Second Snail!

Another day another snail! Pencil on newsprint. It's the same reference pic as yesterday's first snail drawing, but way better this time! I love this lovely and noble critter!

I used one of the shells from my small collection as a reference which helped me settle on how to shape and shade the shell. It was very helpful to have a 3D model!

I hope to always be collecting snail shells for inspiration and reference, but always take care to find them myself, buy them from resale shops, or buy from reputable people who can visit with me about where their shells come from. I don't want any shells from snails who were killed just to harvest their shells!

My love for snails runs deep. Drawing them makes me feel closer to them and allows me to reflect on some of what they mean to me. Using a shell aided me in my drawing and imbued more life into the finished snail. I couldn't possibly imbue them with such life and love if those shells were obtained without respect for the life of the inhabitant that once called them home.

First Snail Drawing!

Some late night snail drawing practice.

I'd like to be able to proficiently draw snails, so this past weekend I collected several line drawings of snails to keep on my phone so that I always have a gallery with me to practice from. That way, no matter where I am, if I have a pad, a pencil and my snail inspiration, I can practice drawing these lovely creatures.

Vintage Water Photography

In this past year I've started collecting old photos. There are a few kinds of photos that I'm always on the lookout for to grow a couple of specific parts of my small collection. But I also adopt anything that speaks to me.

When I saw this one in a box of old photos last week, my heart stopped in my throat. I was so disbelieving at this find that I asked B. to please verify that what I was seeing was in fact true and not just my imagination.

As many of you know, I am PASSIONATE about water photography. Working with water as a subject last summer was life changing. I've been a life-long lover of water, and interacting with it through the camera lens gave me a whole new appreciation and understanding for it. I see it completely differently now. Colors, shapes and patterns that I previously never knew were there are now details that I see whether I'm shooting it or not. My biggest ever art project to date was my Water Portraits series last summer.

So it was a big moment for me when I found this blurry old photo in the box. Movement is one thing I haven't worked with in my water portraits yet. It was like finding another new face of the waters I love. Water in motion, shot while in motion, the movement and the reflective light creating this incredible texture. I'm enchanted.

With my work schedule being so busy this summer, I've only shot water once so far this year. But there's still plenty of summer left and things are about to slow down. So I hope to be shooting again soon. And thanks to this inspiring and treasured photo, I'll be giving some thought to how I can experiment with adding some movement to my shots this year. I just know there's even more to be seen in the water and I can't wait to see what it has to show me!

This old beauty is from January 11th, 1941. I love that someone cared enough to keep it all these years and didn't toss it out as just another 'blurry photo.' Because this photo was definitely meant to find me and inspire me in my art. I'm so grateful for it and for the person(s) who snapped and saved it.

A Passion for Postcards

I have a passion for postcards that dates back to probably around age 7 or 8. I mean a true and deep, undeniable, bonafide love for postcards.

It's a treasured ritual of mine to send postcards out to family and friends when I travel. And if you really want to make me feel loved, just send me a postcard from your own travels. Postcards are my love-language! Most recently, postcards have also been my salvation in keeping up with my beloved correspondence even when I've felt stretched thin. They really are the best.

For years I've dreamt of having postcards made from our personal photo collection, and I finally did it!! They've arrived, they are gorgeous, and I'm completely smitten! A few of these are already addressed and ready to be sent on their way, but I had to get a family photo first to commemorate the beauteous achievement of this long-held desire. So many great trips, places and experiences held here in these pretty bits of paper. I can't wait to send these lovelies out into the world!

Stylized Trees

I've been super into stylized trees lately. For a few months now I've been collecting snapshots of trees that pique my interest throughout the city. I've also been getting picture-books from the library and studying how other illustrators choose to stylize their trees and other plant life and implementing bits and pieces into my own creations. A dash of an idea from one book mixed with ingredients from other books to inform how I sculpt a limb or how I shape a canopy.

I'm trying to think as much out of the box as I can. That's why I'm so drawn right now to highly stylized fauna. What are the shapes that make a tree? What are the colors? If I strip down all the detail what do I have left? And then how to I re-insert detail in a way that compliments the stripped down approach? I love thinking about this stuff.

So these trees, and others in my sketchbook, are informed in part by trees in my neighborhood, and in part by brilliant illustrators who inspired me, and in part by my own dreams of wanting to build the things I see in my head and make them real.

It's an incredible feeling to walk through my neighborhood and see the trees I've collected in photos the have become muses to draw from. Spending time with them in observation and then in drawing creates an uncommon intimacy. They pop out at me in the landscapes of my walks now because I know them. I readily notice how they evolve as they pass through each season. It's also gratifying to pick up a book that impacted me and flip through it and remember how it contributed each little understanding of form or texture or color as I integrated those ideas into my own work.

I'm grateful for a neighborhood of trees and bookshelves full of books. My well is full!

This is an envelope I made for my lovely friend. It's marker, colored pencil and acrylic on a kraft paper envelope. Orchard on a Starry Night. The plum tree is my very favorite. You can't tell from the photo, but the plums are ever so slightly raised and rounded. I delighted in running my fingers over them.

