Illustration + Nature Sketching
I went to a physical rehabilitation clinic at the start of the year after my surgery, and of course I wanted to bring a bit of sketching gear with me. I didn’t expect too much from myself, mainly because I wasn’t sure how challenging the physical therapy and exercise would be, and also because I … Read more
Today I’d like to show you a small pen set that once belonged to my grandmother. For me it’s very special because of the stories and memories connected to it, even if I don’t use the pens a lot. Here’s a video version of this post: This pen set is very likely from the early … Read more
Winter has come here in Germany, and as the leaves have disappeared and the snow is falling, I can do one of my favorite activities again: watching and sketching birds from the window. I find the colder months are a great time to watch birds, they are more visible in nature, and they tend to … Read more
It’s been 5 years since I started my blogging activities around nature sketching and nature journaling, and teaching about the subject. What an adventure! To celebrate I’ve decided to do a small giveaway (details at the end of the post)! So many of you have been a part of this journey and even before that, … Read more
Recently I’ve brought flowers home with me from my community garden, the last remnants of this summer. And what better way is there to celebrate these flowers than to sketch them. I found dahlias and borage, two very different but attractive plants, and so interesting to draw. These days, I find myself going back to … Read more
One thing I’ve noticed about my own sketching activities, but also in comments that you readers and viewers send in, is that whenever I make sketching too complicated, I’m less motivated to do it. I think we are less likely to keep sketching when we start to see it as a kind of obligation, or … Read more
Welcome to my next sketchbook tour. It’s been a while since my last sketchbook tour, and now the summer is already over. So what did I sketch in the summer of 2023? Flowers, big landscapes, and a few more things. Here’s a video version of this sketchbook tour: Remember the final entry of my last … Read more
In this post I want to give you a simple guide on how you can learn to draw anything. You don’t need any special skills or talent for drawing and sketching when you start, it just takes a bit of practice and the desire to learn. For an extended free PDF guide on how to … Read more
How was everyone‘s summer? I‘m back from my summer break and as always I wish it could have been longer. I tried to take a break from everything, as far as that is possible. For anyone who joined the newsletter in the last four weeks, a warm welcome! And to everyone else, welcome back. 🙂 … Read more
Today I’m going to share a flower painting tutorial for a beautiful blue and yellow iris. This demonstration is an outtake from my new course “Loose but Precise: Expressive and Simple Floral Paintings in Watercolor”. I sketch a yellow and blue iris in the technique the course is centered around: detailed and precise pencil lines with … Read more
Today I’m excited to announce a new course: I focused a lot on big, loose floral paintings during this spring and summer, an activity with lots of flowing paint and big brush strokes, and I thought this would be a nice addition to my existing botanical sketching course that’s focused a bit more on the … Read more
I’ve recently sketched a poppy flower over several days – starting with the closed bud that slowly unfolded to show the very thin and crinkly petals, then opened up to a full blooming poppy, which then fell apart pretty quickly and left only a seed pod. It was a fascinating process to watch and to … Read more