The Hummingbirds Just Won't Hold Still

Why should I feel discouraged

Why should the shadows come

Why should my heart feel lonely

And long for heaven and home

When Jesus is my portion

A constant friend is he

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know he watches over me

Practicing in my sketchbook

This powerful verse was written over 100 years ago by Civilla Durfee Martin (1866-1948).  Civilla was born in Nova Scotia and died in Atlanta, Ga. The poem “His Eye is on the Sparrow” was written in 1905 and has become one of the most influential gospel hymns and has been sung.  https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-his-eye-is-on-the-sparrow

A Journal page dedicated to sparrows

Last week I was completely obsessed with drawing these tiny little song birds.  I didn't realize how many varieties of sparrows there are in the world and some time online researching trying to just determine what breed is the most common here in the Las Vegas area.  I finally concluded that I think they are Brewer's Sparrows.  They have dark beaks and the males have dark brown heads and throat.




It wasn't just pencils and pen this week that were busy creating feathers but I also decided to grab up my paintbrushes and have some fun with this little acrylic piece a small sparrow on a stump surrounded by black eyed susans and tall grass.  This is on an 8 x 8 gallery wrapped canvas.


All this sparrow drawing and painting helped me prepare for my biggest sparrow challenge of the week.  This 5 x 18 color pencil painting took me longer than I thought it would.  Each day I added another sparrow to my fence and then decided that some tall wildflowers added to the composition.  To get ready for this drawing I spent sometime sketching and painting sparrows.  I even dedicated a page to them in my artistic journal book and took pictures of the color pencil process on one of the birds to share here with you.

"Early Morning Flock Talk"- 5 x 18" original colored pencil painting

Here I have my rough sketch done in 4H pencil so that it is very lightly drawn out.  I used a light tan color and filled in almost the entire bird except for where I felt there were going to be white feathers or very dark areas.  My main concern here is to get rid of as much white paper as I can with the lightest color that is found on the feathers.  Don't worry if you cover up more than you want to because later the mechanical eraser does wonders with pulling off the waxy lead.

This second progress photo shows that I have used my Marvy LePen black to draw in the fine details of his face.  I have also added a darker shade of brown to the face and wings.  I always am amazed at just how much difference there is in a piece of art when you add the eyes.  The eyes are certainly the most important part of a face.





The third picture taken of my work in progress shows that I'm using the black Prismacolor to block in the chest feathers and the area around the eyes and beak.  I've also used this very lightly to add some contrast and shadows in the area of the chest feathers.








Using color pencils is really all about layers and as I work around the bird I just keep adding more and more colors to bring out the feathers and the detail.  I am really hooked on the way that outlining my subject with a black line gives it a more illustrated look.  I love the combination of the fine detail and the illustrated comic look.  I think it makes each element pop in the composition and so for now that is the style that I am going for.  So in this picture you can see I have now outlined the whole bird and the fence post.




On my next progression shot I show you one of my favorite color pencil tools and that is my battery operated Derwent eraser.  This eraser is amazing and I love the effects I can get with it on feathers and areas that I want texture not to mention cleaning up spots where I got a little carried away with my coloring.





With all the erasing you can really produce a lot of debris on your paper and rather than using your hand to brush off the bits of rubber missed with paper and colored wax, you want to use a brush.  I love this Langnickel 2" Large Area Artist brush for that.  The bristles are very soft but think enough that it does a great job cleaning up my paper with out smudging the colors.  I got this particular brush as part of a drawing set I ordered from pencil artist Darrel Tank (5 Pencil method).  I don't think he sells supplies anymore but I'm sure you can find this same brush at Cheap Joes or at Blicks.


As I am coming to the very last of the details, I often grab my white Reminisce gel pen to brighten the highlight of the eye or spots of white where I want the the brightest highlights to be.

In my completed piece that I titled "Early Morning Flock Talk",  this particular sparrow is number 2 in the line of 5 feathered friends.  

The Adventure Continues

It's been a couple of days since I last gave an account of my artistic vacation adventure.  We have been pretty busy exploring the hills around the Ely, Nevada area.  When I'm not being bounced around in the front seat of our F250, I'm making meals or thinking about my art.  Let me catch you up on both our exploring and the drawing and painting I have been working on the past few days.

