Phenomenal Phenology Wheel

Phenomenal Phenology Wheel

by | Aspiring Artist, Perpetual Nature Journal

Phenology

The science of phenology is the study of the natural world around us and more specifically, it is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate, plant and animal life.

Phenology is particularly used for environmental studies, nature study and is easy to do with children in your own back garden.

Observations

Phenologists make observations about the natural world, and you can too.

Typical things that would be a good observation would be:

 

  • Temperature
  • Weather
  • Rainfall
  • Snowfall
  • First blossoms on trees
  • Flowers that are blooming
  • Vegetables ripe for picking
  • When the leaves start to fall
  • How high the rivers are
  • Which insects, birds or mammals have been seen
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Phenology Wheels

A phenology wheel is a circular diagram portraying all the observations for the time periods chosen.

For example, you could have a phenology wheel with different divisions such as:

 

  • Yearly – 12 monthly divisions
  • Monthly – 31-day divisions
  • Weekly – 7 daily divisions
  • Seasons – four divisions

Time Periods

As can be seen, there are many different time periods which can be used for a phenology wheel.

This year I decided to do a monthly phenology wheel as I have started taking an interest in my Perpetual Nature Journal which has twelve months.

It seemed a logical step to have a monthly phenology wheel as well.

How to Create a Phenology Wheel Diagram

My piece of paper is about 23cm by 30cm (9 by 12 inches).

It doesn’t matter what size page you have.

First with a pencil draw a light diagonal line from corner to corner to find the centre of the page.

Next you will take your compass and put the point in at the middle cross hairs.

Draw a circle as large as you can giving yourself about 1cm (1/2 inch) gap from the edge of the paper.

For my page, my outer circle is 10cm (4 inches) radius that is the first circle.

My second circle is 9cm (3 ½ inches) radius.

My small inner circle has a 2cm (3/4 inch) radius.

Dividing into 12

Line up your ruler with the centre point of the page and draw horizontal line from the outer circle all the way across.

Next take your circular protractor and line it up with the central dot of the protractor where you put in the point of the compass.

Mark out with a pencil and draw a vertical line.

You now have four quarters.

Next divide the four quadrants into three 30-degree segments each and connect each of the angled lines across the circles.

It now looks like a pizza cut into twelve slices.

Months

At this point you have the option of either doing your months clockwise or anticlockwise and consideration needs to be given to where to put January.

In my phenology wheel I placed January on the top left, and I laid out my months anticlockwise all the way around.

The reason I did it this way is because I am aligning it to the Pagan Wheel of the Year where the very top point is December 22nd, the beginning of Yule, which would be mainly be in January.

It doesn’t really matter which way you do it, but have some reason about why you’re doing it the way you are.

You can either have the months going clockwise or anticlockwise.

You can start your year at any point that makes sense to you.

Coloring the Months

As I am a keen follower of new age practices, I wanted to align my months not only with the Wheel of the Year, but also with the zodiac signs.

I used assorted Tombow markers for this part.

In this case April will be red (Aries), August will be yellow (Leo), and December will be blue (Sagittarius).

These are the three primary colours from which you can hang the colour wheel.

The secondary colors will be June as orange, October as green and February as violet.

My full month colours in order are as follows:

 

  • January is purple
  • February is violet
  • March is magenta
  • April is red
  • May is tangerine
  • June is orange
  • July is apricot
  • August is yellow
  • September is chartreuse (lime green)
  • October is green
  • November is turquoise
  • December is blue

Inner Circle

The small inner 2cm radius circle is where I plan to note the high and low temperatures I experienced in my city each month.

Phenomenal Phenology Wheel Monthly Progress

We are more than halfway through August as I start my phenology wheel.

I may or may not be able to get the August diagram in there, but I’m hoping that I shall and when I do, I’ll post the image below here.

My phenology wheel is an ongoing project that I can add to each month.

As I complete the months I will take a photo and post it below so you can see how much I got finished is my phenology wheel.

Phenomenal Phenology

I’m calling it Phenomenal Phenology because I can and I think it’s a great title for my phenology wheel.

I plan to frame my phenology wheel when it is completed and hang it up in my art studio.

As I’ve said often before, I do believe that every artwork you do should be good enough to frame and it ought be hanging on your wall.

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Why I’m Doing Phenology

I want to explain to you why I’ve started looking at phenology.

This year I have really tried to work on art as self-care.

