Tag Archives: nature sketches

A Couple of Sketches

Posted on by under sketch book, Sketching

Since my last post, I have been really busy. We had our annual art retreat and then I was off to Washington state for my Art and Design class. Then back to Montana and trying to catch up with work and get all my art stuff back into the right places. I have a big project to work on for my class and I started some sampling for that but you’ll have to wait to see it until it’s finished. But I do have a couple of sketches that I completed.

This is one of the plants that I saw while we were in Lake Tahoe. It is called Woodland Pine Drops. According to the US Forest Service, it is a root parasite that grows near pine trees. They produce minimal chlorophyll and are not green in color and do not conduct photosynthesis. The ones I saw were in the “pod” stage where the flowering is complete and the plants become woody and hard. They look like little pumpkins on a stem.

And here is a sketch of rose hips. I did some cross hatching on this one to hopefully give it some depth. I think I need to add a little more yellow green into the background though.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Sketchbook Revival

Posted on by under sketch book

A week or so ago, I saw that there was a free sketching course that has a variety of artists doing short tutorials for a couple of weeks. So I decided to join. It’s called Sketchbook Revival. You can still join in if you’d like, just click on this link.

I have been watching the videos but not doing all of the specific exercises. I decided that I would use this opportunity to start sketching in my small nature journal again. I want to sketch something from my daily walks. I am using different techniques, the tamarack branch is done with pen and markers.

I found three antlers already this year in and around our property. We have lived here for 15 years and these are the first ones I have found. This one is pen and watercolor.

And here’s a piece of wood that was interesting. I meant to pick up another one but left it behind. But this one was smaller and easier anyways. Again, pen and watercolor.

This is the first exercise in Sketchbook Revival tutorials that I decided to try. It is from day 4 by Val Webb. I thought it was a very useful tutorial including ways to use ink to make textural marks and feathers. I might have to try some more birds now. I am still working on my class homework too but trying to spend 15-30 minutes a day on sketching. Hopefully, I can keep sketching and practicing my drawing skills. I always enjoy it when I get started, it is just the getting started part that is hard.