Our trusty Ford truck.  You've carried us to lots of amazing places!

Sunday, after church, we took the drive that had been suggested to us called "Success Loop".   This drive was amazing.  It is 33 miles long and starts a few miles past the small town of McGill and ends about 15 miles outside of Ely.  You literally are making a giant loop through the mountain range east of Ely.    The road is paved for a short distance on both ends, but then turns into a typical gravel road.  When we traveled it there would be no issue with a car driving the loop but I had read that at times when it rains the road can become flooded and high clearance vehicles are recommended.  Since we own three 4WD vehicles most roads are never a concern to us.

Success Loop Road

Nevada is open range country so we did have to stop several time for some "Slow Elk" in the road and were privileged to also have 3 deer sightings.  Several miles up the road, as you gain altitude, you find yourself in a large grove of mature aspen trees.  The sound that the slightest breeze makes passing through those leaves is so amplified and serene.   The light of the sun reflecting down through their filtered branches just dances and twinkles and you know exactly why these trees are called "quakies".  We have already started making plans to return to this area in October just to see these trees dressed in their fall colors.  If you are anywhere near this area, you must take a couple of hours out to drive this loop!

Awesomeness along the way!

I think we drove out to Garnet Hill on Monday and then again on Wednesday.  We found a number of really nice sized garnets down the hill just by walking around.  I think we figured out that there are plenty of garnets for those that have the patients to walk around looking for them.  The professional garnet hunters bring all the tools and toil in the dirt, breaking open piles of rocks while breaking a sweat and their back in the process.  I just want to fill up a little vile or jar to sit on my shelf.  I'm happy with the little ones.  I'm sure in the next two weeks we will go up there several more times to add to our collection.

Cave Lake

Today we drove out to Cave Lake to just scout out the location.  Some of our kids are coming up for a visit and I wanted to see if this might be a place for us all to enjoy an afternoon.  We didn't pay the fee to enter the park but the scenery just from the 15 min parking zone at the entrance was breathtaking.  I'm sure it is well worth the $5 for a Nevada resident to pay to drive on around the lake.

My little creative corner, complete with a large cup of McDonald's coffee of course.

Because I fancy myself to be somewhat of an artist and because this is predominately an art blog, I thought I might share a picture of my little art corner I have set up in our camper.  Small but efficient, I have all my pens, markers and colored pencils close at hand.  There isn't much room for my acrylic paints so they are store outside in a tub.

Artistic Journal entry detailing my owl encounter

This week I was privileged to have a for real sighting of a great horned owl.  This magnificent creature was perched on a branch a few space down from our camper and his giant yellow eyes were focused on me.  For sometime we just stood there staring at each other.  It was amazing.  I have since  been obsessed with those eyes.  I did a journal page in my artistic journal about it and now 

Sorry for the cell phone picture

I have started a 10 x 20 inch acrylic painting of a full bodied owl. I'm loving how he is turning out so far.  The funny thing is that inside our small camper trailer he seems to be staring at me with those huge yellow eyes no matter where I move.  Of course in 23' you can't move very far.  

 He will be sitting in a pinyon pine tree among pine needles and a perhaps a green pine cone or two. Similar to the ones I included in my artistic journal a week ago.   You can see he looks to be patiently waiting for me to pick up my paint brushes and get on to finishing up the details.  Maybe he will be finished for my next blog post.  You will have to come back and visit me to see for yourself.

You Find Me Interesting, Right?

My husband vacationing in his new hammock

I'm currently on vacation.  That's right and I am actually up on a mountain at a about the 8000' level dry camping in my modest 23' camper trailer.   Amazingly, I have really a good WiFi connection here so I am able to spend some time working on my website and post this blog. While I've been here, I have been reading a number of articles about improving your blogging and tips for marketing as an artist.  You know what I found to be the number one suggestion in the articles I read?  The message seemed to repeat itself over and over and that was to make yourself more interesting!  You would have thought it was make better art.  Being interesting isn't necessarily an easy thing to do.  At least for me.