This is sometimes through neurographic art or other pen and ink work that I’ve been doing.

But the main idea is to slow down life a little.

I’m trying to uncouple from such a digital world where social media dominates.

I’m trying to bring daily art practice into my life with small art projects which I can work on and that make me happy.

Activities like working on my Perpetual Nature Journal, sketching nature around me at the beaches and so on here in my city, I am really starting to enjoy.

The reason I wanted to try and do a phenology wheel was to add another facet to the type of art that I’m working on now.

Meditative Art

I’m starting my phenology wheel in August, so it’s not at the beginning of the year.

As was not my Perpetual Nature Journal which I only began in May.

But I believe that by having these other options to my art journaling, sketch journaling and other artwork, it gives me options on a day when I really don’t want to do too much.

Daily Art Practice

If I have enough small creative projects on the go, I will be able to reach out for one of them and do some art in the day.

I’ve spoken before about having different types of creative projects as an artist and how I believe it benefits you as an aspiring artist to have multiple art projects in progress at once.

I’m not the type of artist that starts one great big painting and keeps going for six weeks until it’s finished.

That will never be the type of art I do.

Starting out in art journaling, sketch journaling and working with Artist Trading Cards, which are small art pages that can be done in one day, is what appeals to me.

Therefore, I’m adding the small Phenomenal Phenology wheel to my arsenal of art-on-the-go.

It is a yearly project much like my Perpetual Nature Journal.

Because, honestly, when I wake up in the morning, I never know what I’m going to want to do art wise.

I believe you can’t force creative expression.

If this sounds like something that will resonate with you explore out site further.

Thank you for sharing part of your day with me.

Love,

Alison

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Pin this image to your Pinterest board.

Aspiring Artist Activity

Create your own yearly phenology wheel and bring self-care into your life through meditative art.

On a sheet of paper or in your nature or art journal, please do the following:

Draw the Circles

  • Find the center of the page.
  • Draw 3 circles with 10cm, 9cm and 2cm radii respectively.

Divide the Wheel

  • Draw a horizontal line through the center point to the outer circle.
  • Draw a vertical line through the center point to the outer circle.
  • With a protractor, divide the circle into 12 30 degree segments.

Months

  • Write the month names from January to December around the outer edge as shown.
  • Color in each month.

You are now ready to start making observations and drawing what you see in each month.

Alison Hazel

Author Bio

Alison Hazel is a mature woman who shares her ongoing journey about becoming an artist later in life. She creates simple art that anyone can make. She hopes to inspire you to reach your creative potential in the area that suits you.

Go here to read more about Alison’s story.

If you want to send Alison a quick message go here.

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Sketchbook Flip Through

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Sketchbook Flip Through Abstract Sketchbook Welcome to the vibrant realm of my latest abstract sketchbook, where colors and shapes intertwine in a dance of imagination. In this flip through, we will embark on a journey through abstract art, a world where the ordinary...

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Third Age Art for Women

Third Age Art for Women

by | Third Age Art

The Third Age

The Third Age is a term used frequently to refer to people over the age of sixty. There are many differing criteria for the start of the Third Age and you can read more on that here.

The Four Ages of Women

I am going to share with you how I see the ages of women. This can be debated back and forth, but I want to be clear what I am saying and defining as the “Third Age.”

  • First age – from birth to age 30
  • Second age – from age 30 to age 60.
  • Third age – from age 60 to 90
  • Fourth age – over 90

 

The Three Ages of Women

The idea of the three ages of women goes back many years.

Maiden

The first age is the maiden. A maiden is a woman who is not married. Obviously, the criteria are different nowadays but to be a maiden is to be in an intact state. The age covers young girls and young women up to the age of 30.

Mother

The mother age is from age 30 to 60. This is when women spend their time bringing up children, cooking and cleaning and taking care of their families. They are in the the main childbearing years.

Crone

A crone is defined as:

  • A woman past 60 (note this includes the fourth age)
  • A woman who has passed through the menopause
  • A woman who is longer viable to fall pregnant

A crone is not a nice term to be used for women. In the past crones were also considered as witches. Usually, women in this age group have brought up their families. They may be divorced, or they may be widowed as their husbands and partners pass on. There are more older women in the Third Age group than men.

Third Age women can be babysitters from the own children’s children. They are often grandparents and have time on their hands. They usually give up work and need something to do. Having been the glue of a family unit and no longer needed may bring on empty nest syndrome. The kids no longer need or require these women in their lives on a day-to-day basis. Of course, every situation is different.

