My daily drawing journey continues with the help of #cbdrawaday. Day 14 was my favorite so far. The subject was thistle. Not something typically found around the house. So I packed up the sketchbook, watercolors, and other supplies in a backpack and hit the trail in search of thistle. What I noticed is that while I was looking for thistle, I was looking at everything with a more discriminating eye. The shapes of the clouds, the textures of the plants, the colors on the trail were richer and more vibrant. There was an abundance of thistle along the trails and I had the opportunity to be selective by noticing the different colors, the varying states of blossoming, and even the appearance of the thistles on the stem. Once my thistle subjects were selected it was an experience to create outside. Today was a sunny day with a blue sky filled with stratocumulus clouds. This became an interesting challenge when the shadows would disappear and reappear while completing the shadow drawing. It affirmed that the shadow is not absolutely necessary. The shadows merely provide a guide and once on the path, I can forge ahead even with the path isn’t clear.  That is what I appreciate so far about this practice. Not only does it provide a meditative outlet and focus, it parallels life in so many ways. In this instance with the thistle, something unapproachable at first glance is transformed into something beautiful just by taking a closer look.

Below are a few of my favorites from the week. You can see all of the daily draws on Instagram.

• Day 11 provided an opportunity to explore different lines, shapes and angles by shadow drawing toy cars. 

• The subject for Day 10 was marbles and was another chance to play with watercolors.  Still learning so much about this watercolor medium and techniques through ongoing practice. I am loving working with watercolors. So much freedom and versatility.

• Day 8 used faux flowers, in this case poppies, and watercolors as the source of shadows. This exercise allowed playing with layering of colors to generate texture and different gradations.