I now know quite a few artists and some of these individuals just seem to light up a room when they walk through the door.  That is a wonderful trait but did I ever mention that I really like the dark?  That's right...I hardly ever open my curtains and blinds during the day.  I love a dimly lit room, cloudy, overcast days and thunderstorms.  So I guess I'm not the "Light UP A ROOM" kind of artist.

Other artists I know walk around in flowing colorful gauze dresses and leggings.  The brighter the better it seems.  They look like a walking paint palette with legs. I just wouldn't feel comfortable being surrounded by that much color I think.  I love to wear just plan denim and the brightest color in my wardrobe is teal.  I love to wear navy blue and brown.  I guess I should wait before going out and try to figure out what size of leggings I would wear.  That thought just gave me goosebumps.

I noticed cowboy boots and even hats are big accessories for some artists.  I wonder if they wore these before they started painting or did that habit just sort of evolve as they became more popular in galleries around Texas and Wyoming?  I wonder.  I think my calves are too chubby for boots and I have a rather round head that I just don't think would hold a cowboy hat on it for very long.

Another marketing video I watched said that I needed to have "A STORY".  An interesting story that is easy to remember and that when they hear your story your circle of influence will go out and repeat that story to all their friends.  Wow...I'm still chewing on that one.  It is on my vacation to do list- Write My Story.

So today, I guess I'm blogging a blog about how I'm not naturally interesting.  I know there probably are those that would object to me saying this because it sounds negative and I am being to harsh and unkind.   I do know that we are our own worst critics but frankly, I feel that I have lead a rather boring life up to this point. You know what?   I'm not sure I'm uncomfortable with that fact.  After all, I am an older retired accountant who has just recently changed boats in the middle of this stream of life and I catch myself often I'm looking around boat for an extra large life preserver.  I guess you could call that a neon orange accessory.    A number of those artist type people in the boat with me are a diverse group of creative individuals and very talented artists.  So who am I to talk about leggings and cowboy boots like it is some sort of a gimmick to sell more art.  I do have to admit when those neon leggings walk into a room, people are bound to take note.

So I had better back on track with this blog because obviously I am struggling with the "Be More Interesting" .  I thought you might enjoy a few sketches I have done during the past few days while on my artistic sabbatical.  I hope you find them INTERESTING!

Zentangle with Triangles

I love zentangles and my Tombow N60 (blue grey shade) is my favorite pen to grab.  You can see that I love the way it adds dimension to a drawing by simply applying an outline the shapes.  You can see it, the line is there but your attention isn't  drawn away from the object.  The result that I just love is that it actually makes the object appear to jump from the page.  That simple line gives your drawing a 3-D quality.

Chick using Color Pencil over Tombow markers

You can really see that effect of the shadow outline here on my little chick sketch.  By the way besides my N60 Tombow marker I have fallen in love with a new pen. It's called "Le Pen" by Marvy.  I think it is a .05 but I threw away the packaging and can't quite remember what it said.   I just by chance picked it up at Hobby Lobby a week or so ago, and to my amazement I have discovered that it does a great job of outlining over the colored pencil portions of my work.  You see, colored pencil leave a waxy coating and the drawing pens I have used so far really struggle with this. (Prismacolor Premium Fine Line Markers)   I really like adding a nice thick, black outline to the sketch after I have finished all my pencil work and blending.





So here I am just playing around and  practicing my feathers.  The goal here is to start getting more fine detail in my sketching technique.

Practicing Feathers-Color Pencil over Watercolor

If you like these drawings then you should check out all my artwork on my website, Julie Townsend Studio.

Artistic Journal Post-Love the that weave background shadowed by my trusty N60 marker

The rest of the pictures posted her for you viewing pleasure consist of actual Artistic Journal entries that I did and I then for a WOW factor, I threw in a few sunset photos taken with my cell phone just to round everything off.  Pretty interesting, huh?

A true artistic journal post complete with date and my thoughts

Sunset on Day 4

Sunset on Day 3

Art Journaling

It was an epiphany!  My fascination with calendars, organization and art journaling, none of which I do very well could all be combined into one.  I never considered it until just now.  I have a dear friend, Victoria Thatcher who has always been so crafty and has really beginning to get noticed for her graphic creation of her lovely planner stickers.  I look at her stuff and while I love all of it, I just don't see me successfully keeping up with "THE HAPPY PLANNER".

