min read


A New Format
Some months ago I felt burned out on writing and illustrating books. The writing would take at least three months, but often much more....

Kaaren Poole
Dec 9, 20243 min read


A Special Piece
I finished another of my projects which had been languishing partly finished. It’s a triptych with my patron saint, St. Melangell. It's...

Kaaren Poole
Dec 2, 20242 min read


Thankful for the Garden
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, of course I’m reflecting on all the things I have to be thankful for, and close to the top of...

Kaaren Poole
Nov 25, 20243 min read
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