Thoughts on a 10 Year Anniversary

Over the past 10 years, my blog has gone through three phases, reflecting my artistic endeavors at the time. I wanted to share some of what I learned in each phase. Blogging has helped motivate me, solidify my thoughts and hopefully along the way, I’ve been able to share some things that have been of interest to my readers, for whom I am deeply grateful.

Urban Sketching

When I started this blog in September 2009, I challenged myself to post at least one sketch each week, with a short commentary about it, whether anyone ever read my blog or not. I had recently taken a wonderful sketching workshop from Richard Scott and he stressed that the only way to improve sketching skills was regular practice. I knew he was right. I hoped the “public” commitment of the blog would give me the needed accountability and motivation to keep on track, even though few knew about my blog.

As a landscape designer, I participated in a critique group, that was extraordinarily enriching to me personally and to my skills as a designer. I hoped to find a similar community of sketchers to learn from and be inspired by. I tingled with excitement when I found out that there was something called the World Wide SketchCrawl held in cities around the globe, including Portland! I convinced a friend to go with me to my first sketchcrawl at the Japanese Garden. There were about five other sketchers there, and their congeniality immediately calmed my nerves. I had found an artistic community of sketchers.

I have always loved to draw, but had previously confined my drawings to graphite. In Richard Scott’s workshop I learned how to introduce splashes of watercolor into my sketches, and to make bolder lines by using pen and ink. I usually started with a very simple graphite line drawing, mostly to establish proportions, add splashes of color or shadow in watercolor, then finished off with some line work in pen. With this approach I slowly gained an understanding of and confidence with watercolor, and an appreciation of line as well. I still enjoy the local sketching community, which meets monthly for sketchcrawls. They are now part of a larger group called Urban Sketchers.

A lesson learned: Using watercolors in small areas of a sketch helped me get used to handling this difficult medium a little at a time. If I was happy with the basic drawing and line-work with pen, then the success of the sketch did not depend on my mastery of watercolor. I slowly gained knowledge and confidence with the medium with each sketch.

Botanical Art Studies

Two years after starting my sketching blog, I started a course with the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK and began blogging my way though my studies from beginning to end. The intensive diploma course spanned 27-months, and left me with little time for anything besides study….and a little blogging!

By this time, I had gained enough confidence with watercolors, although I was still a beginner, to choose the watercolor path for my studies, rather than colored pencil.

Since it was a distance course, I followed other students’ blogs and found an online community of botanical art students on Facebook. They became an important source of encouragement and information sharing. My blog was a way of giving back and solidifying what I was learning by writing about it.

A lesson learned: An online community of people with common interests and goals can make a tremendous difference, especially when a local special interest group is not available.

Botanical Artist

I have learned a lot from the online community of botanical artists, many of whom freely share tips and techniques in blogs or in Facebook groups. I hope to contribute to that store of knowledge online through my blog. Plus I wish to share my joy and gratitude for the beauty of nature, God’s lavish gift to us.

I am happy to say that just as I was graduating from the SBA course, a local group, Oregon Botanical Artists, started meeting regularly. I was one of the founding members and continue to be involved with OBA meetings, shows and workshops. They are associated with the American Society of Botanical Artists, of which I am also a member. I have benefited greatly from workshops sponsored by OBA and ASBA, and have had the honor of exhibiting my work in shows with both organizations, and with the SBA in the UK as well.

A lesson learned: Taking one small step at a time…each a little risk…can lead to unexpected, wonderful places.

Blogging in Small Bursts

Someone asked me recently how I’ve kept going with a blog all of these years? Well, first of all I do enjoy writing but second of all, I work on my posts in small bursts so I don’t feel overwhelmed and get tempted to put it off! I limit myself to 30 minutes or less each day to work on a post. The first day is getting down a rough draft and uploading photos. Sometimes I nearly complete the post that day if I can do it in under 30 minutes, but if it is a longer post or complex, then I allow only 30 minutes the next day for adding to it or editing. The following day, I check it once again then publish if it is ready, but put in no more than 30 minutes if it still needs work. I find that these short bursts of writing with thinking time in-between, keeps the task from getting onerous. I can get more done in just 30 minutes because I have had time to think about it between writing sessions.

A Note to My Readers

I have shared earlier in this post about vital importance of an artistic community for growth and as a way to share what one has learned. I consider you, my reader, as part of my community. Although these days I post on Instagram more often than I blog, I still love to write about my artistic journey, and feel so privileged to have you along for the ride! Thank you, Gentle Readers!