How do you balance the technology the calendar on my tablet offers and the beauty of an artistic journal.  Even on my tablet I can't find the perfect calendar that allows me to both journal my day, have a to do list and document all my appointments. It is also so cold and sterile looking.  Certainly nothing to get excited about.   I don't think there is a perfect app out there so I'm just going to have to embark on a journal journey.

Every year I buy a new Marjolein Bastin planner, not because I just love the way the planner is organized but because of the beautiful illustrations she has done and the feel of an artistic journal that it has.  Her notes about the illustration printed on each page.  To be truthful and honest, I barely use the planner during the year but love to look at her amazing artwork.

I usually carry with me a portable sketching bag that contains several small sketchbooks and a "Creative Journal" but I hate to admit that both are sadly neglected.  I'm turning 55 this summer and what am I doing with my time!  I want to record my thoughts, special things in life and yet I just don't do because I"m so worried about it looking perfect or not having the "RIGHT" book with me at the time.  

NO MORE!  I'm turning over a new journal leaf and creating a gallery to document my discoveries. If you see me, you are not going to see my "LIFE JOURNAL" far away.  I read this blog yesterday by Hali Karla  and I love her quote

"An everyday {art} journal – one that you carry with you as much as possible – is a way of keeping track of the breadcrumbs in your life – you know, the little shimmers and synchronicities that vibrate in a moment but can be so easily forgotten as the moments move on."

I came up with this design this morning and snapped a quick picture of it with my phone as I ran off to work.  The pressure comes in when later I have to fill it with something that I hope is inspiring because 2016 is almost half over.  

A Blank Page in my Journal-ready for me to record my day

GRAB and GO STUDIO

In an earlier post I mentioned that I would talk about my portable art studio in a bag and so this morning I took this photo of all the contents spread out so that I could show you what elements  have added to my bag that I carry almost everywhere I go.

• The BAG- I purchased this small shoulder bag at the local Wal-mart store for about $8.00.  It has several pockets and some sections inside to help keep my thing organized.  It is large enough that I can add small sketchbooks and even my iPad but not so large that I'm tempted to bring things I don't really need.  Not shown here but often in the bag is either my 24 piece Prismacolor 24 colored pencils or my Sakura watercolors field sketch kit, depending on what I'm doing.  
• CREATIVE JOURNAL- I try to always have my creative journal close at hand.  You never know when a creative idea is going to strike and the last thing you want to do is write some life changing genius idea down on a napkin that will be discarded at some point without your knowledge.  Your great idea along with it.  
• SKETCHBOOKS- I have two small artistic journals and a sketchbook that will allow me a creative surface no matter where I am.
• ASSORTED DRAWING UTENSILS-  I think you can tell that I am partial to Prismacolor because my little can of drawing utensils have both multiple pens and pencils all from Prismacolor.  I have a kneadable eraser, pencil sharpener, a white Gelly roll pen, 2 painting brushes and 2 sizes of stumps for blending.  They are all housed in a little tin container that had beautiful hummingbird greeting cards in that I bought at Ross a number of years ago.  It's a perfect size and doesn't seem to give me problems with coming open when I don't want it to.  Functional and pretty, that's a win win in my book. 
• CHARGER- I have an extra iPad and phone charging cords so that I can't be far from technology if my battery starts to run low.
• MARKETING MATERIAL- I carry a few business cards, some invitations to my upcoming show and a few greeting cards I can give away if the opportunity arises.   VERY IMPORTANT!  Unless you are very successful as an artist or very wealthy and you can hire a manager, you are your own marketing staff.  Make it a habit to always have your business cards and giveaways with you. 

My Portable GRAB AND GO Art Studio in a Shoulder Bag

The Start of my First Painting for 2016

I know the month is half over and I'm just now starting my first painting of 2016.  Seems a bit out of character for me but things have been very hectic.  I started out the year with some sort of respitory virus that really caused me to slow down and then last week I have the start of an ongoing family medical emergency that is requiring daily trips to the hospital.  I also know that the more hours you spend in the hospital your chances of catching some sort of sickness goes up exponentially and so for a second time this month I found myself once again on the sick bed.  So even with the best laid plans to make 2016 my ART YEAR, I'm here on January 21st and not having much to show creatively for the past few weeks.