Escargot!

I've long had a love for snails. And after welcoming one into our family recently, I'm even more enamored with them! So it was a real treat to learn about this lovely book: Escargot (by D. Slater) illustrated by Sydney Hanson.

How cute is that face?? I mean, as a snail enthusiast I am certainly concerned that vinaigrettes are not actually safe snail food and I'm also distracted by his eyes being in the wrong place... but then I'm won over once again by just how cute that face is!

It's a charming book and the little snail is so expressive! It's a fun read and I recommend it! And the illustrations are really worth savoring throughout.

Tools of the Trade

I received this gorgeous rabbit journal cover as a surprise from a dear friend today. And I recently picked up the perfect pencil pouch while shopping with another dear friend. Ever since I've carried it with me daily so that I always have my topmost favorite drawing supplies with me at all times. I'll be adding this rabbit to my every-day-pack just as soon as I fill it with paper. I'm grateful for items that feel great in my hands, pack up small and inspire me with their whimsy and beautiful illustrations every time I see them in my bag or pull them out to use. And I love that I have the thoughts of great friendships tied up with them too.

The must-have things in my personal drawing kit besides paper (which will happily now be rabbit-wrapped) are my mechanical pencil & eraser and two ballpoint pens (because I just can't bear to not have a backup if i need it), followed by a black and a brown micron pen, a black felt tip pen, a black brush tip pen, a 6" stainless ruler, my prismacolor ebony pencil and its accoutrements (a protective pencil cap, a pencil sharpener, and also a tortillon, which isn't shown because I spilled water on my bag this week and am only just realizing I forgot to replace it in my kit).

I also have colored pencils and markers and paints I enjoy using, but this is my daily on-the-go must-have kit that packs down small and is an uncomplicated, simple joy to use.

Asking for Help

Recently I shared my packing list for my upcoming trip to outer-space to search for slimy space slugs. This week I've been focusing on quick ink doodles as a means of loosening up and denying my inner perfectionist the satisfaction of drawing with a pencil and over-worrying and making too many edits. It's been good practice. But the one thing I just didn't love was how my quick sketch of Fox (my stuffed rabbit) was disproportioned. So I sought some help to learn how I could have improved my doodle of Fox.

Benjamin took the time to sit down with me and walk me through the whole process of making this sketch of Fox. He demonstrated what he was looking for and how he was assessing the subject and taught me a lot about observation and perspective. This is the sketch that he made for me as I observed his work.

Learning to draw and paint is a super vulnerable process for me and I feel inadequate, tender, private and reclusive about it all the time. So I'm especially grateful for people in my life that I can feel safe with who are able and willing to patiently share their skills and knowledge with me because I really do want to be an artist. I just have to come out of my shell sometimes... and that's really hard to do.

Benjamin is the safest person I know to be out of my shell with. My only regret is that he drew this gorgeous portrait of Fox on newsprint. I'll pick better paper next time, because everything he draws is great and something I'll want to save!

Headed to Outer Space

I've mostly finished packing for my Doodle Adventures trip to outer space with Carl the grumpy duck. I tried to think practically and take my interests and hobbies into account.

Sunglasses and sunblock for flying into the sun. Fox for snuggles. Binoculars and a magnifying glass for investigating interplanetary matter (no telescopes needed, thankyouverymuch). And I mean, my favorite things to do are uke, write letters, sip hot tea, read, and be at waters-edge. SO. I figured I'd need something for my downtime when not hunting space-slugs. (There WILL be downtime, right Carl?? Hmm... that glare he's giving me is not looking very promising.)

Carl only suggested packing regular socks which is RIDICULOUS because everyone knows toe socks are superior. Also, one never knows when one might need a banana. In case we find a planet with habitable water, I will definitely need a pool float for lounging about. Although, let's be honest, I know the likelihood of that will be slim and I mostly just packed it (fully aired up) to irritate the heck out of Carl. I can't wait to see him fly off the handle about that! And also about the weighty books and the open container of hot liquid. Heh, heh, heh.

This book is the best. Check out mikelowery.com for this book and more of his awesome and humorous artwork.

Slimy Space Slugs!

I'm spending the evening with Mike Lowery's book: "The Search for the Slimy Space Slugs!" because sometimes it's nice to not have to think about what to draw and to have a grumpy duck yelling at you to get pen to paper, stat! It really helps loosen me up.

I'm prepping for my mission to take on the slimy space slugs. Naturally I'm outfitted with my favorite diving helmet (re-hosed for outer space, obvi), my lego space sweatshirt with homemade shoulder patches, black leggings (duh), comfy air boots and some fat gloves because I hear space is cold and I don't want all of my fingers to fall off.

Now it's time to turn the page and pack my bags. I wonder what I should bring?

Trees

Currently I am obsessed with drawing trees. I've been sitting on this for a few months, letting it gel in my head and waiting to see how it would manifest. Meanwhile I've been collecting a few photographic specimens on my springtime walks, and now these abstract trees, studies in shape and form and texture are all I've worked on for days.