Celebrate the Third Age

For Third Age women who have time and who may have disposable income, there is an opportunity to turn to creative expression in some form.

Art

We will talk about art in the Third Age. This is how I came to art and you can read more about my story here. I felt truly alive once I began writing and drawing and sharing my creative expression with you.

I want to encourage you to find your inner creative expression and bring it out for yourself and for the world. The practice of art and journaling and painting is a form of self-care.

Saturn’s Cosmic influence

We are happy to see the Moon rules the tides but the planet Saturn rules time. Saturn takes thirty years to orbit the Sun he is known as the timekeeper of the zodiac. Every thirty years, or thereabouts, Saturn returns to the place it was on your birthday and recalibrates what you should be doing with your life.

This links into the Three Ages of women, age 30, age 60 and age 90. Maiden, Mother and Crone. These are the three ages of woman. How this cycle affects men is debatable.

Third Age Art

The Third Age is a delightful way to refer to the years past sixty. If you find yourself with time on your hands, it is a perfect moment to learn something new. Or you can go back to a former interest. If you are not sure with what to fill you days, consider taking up a creative interest.

Some artistic creative expression ideas are:

  • Drawing
  • Urban sketching
  • Painting
  • Pen and ink
  • Writing or journaling
  • Art journaling
  • Sketch journaling
  • Sculpture
  • Pottery
  • Mosaic
  • Dyeing and weaving

 

How to Decide What to Do

If You Don’t Know

If you don’t know what you want as your creative endeavor then think back to what interested you as child.

Was it:

  • Music
  • Singing
  • Art
  • Drama
  • Ballet
  • Dancing
  • Pottery
  • Other

Give yourself some time to ponder what it is you’d like to start doing.

If You Do Know

You may already know exactly into what you want to pour your creative energy. It could be crystal clear that you want to do pottery or watercolors.

Journaling

I am a huge fan of journaling. I started off with one journal and now my collection has multiplied into about five.

If you are not sure where to go, or you are just starting out on your journey, I recommend you get yourself a journal. Personally, I like the Leuchtturm 1719 as it is a superior quality journal and comes in multiple cover colours.

Use a journal to capture your ideas and thoughts about how you want to let your creative expression come through.

What are You Waiting For?

If you are a woman in the Third Age you may still be working full time, you may be working part time and have some time on your hands, or it may be that you have all your days stretching out ahead of you and you’re not quite sure what to do.

Whichever scenario reflects your life, there will be time within your day for creative expression and the benefits of doing something artistic far outweigh not doing so.

Pin this image to your Pinterest board.

Aspiring Artist Activity

Get out your creative endeavors journal and a pencil or pen. Note, I will suggest some art activities here, because that’s what this site is about, but if music or dance is your jam, you can use the principles of this journal activity for that as well.

Inside Front Cover

  • On the inside front cover, write your name add a picture and embellish it as you like.
  • For example, I wrote my name, added a sunflower drawing and some washi tape.

 

Second Page

  • On the second page, draw a five-pointed star.
  • In each of the points, write one or two words that support the creative artwork you want to do.
  • Some examples would be pen and ink, colorwork, collage, nature journaling or urban sketching etc.
  • These keywords may change at any time, but they are going to be the starting points for the creative expression that you are trying to achieve.
  • In this way, rather than just having one focus word you will have five.

 

Next Five Pages

  • On the next five pages, write one of your focus keywords at the top as a heading.
  • Give some thought about the activities you want to do that are in line with these keywords.
  • Note these activities below on the page.
  • You may wish to use pencil to start with then move onto pen when your keywords gel.

This activity is not about getting some art done, it is to help you sort out your thoughts surrounding what you really want to do, rather than what you think you ought to be doing.

If your sister makes jewelry at her kitchen table and sells it at a craft market, you might feel inclined to do the same thing because it would be easier just to follow in her footsteps.

It is important at this stage that you ponder on the specific art and creative practices that you want to do.

Please do not feel pressured by family and friends instead always listen to your heart.

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Seasons of Art: Spring

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Christian Art and Sacred Places

Christian Art and Sacred Places

by | Christian Art

Author: Alison Hazel   –   Published: December 2021 

Introduction

The Christian Art we practice here at Alison Hazel Art is traditional and straightforward. We want our Christian Art to be peaceful, meditative and reflective. To draw Christian images and symbols adds a richness to life which we enjoy, and we want to share that with you.

