Illustration + Nature Sketching
It’s been a while…and summer has gone, it’s getting stormy and cold outside here in Germany. As I went through my recent sketchbook pages with a cup of tea in hand, I rediscovered this page of strawflower sketches that I had completely forgotten about. They seem to carry the memory of the last warm summer … Read more
Recently I’ve focused a lot on the drawing aspect in my sketches, letting watercolor take a break or only adding a little bit of it. I find I enjoy and get lost in the drawing process a lot more than when I’m painting. I think it has to do with the drying time of the … Read more
When you’re drawing, it can sometimes be hard to get some of the angles right, or to draw shapes in the right size. Translating what’s in front of you to the paper is challenging. This might be the slant of a hill, a tree trunk, or the petal of a flower. You can see the … 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
It’s been 5 years since I started my blogging activities around nature sketching and nature journaling, and teaching about the subject. What an adventure! To celebrate I’ve decided to do a small giveaway (details at the end of the post)! So many of you have been a part of this journey and even before that, … 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
One thing I’ve noticed about my own sketching activities, but also in comments that you readers and viewers send in, is that whenever I make sketching too complicated, I’m less motivated to do it. I think we are less likely to keep sketching when we start to see it as a kind of obligation, or … Read more
In this post I want to give you a simple guide on how you can learn to draw anything. You don’t need any special skills or talent for drawing and sketching when you start, it just takes a bit of practice and the desire to learn. For an extended free PDF guide on how to … Read more