Let's Paint Nature!
Hiking & Painting in Nature – Chicago
Category: watercolor sketching
Let’s Paint Deer Takes Flight Watercolor Sketch
Do you want to paint a quick watercolor sketch using only a few colors? Okay! Let’s go. Here are my reference photos taken at Hammel Woods in Shorewood, IL on a beautiful winter day. Step 1: Sketch out your road map. What do you…
The Mute Colors of Winter – Watercolor
Immediately at the start of my hike, a single blue jay welcomes me with a loud reception. Smiling, I look ahead and notice something silver hanging from a branch…something out of place…something not of the woods… One silver ball. A simple gesture really, but…
Autumn Storm Approaching – Nature Journal Club
You can hear the wheels of photosynthesis grinding slower. With every breeze carries with it a handful of leaves. They swirl past my ears. Mr. Bee, would you like to visit the goldenrod resting peacefully on the edge of a quiet pond? Or in…
The Importance of Keeping a Nature Journal
On its own this particular journal page is not that significant. It’s a recording of my encounter with a cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) in my front yard. But when you look closer, taking the time to create this page not only caused me to…
Let’s Paint a Simple Sloppy Sketch
When I speak with adults who want to paint but cannot seem to start there always seems to be the same reason why….. “It won’t look good.” Fear is a roadblock. Fear is also a liar. Fear is an active gremlin who convinces people…
Where Mossy Things Grow Watercolor
Deep in a dark moist forest, it lives where the mossy things grow. It needs rain… it needs time… a little bit of quiet… and a secret spot to sprout. Hiding in a crevasse, surrounded by lush green carpet, it tries not to call…
Amazing Jewelweed Watercolor
Jewelweed is one amazing plant for many reasons. First, its beauty. Jewelweed flowers look like little trumpets hanging under leaves. The one I found is pale jewelweed (Impatiens pallida), but you can also find orange jewelweed (I. capensis) which has a deeper, more vibrant…
Summer Insects Watercolor
Summer. A time to slow down…enjoy the weather. A time to place a thin blanket on the ground, sit, and have lunch on the grass not a table. Soak in those rays while you’re at it! Summer is also a time for insects. It’s…
Leisurely Bike Path Break Watercolor
I took my bike on a nice long ride. When riding, I become a child again. Downhills are my favorite, uphills not so much. The wind races through my hair and I feel rather bird like…soaring effortlessly. On this particular day, I packed a…
Handsome Jack Watercolor
There he is…. handsome Jack. I tell you the truth, no matter how many times I find this spring ephemeral wildflower, it always stops me in my tracks and takes my breath away. Jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) seems like an exotic species…
Daily Verse
- Matthew 7:12“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
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