We are not here to influence you, or to convert you, but rather to celebrate our beliefs with you. If that resonates with you, then you may enjoy some of our future plans for creating and developing some Christian art.

three-angels

People

We aspire to have more drawings and images of religious people such as:

  

Stories

We will be drawing and illustrating chapters from the bible and particularly from the book of Genesis with stories like:

  

  • Adam and Eve
  • Cain and Abel
  • Noah’s Ark
  • The Nativity and Christmas
  • The Passion and Easter
Jesus-mary-and-joseph

Sacred Places Art

We also have an interest in sacred places. Sacred places generally means churches, cathedrals and related buildings, but it also encompasses other places such as:

  

  • Labyrinths
  • Pyramids
  • Standing stones (like Stonehenge and Inukshuks)
  • Glades of trees

    Our Sacred Places Art So Far

    So far, we have drawn:

      

    saint-chads-church-poulton-le-fylde

    Future Artworks

    We have plans to sketch:

    • Church footprints
    • Church architectural drawings and facades
    • Stained glass windows
    • Rose windows
    • Altars
    • Fonts
    • Steeples and towers

    Christian Symbolism

    We plan to explore Christian symbolism. This can be as:

      

    • Crosses
    • Bibles
    • Icons
    • Candles
    • Mosaics
    • Sculptures
    • Other ancient artworks

    There is a place for all art. We believe that if you follow Jesus then if you draw and create your own Christian themed art it will benefit you.

    Sharing and Merchandise

    Some of our Christian art is already available on Christmas cards and you can see more designs in our Redbubble shop.

    Alison Hazel

    Author Bio: Alison Hazel

    Alison Hazel is a hobby artist and she shares her ongoing journey about becoming an artist later in life. She creates simple art that anyone can make. She hopes to inspire you to reach your creative potential in the area that suits you.

    Read more about Alison’s story.

    Send Alison a quick message.

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    Art Business Ideas

    Art Business Ideas

    by | Art Business

    Art Business Definition 

    Hobbyist Artist

    Everyone starts out as a hobby artist.

    You pick up some pencils and paper and start drawing.

    Next you may move onto markers or paint.

    If you are a potter, you make endless mini bowls and hone your craft.

    If you are a dyer of thread or weaver of yarns, you start making little cloths, table mats and other bits and bobs.

    At some point you may shift your focus onto one particular art type or medium that you enjoy and at which you are quite good.

    You keep going and make art worthy of hanging on the wall or of adorning the living roon coffee table.

    You go to the craft or art store and buy what you need to make the art you have begun to love.

    You acquire more and more art supplies for your hobby.

    Your hobby costs you.

    You may start a monthly budget just for your art supplies or even an art class because you find joy in doing your hobby.

    You have a hobby when you spend money on your craft. 

    Professional Artist

    You are professional artist when you earn your first dollar from your art.

    Your first sale can be small, like selling a painting, greeting card, pottery bowl or handmade soap. 

    The exchange of money for art is the signal that you are a professional artist even if you don’t think you are.

    But perhaps you don’t feel you belong…

    Imposter Syndrome

    You may not think you are a professional artist for several reasons:

    • Because you have a day job
    • Because you are not trained
    • Because everyone knows you are not an artist
    • Because you know you are not an artist

    Making money from art as a side job is the best way to gently move into having an art business. 

    Many artists still have day jobs, but they are artists at the weekend and in the evenings.

    Reluctant Artists

    A reluctant artist is someone who makes beautiful things which bring joy to themselves and others and which other people want and offer to buy.

    If your neighbor, when they see your acrylic painting, says to you, “Please make me one for my kid’s teacher at school, I’ll pay you. How much will you charge?”

    You reply, “Oh yeah, well, hmm…”

    This is a clear statement that you may be a reluctant artist.

    Think about it.

    You are merely one step away from making your first dollar from your art. And when you earn your first dollar you are a professional artist.

    This change of status could require a mind shift.

    You must mentally accept that you can, and should, be an artist.

    Who is to say that you can’t have a day job or be a full-time mom and also be a weekend professional artist?

    Permission

    It can be a psychological revelation that you can, and should be, an artist.

    The first step is for you to believe it yourself

    The second step is for your close family to believe that you are an artist. This can take time and I have more on this later.

    The third step is letting the whole world know that you are an artist.

