Illustration

Gardening for me has always been not only both a joy and drudgery, but a way of life.On my parents small farm, with eleven mouths to feed, we desparately needed to grow our own food. But there was great joy and satisfaction to the task.  The garden was where I learned the uniqueness of each vegetable and weed, and my mother and elder brothers and sisters found unique ways to keep me and my younger brothers and sister engaged in the garden activities.  We made forts out of the piles of weeds, … [Read more...] about Gardening

In preparation for a commissioned line drawing of Leonardo DaVinci's Last Supper I discovered that he had done several preperatory figure and layout studies before settling on the final arrangement of the twelve apostles. During a breakout session at a religious studies gathering that I attended a few years ago the group was asked to reflect on a devotional passage. Allowed to sit alone anywhere on the grounds I chose to go outside to consider what meaning the selected words had for me. Before … [Read more...] about Figure and Layout study for Mother Earth Painting

A quick line drawing or pencil sketch of a pose (portraiture) or character study can become the basis for a portrait. One of the reasons I like to carry a camera or sketch book with me is that you never know when you’ll see something that will inspire your creative spirit. In this case I was allowed neither. As the mother of the bride I’d have looked silly carrying my usual bag of paper and pencils, and no one was allowed to use their camera in the church except for the photographer. So I had … [Read more...] about Portraiture and Character Study

The other day a little boy I know told me he had learned to ride his bike without training wheels. It reminded me (just like this sketch portrait) of how my younger brother use to be anxious about learning to ride his bike. But until he could accomplish this feat he wasn't about to let it exclude him from the activity of his older brothers and sisters, so he would just run a bicycle around the driveway as we rode ours. It wasn't long before he had gained his balance and was soon riding along … [Read more...] about No Training Wheels – Sketch Portrait

Ever had a place that you always wanted to go, and then finally you got to see it in person? Well, this was it for me. I must have painted this scene (this landscape illustration) about five times as paintings and illustrations that I've sold, always thinking... someday I'd like to go there. Glen and I took a cycle trip out to New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. To stand on the coast and be able to sketch this beauty, on a beautiful day no less, was a dream fulfilled. Besides the Maine … [Read more...] about Maine Lighthouse – Landscape Illustration