Yesterday I spent my day on a marker-acrylic-colored pencil piece and started on some sketches for future trees. I'm filling my sketchbook with all sorts of trees and playing with them in a variety of mediums and really enjoying the process.

I've spent some time at the library looking at other illustrators' takes on abstract trees and drawn a lot of inspiration from their beautiful work. I've spent time paying attention to trees I meet on my outings about the city and continue to collect inspiring photos of unique trunks, limb and canopy shapes, and leaves and blossoms. It's divine.

Is there any better kind of research than to study the gorgeous work of others and of nature - the ultimate source - herself?

The Whispering Rabbit

One of my all-time favorite stories is "The Whispering Rabbit." It's the first story in "The Sleepy Book," by Margaret Wise Brown. The book is a lovely collection of sleepytime stories, poems and songs. It's a peaceful quiet book.

In the story, the sleepy bunny faces the unusual problem of yawning so much that a bee flies into his mouth and then falls asleep in his throat! The bunny seeks advice from the other animals and then has to problem-solve how to best put that advice into practice! I never tire of this darling story. The writing is so beautiful.

This bunny (and the whole of the book) is beautifully illustrated by Garth Williams. In addition to illustrating eleven books for Margaret Wise Brown, he is well known for his illustrations in Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Little House on the Prairie books.

Learning From Others

One way I practice my drawing is by copying work from my favorite illustrator: Gyo Fujikawa. It helps me see things differently and to try to imagine things as she saw them. I particularly love her pen and ink drawings and flip through them when I'm looking for inspiration for my practice.

Here's a few I did a while back. The acorns and ice cream cone are replicas of her ink work and the sundae is a pen and pencil rendering of one of her painted illustrations. All three of the originals are found in Gyo Fujikawa's A to Z Picture Book.

A Glimpse Into My Workspace

With critters by favorite illustrators on one side, plants around and above, and all my beloved books close at hand, I'm right at home!

I'm hard at work this afternoon putting thoughts and ideas to paper. Hoping to get several to-do items checked off my list! I'm excited that it's Friday though, and looking forward to getting some reading done this weekend.

My Very Favorite Illustrator

Before March gives way to April, I have to share some about Gyo Fujikawa, my very favorite illustrator. In honor of Women's History Month, I'd like to share some brief highlights from her life that are an inspiration to me.

Fujikawa achieved great success as an artist despite the barriers she faced as a Japanese-American woman in the 1930s. While she was able to continue her work as an artist in New York during WW2, her family was interred in Arkansas.

She published her first two children's books (as both writer and illustrator) in 1963 and they became quick bestsellers. In the next 20 years she produced 40 different titles. Her work has been translated into many languages. She was one of the first children's authors to command author's royalties instead of a flat fee and she was among the first to include racial diversity in her illustrations of children.

All of this talent, achievement, beauty, and progressive art from an unmarried, Japanese-American woman during decades that were especially un-friendly to someone like herself.

This spread is from "Our Best Friends" (1977) and it's my earliest childhood memory of her work. This is the spread that made me fall so much in love with her art. Only later did I learn of her strength and brilliance. 💛
 

(Bio info from "The Great Unknown: Japanese American Sketches" by Greg Robinson)

Desktop Snapshot 2

Last year I read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron for the first time. If you haven't read it, do it. It's a heck of a lot of work but so transformative.

At the end of week 9 she says to choose an artist totem: "Something you immediately feel a protective fondness toward." Then, give it a place of honor and honor it by not beating up on yourself. Earlier in the chapter she describes talent as a "young and skittish horse... very talented but also young, nervous and inexperienced." My job is to encourage the horse to stay the course. With practice and experience (and guidance) the horse grows more confident and skilled.

The analogy of the horse really resonated with me. Several years ago I went to school for canine behavioral studies. I learned how to better understand and communicate with dogs. With greater understanding came deeper compassion and patience for the teaching and learning process. When I thought about my own talent as a nervous fearful animal: a lovely dog, or a majestic horse, I could no longer treat it with the contempt, impatience and negativity that I had previously.

I chose this horse as my artist totem for its hesitant gait (it's not in a full gallop) but its steady movement forward (its foot is outstretched willing to take that next step). It sits on my desk and reminds me to extend compassion and patience to myself with each hesitant step forward.

What has been a source of creative inspiration for you when you need it most? How do you remember to treat yourself with compassion?

Desktop Snapshot

Depending on what kind of work I'm doing, there are three different areas in our tiny home that I do all of my work in. For drawing, painting, paper-crafts, and letter-writing, I work at my favorite vintage desk right up next to the window. I love how the light is diffused through the lace curtains into the workspace and how it reflects the pattern off the surface of the desktop.

It's a small surface, but I keep a few lovely items sitting out because having them near just feels so good. These teal glass pieces are among them. The sphere is a glass fishing float that traversed the Pacific Ocean from Asia to Alaska. I find that wonderfully amazing.

Where do you get your best work done at home? Are there any favorite objects in your space that you love having close at hand?

Dog in Lap

Random portrait fun through a cardboard tube.