    Give yourself permission to say you are an artist.

    Say out loud. “I am an artist.”

    Visualization

    Visualization is a powerful tool which can be used in your favor.

    If you can visualize yourself as an artist then you will become one.

    If you can imagine creating beautiful art, that is desired by others, then you can be an artist.

    Never dismiss the power of visualization in realizing your dreams.

    Art Business Ideas

    Artist Vision Board

    A vision board is a physical representation for all of your visions.

    How to Make an Artists Vision Board

    You choose images and words for your artist vision board which supports the life you are trying to manifest, for example, a life of being an artist.

    An artist’s vision board will have pictures of how you see yourself as an artist.

    Here are some suggestions about what to put on your artist vision board:

    • If you want to sell your art online, have images of your website and computers.

    • If you want to sell your art a craft market, add images of craft markets and stick a photo cut out of you there doing the selling.

    • If you want to be accepted into an art gallery, then add a picture of a gallery and glue some of your art works on the walls.

    • If you want to own an art gallery, then place a map where you want to be located and draw a shopfront of a gallery. Add images of gallery openings and words like,”Gallery opening” and “Local Artist Show.”
    • If you want to teach your style of art to others, show a classroom with art students pouring over their works and listening to you teaching them. Add words like, “Art Teacher” and “Art Classes by Your name.”

    • If you want to own an art studio, add images of how you see your studio with tables, easels and paint pots all around. Include words like, “Art Classes,” “Fun Creative Classes” and “Celebrate Art with Us.”

    • If you want to organize art retreats for groups to come and immerse themselves in your art style, add images of a hotel in the mountains with people paining, potting or sculpting in a group and enjoying themselves. Include words like, “Art Retreat”, “Weekend Getaway” and “Learn Art Now.”

    Where to Put Your Artist’s Vision Board

    Place your artist vision board where you will see it every morning and evening.

    A great place is in your bathroom.

    In the bathroom you will see the images and read the inspirational words every morning before your day begins.

    You will be reminded of your visions each evening as you get ready for bed.

    The bathroom is a great spot because it stimulates your acknowledgement of what you are trying to achieve every morning and evening.

    Where Not to Place Your Artist Vision Board

    If you have people in your home who do not support your dream to become an artist, avoid putting your artist vision board in public rooms in your home like the hallway, kitchen or living room.

    If you live alone this does not count.

    When to Consider Yourself as Having an Art Business

    If you are reading this, you are probably toying with the idea of starting an art business.

    Slow Growth

    There is no rush to become profitable, famous or acclaimed as an artist.

    Slow growth refers to slowly building your art business one step at a time.

    You plan where you want to go and every move you make is a step in the direction to have an art business.

    Enjoy the process.

    Success

    Set yourself up for success. 

    Decide what success looks like for you which may not be the traditional meaning of success.

    Is success for you:

    • Selling one art piece
    • Selling lots of art at a craft fair
    • Selling your art online
    • Selling enough to cover your overheads and quit your day job
    • Becoming well-known as an artist
    • Becoming an art influencer
    • Becoming collectable

    Do not live someone else’s dream.

    Getting Started in Your Art Business 

    Here are some ideas on how to start an art business.

    We will start by dealing with the practicalities.

    I can’t talk much about registering a business, as that will be different in every country.

    You may need a lawyer to help you set up a limited company but this is not necessary immediately.

    Get business advice from experts in you area. Do not ask your neighbour or your hairdresser, seek proper advice.

    Art Business Name

    You need to decide on an art business name.

    Your Art Business Name

    You can call yourself Annie’s Art, Annie Parker Art or AP Art.

    The best one here is you full name.

    For example, Annie Parker Art, Prunella Stinson Art, Zane Isaacs Art or Alison Hazel Art.

    Note if you are a married woman and you use your husband’s last name, and you get divorced in the future, you may not like to use his name then.

    Pseudonyms

    You can use a made-up name or a pseudonym like, Emily Brontë Art.

    This is a good idea if you do not want to use your real name or if you real name is difficult to spell, or otherwise challenging.

    Meaningful Names

    A meaningful art business name is one that means something to you.

    For example, if you love emeralds, you could call yourself Emerald Art Studio.

    If you do abstract art, you could call yourself The Abstract Art Studio.

    Location

    Adding a town, city or area to your business name can be tricky.

    Avoid location specific names like:

    • Miami Art
    • Midwest Art
    • Montreal Art

    Because if you move from this city of geographical area, your art business name will not work.