I was able to add one sketch in my artistic journal while waiting in the hospital surgery waiting room.  I drew a jersey calf because I plan to start a painting.  Sketching details that you plan to add as components in your composition help you to understand the subject and also help you paint it with more accuracy.  This little sketch is only with graphite pencils and a little black ink but my other recent cow sketches are done using Prismacolor colored pencils.

After completing these two renderings, I decided that I really liked how the soft brown of the Jersey calf rather than the little holster looked against the blue of the morning glories.  So a Jersey cow it is with his big brown eyes and soft brown fur.  Now that I have actually started the painting on a 24x36 canvas and am painting it vertically for the emphasis on height, I have decided to add the mother cow to the composition.  I only have her roughly sketched in with a white pastel pencil but I think there was just going to be way too much blank space without her.  This piece is just roughly blocked in at this point and if I can stay healthy long enough I hope to make real progress on it this weekend.  I will share some progress photos of the work in my future blog posts so please keep check back.

If you like my work and would like to see more, check out my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com.  Also consider leaving a comment below.  I would love to hear from you.

A Studio That Fits in Your Pocket

I know that as of late I have had a number of posts about my recent little artworks painted on the side of cowbells.  And while the cowbells are my current focus due to the popularity of them among my Facebook friends and local galleries, I thought today I would share some of the sketching I have been doing recently.  

I was keeping a larger sized journal for the past year, but with the pressure of filling up the larger pages, I found I wasn't drawing it on a daily basis like I intended.  In January I purchased a pocket sized sketchbook journal at Michaels and I just love it.  I carry it in my purse along with my .005 Pigma Micron drawing pen.  It is small and easy so I can pull it out whenever I have a few minutes. 

I'm filling the pages with practice doodles, zentangle designs and intricate sketches.  Not only do I find this fun and relaxing, I completely believe that keeping your drawing skills sharp is one of the best things you can do to improve your painting skills.  

I hope you enjoy these pages I've selected and I would love to hear from you about what you are drawing.

For a look at my more SERIOUS artwork and fun COWBELLS, come visit my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com

Sunflower sketch that I did today.  I LOVE the torn paper border look

A page full of Zentangle designs.  Practice makes perfect!

Playing with contour lines.  I love how it gives the illusion of being sucked into the center

Playing with a rope design for a border

My beautiful niece Laura

A fun ZENTANGLE KITTY

Making a Mark

I was stuck by that simple phrase yesterday- "Making a Mark".  What a great title for my journals and so I'm going to be working to add a tab on my website that showcases my journal entries and hopefully I can inspire others to grab a pencil or pen and join me in creating their own artist journal.

Yesterday, was a stressful and not very productive day for me.  I haven't painted anything for almost a week now and my studio is still in disarray from our long vacation.  So many things need to be put away and organized first.  I find that it is hard to be creative in the middle of a mess.  So distracted and disorientated, I chose to retreat to my journal and try to record my feelings instead.  

I have to say that I am having fun drawing simple cartoonish drawings that tell a story rather than focus on skill.  When I am done drawing, my spirits are lifted and I almost always feel like smiling.  

If you are interested in viewing my serious artwork, you can check my website out at JulieTownsendStudio.com.  

I Completely Agree with Vincent....Vincent van Gogh that is!

"I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing."
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) Post Impressionist painter

I couldn't have said it any better myself!  What a wonderful and simplistic way to express my own feelings about drawing.  I recently started an "Artist Journal" so that I could record an event or a thought artistically and without the pressure of trying to create something for public display.  I find there is something freeing about just sketching for fun and yet I am hoping that as I fill up my sketchbook with little humorous and even cartoonish entries that this book will be a treasure for my family to cherish long after I am gone.  I'm really thinking of starting a personal sketchbook for each grandchild.  Wouldn't that be a great thing to pass down?  

I have included a number of my sketches that span our recent 5 week camping, roadtrip adventure that tooks us through Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and a day trip into British Columbia and Alberta Canada.  What an amazing time we had and I thought it would be fun to share with you.