Illustration + Nature Sketching
I’ve made it into the new year, but I don’t exactly feel ready for it. Anyone else? It’s just been cold and foggy here and there are not very many inviting sketching subjects in my immediate surroundings. Plus I’m not very mobile right now.At least my (hopefully last) surgery is behind me. Now I’ll just … Read more
While reorganizing my art supply drawers recently I stumbled upon the small W&N Cotman palette I’ve used for a while last winter, and I realized I never wrote a blog post about how I perceive the differences between student and artist grade paint, and whether I find student grade paint is worth using especially for sketching … Read more
Over the summer, I’ve been simplifying my sketching approach and mainly worked with ink and added only loose washes. I’ve had less patience for very elaborate watercolor sketches, particularly when sketching outside. There’s something very freeing about letting go of a very tight, layered painting style, maybe because it lets you explore another beautiful side … Read more
Today, I’d like to share a flower painting tutorial on how to sketch yellow irises, using the sketching technique I like to call “Loose but Precise.” This demo also shows how to sketch slightly more complex flowers. Irises are one of my all-time favorite flowers to draw. I just love figuring out how their complex, … Read more
With summer approaching, I’ve noticed how I’m naturally gravitating to sketching more flowers. Many beautiful garden flowers are already in bloom (iris, roses, peonies), and during spring I always enjoy seeing the first dots of color that are blooming apple and cherry trees. I’ve minimalized my sketching gear to mechanical pencil and watercolor for these … Read more
I’ve shared this before, but since I’ve had so much fun with this idea recently, I thought I’d show it again: small sketched collections. I like to put together sketchbook pages with what I call small collections – random objects I see or find, and then add to the page in 10-15 minute sketching sessions. … Read more
This is going to be a long sketchbook tour, since it will cover almost half a year of sketching. Almost, because due to my long break in winter. I’ve already shared a few of the pages here and there on the blog, and some will also feature in my upcoming class Creative Habits. Last autumn, … Read more
Winter has come here in Germany, and as the leaves have disappeared and the snow is falling, I can do one of my favorite activities again: watching and sketching birds from the window. I find the colder months are a great time to watch birds, they are more visible in nature, and they tend to … Read more
Recently I’ve brought flowers home with me from my community garden, the last remnants of this summer. And what better way is there to celebrate these flowers than to sketch them. I found dahlias and borage, two very different but attractive plants, and so interesting to draw. These days, I find myself going back to … Read more
Today I’m going to share a flower painting tutorial for a beautiful blue and yellow iris. This demonstration is an outtake from my new course “Loose but Precise: Expressive and Simple Floral Paintings in Watercolor”. I sketch a yellow and blue iris in the technique the course is centered around: detailed and precise pencil lines with … Read more
Today I’m excited to announce a new course: I focused a lot on big, loose floral paintings during this spring and summer, an activity with lots of flowing paint and big brush strokes, and I thought this would be a nice addition to my existing botanical sketching course that’s focused a bit more on the … Read more
I recently got a small landscape-themed palette from Kremer Pigments and today I’m going to test it and paint a small landscape sketch with it. Kremer is a family-owned German company for pigments, paints and all kinds of materials for the restoration of traditional artworks. They specialize in historical and rare pigments, like real lapislazuli, … Read more