    Think ahead to the future.

    Online Presence

    Website

    You need a website, it is essential.

    Your website should be owned by you. It is your online business card.

    Your website is the mothership and everything else you ever do (YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, newsletters etc. ) feeds back to the mothership.

    Domain Name

    Your domain name is your business name with .com at the end.

    A .com extension means it is a commercial business.

    I recommend Dreamhost for self-hosting. I have personally been with Dreamhost since 2002 and they have hosted various other websites for myself and my family, including this one.

    Before you decide on an art business name, check your proposed art business name in Google with the addition of .com at the end.

    For example, if you want Emily Brontë Art as your business name then in Google type emilybronteart.com and see what comes up.

    Your domain host will be able to tell you if your proposed art business name has already been taken.

    Self-hosting

    You want to be self-hosting which means you own your website and the extension is .com.

    Watch out for hosting places like SquareSpace and Blogspot where the extension is yourartbusinessname.squarespace.com or yourartbusinessname.blogspot.com.

    With these websites you can be limited on what you can do with the website.

    Whereas if you self-host you can do anything with your website.

    Aspiring Artist Activity – First Steps

    What are you waiting for?

    Give yourself one day to do the following:

    • Brainstorm a few art business names
    • Check if your proposed art business names are available with the dot com extension by Googling and with your host comapny
    • Decide on a name for your art business
    • Register the domain name for your art business (use Dreamhost)
    • Setup web hosting (use Dreamhost)

    More Art Articles

    If your enjoyed this post you may find more that will interest you on our site in these posts.

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    Sketching English Bay Beach, Vancouver

    Sketching English Bay Beach, Vancouver

    by | Art for Self-care

    Introduction

    This week I went down to English Bay in Vancouver to do some sketching.

    I was down there rather early around 9:00am because it promised to be a scorching day and I knew that the beach would fill up soon with people enjoying the good weather.

    With coffee and a sandwich and sat on one of the benches on the promenade.

    The seagulls were cawing and kids were playing and screaming in the surf.

    There were six to eight large vessels lining up to enter the harbor to the right. The ships to be just hanging on the distance horizon.

    I particularly wanted to get the background mountains as they had very interesting shades of greys and purples through the haze.

    English Bay Vancouver

    Field Art Supplies

    I took my A6 field sketchbook with me a 2B and a 2H pencil.

    These fitted conveniently in my little belt bag and I had my phone with me as well, so I could take some photos.

    I had my hat and sunglasses because it promised to be a really hot day this is now the middle of summer in Vancouver and the beach is a popular destination.

    Loads of people were jogging along the promenade riding their bikes and pushing their kids in their buggies.

    There were still the remains of the Pride parade ribbons which was the previous night.

    This was Sunday morning.

    Composition

    I started to sketch out with my horizon line and then the edge of the surf. The sea here is very common at English Bay in Vancouver and the waves just lap at your ankles.

    In fact, I’ve never seen a storm on this coast at all, but maybe that’s just because I haven’t been down there when it’s been raining.

    Three Sections

    Anyhow I did my sketch.

    I divided the page into three horizontal bands with the sky, the sea and the sand.

    I wanted to make sure to pick up the three distant mountains in the background.

    On the far right there was the small curve of a cove which was slightly raised with boulders and had a few fir trees at the edge of the drawing.

    There was a huge log of a Redwood tree that the city plonks on the beach for people to sit on and there happened to be one right in front of me, so I just drew it.

    There was plenty of people on the beach, but I didn’t add them into my sketch.

    Sky

    I did attempt to show the clouds in the sky.

    It was very difficult with just my pencil.

    Clouds are subjects that I find challenging to draw.

    Sea

    The sea was mainly low flappy wave and I added plenty of little horizontal lines going across the page indicating the motion of the sea.

    Beach

    For the beach sand, I really drew many dots (and I think it is called pointillism) just to show the texture of the sand.

    Although it was very smooth sand, it still had a grainy texture that’s why I tried to express it with dots.

    Composition

    The three areas on my page, the top, middle and bottom the top being the sky with the clouds, the middle being the ocean with the waves little horizontal dashes and then in the foreground the beach with the dots.

    There probably are other ways of depicting these textures, but this is where I am in my art journey.

    I added a signpost which I couldn’t read that was stuck in the sand.

