Drawing in the Wild (of suburbia)

This summer was filled with lots of drawing in new spaces! I went to a few events with the Walk and Watercolor group (I rarely use watercolor shhhh! 🤫)

Painted in gouache at the Sherman Gardens and Library in Coasta Mesa.

A large section of the gardens were closed for renovations but the available areas were beautiful as always. I was delighted to see their collection of staghorn ferns was out near the back entrance. I would love for my little fern to reach this size someday! Its hard to tell from the photo, but mine is barely a third of the size of the largest at the gardens. 😯

I also met up with some new friends for a night of painting cute anime food at the very cute Pen Pals Stationary store. We listened to some delightful soundtracks and just had a good time painting together. I love how everyone’s came out a little different 💛

I am glad that this was very much a for-fun art event since I almost never paint food. It was a great reminder that making art should feel like play as much as work. 💌

my legally distinct anime food

All of our paintings together!

The last event I wanted to share was another sketch event at the LAB Anti-mall. We walked around to get an idea of the space and get ideas for drawing. Eventually we gathered at a small picnic table to draw together. There were these two frenchies hanging out nearby and I jumped at the chance to draw this little cutie.

All of our little drawings together!

I love seeing what subject each artist is drawn to and the different materials we each use.

On the Drawing Table

Girllllll - I have been so burned out lately - mostly due to my demanding day job, but also the world is just hard to exist in right now. Making smaller pieces and filling sketchbooks feels much more approachable than the 18×24” pieces I have in the works. Here’s some of the art Ive been making:

Giving myself the space to make smaller works outside of my usual style and medium has helped ease the pressure and I have made some cute little drawings. Sometimes I feel like im a sketchbook artist - always documenting never creating. But then I remind myself that the documenting and studies all feed into my internal visual catalogue. And it has been so important in my artistic career to just accumulate understanding through sketchbooks, studies, and little explorations.

Solar-Empowered

Wildlife and Conservation Highlights

I want to occasionally highlight news in the Nature Conservation world that feels worth discussing. This first time lets talk about wolves!

Wolf Pack Portrait

Collection of sketches from 2017

Back in 2011 a wolf crossed into California from Oregon for the first time since they were hunted and trapped relentlessly in the 1920’s. Since then, the wolf population has been gradually reclaiming territory and growing. This summer a wolf was seen in Sequoia National Park for the first time in over a century. Scientists believe she left her pack in search of a mate. This is very cool behavior that helps ensure genetic diversity in the greater wolf population.

Here’s hoping she is the first of many spreading further south and reclaiming their historic home regions.

Steadfast - a family portrait

Moon Lord - from 2022

As always - thanks for stopping in and reading 🎨💛