    Timing

    I did enjoy the hour I sat at the beach. It was glorious fresh air, lovely sunshine and it wasn’t too hot although it was promising to be 28C degrees today.

    I didn’t want to be there much longer.

    Studio Sketch

    When I got home, I made a cup of tea and took a bit of a rest.

    Then I got out my perpetual nature journal because this is where I wanted to add this drawing.

    To me nature is all the outdoors on the Earth where we live. It is the environment we live in and our relationship within it.

    I don’t believe that nature journaling is required zoom in on one little ladybug or a leaf, it can certainly be the landscape around us as well.

    With my 2H pencil I just sketched out in the bottom right hand of my August page in my perpetual nature journal.

    I sketched out the main structures in this drawing.

    I then went over it with a 0.5mm black pen just to give the shapes some form.

    Colored Ink

    As I am continuing to work with my Windsor and Newton drawing inks as my current favorite medium, I wanted to once more practice working with them.

    I used my inks to colour in the sea, the trees, the mountains and the beach.

    I was very aware of watering these inks down.

    Inks are unforgiving and once you’ve laid them on the page you really can’t move the color.

    In this way inks are not at all like watercolors.

    I used a very small brush, I think it was a number 4 and slowly added the impression of the landscape that I was drawing.

    Black and Grey Pen

    After leaving it to dry I went back in with my black pen.

    I also had a grey pen just to add some textures to the log to the sand to the water and to the trees in the distance.

    Improvement as an Artist

    I would like to be a better artist.

    Style

    I know that if I keep practicing, I probably will be better, but the art I can do today is the best I can do.

    I would love to be able to do a pond of waterlilies like Monet, just for the hint of the image in the painting and I do admire his work.

    I’m also a huge fan of Van Gogh’s work with all his many brushstrokes.

    Hobby Artists and Colored Inks

    At the moment I’m still learning art as a hobby artist.

    I’m getting better with my pen work and I’m getting a little better with my colored ink work although that still is going to require a lot of effort.

    This is probably the fifth painting I’ve done with colored inks, so I’m still learning this medium so very much.

    Perpetual Nature Journal

    The third thing I’m really starting to enjoy is working with my perpetual nature journal .

    Where it becomes an ongoing journal.

    This Year

    It is divided into twelve months and each month I can do the drawing of that month within the page and date it for the year.

    Next Year

    Then next year in August I can come back and do another drawing and add it to the August page.

    I do believe there is further potential for other types of perpetual journals and I’m looking into that as well.

    I do enjoy doing these artworks.

    I find it greatly meditative and relaxing.

    I believe creating simple art brings mental clarity and this is what I’m enjoying as well.

    Vancouver Art Map

    Creating an Art Map

    I have an art map for all the field sketching I do in and around my local area.

    I created it by copying the map from Google and drew the outline of the coast on to a large piece of paper.

    I plan to frame my Vancouver Art Map and hang it in my studio one day.

    Sketch

    I added this week’s art outing to my Vancouver Art Map.

    The position was very close to where I drew the Canada Geese and the Inukshuk pen and ink before.

    Clearly, I need to venture farther afield in my sketching life soon.

    Aspiring Artist Activity

    Take your field sketchbook, some pencils and an eraser and go out to a local beauty spot in your area.

    Field Sketch

    • Choose a composition that appeals to you.
    • Sketch it out keeping it simple spend at least 30 minutes on this sketch.

    Studio Sketch

    • When you get home crack open your perpetual nature journal and start working either in pen and ink, colored inks or whatever art medium is your favorite now. For example, last year I really thought I was going to become a watercolor painter, but I did struggle with it as it was hard. This year I’ve moved onto colored inks and I’m trying to work with this medium as much as possible.
    • Make sure to enjoy what you are doing.
    • Spend at least one hour on your studio sketch and finish it off the way you like.

    Thank you for sharing your day with me,

    Alison

    Alison Hazel

    Author Bio: Alison Hazel

    Alison Hazel is a hobby artist and she shares her ongoing journey about becoming an artist later in life. She creates simple art that anyone can make. She hopes to inspire you to reach your creative potential in the area that suits you.

    Read more about Alison’s story.

    Send Alison a quick message.

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    Sketchbook Flip Through

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    Sketchbook Flip Through Abstract Sketchbook Welcome to the vibrant realm of my latest abstract sketchbook, where colors and shapes intertwine in a dance of imagination. In this flip through, we will embark on a journey through abstract art, a world where the ordinary...

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