Challenge Yourself to Improve Your Skills

 

Blog 6

 

Hooray, I am almost at the half-year mark. At the time of this blog's publication, I will be in Vancouver, visiting my son and his fiancée. Therefore, I will post the artworks of the month and my images from Vancouver in an additional blog on July 10.


Let's start with the last four drawings from May. The comic characters are inspired by my three Cartooning and Comic courses at François Dupuis Recreation Centre in Orléans. During the four-week session, we developed characters from simple shapes, drew characters in movement, and explored a variety of facial expressions. 

 

Great Crested Flycatcher, Running Carrot and Apple, Pink Trillium, Blue-Purple Iris

For my June daily art project, I decided to dedicate three days each to one colour. I started with objects that were mostly white. 

 

Peony, Dove, Teddy Bear

I continued with predominantly yellow ones. I could have drawn flowers the whole time but wanted to change it up. Therefore, I drew a garden snail with a yellow shell I saw on a walk in Germany after some heavy rain. The teapot is from my yellow phase, when I loved surrounding myself with yellow objects. It is part of a tableware set. 

 

Peony, Garden Snail, Teapot, Comic

Inspired by the Saturday Cartooning and Comics courses, I created my own mini comic. Even if you don't speak German, you probably can understand the sequence. 

  
Here is the translation:
Image 1: Yummy!
Image 2: Oh no. My ice cream... 

 

Hibiscus, Dog Toy, Carrot

Looking for different objects to draw, I picked up our dog's favourite toy, a ball with round dentations and a hole for treats. A friend gave it to our previous dog. However, he didn't like it. We only found out when we adopted Shadow that you can fill it with food that will fall out when the dog rolls the ball around. No wonder Alex didn't care for the ball.
 

While I was already in the kitchen, I checked  the fridge and found carrots, Shadow's and my favourite lunchtime vegetable.

Before I started drawing red objects, I asked my Facebook followers for suggestions. They chose a gerbera, a peacock butterfly and an Adirondack chair. The gerbera and the butterfly were pleasant to capture. However, the Muskoka chair was very demanding, which I knew from the moment someone mentioned it. Nevertheless, I accepted the challenge. As I always struggle with perspective, I measured a lot, using a pencil. I was lucky that a felted cushion covered part of the seat. It made drawing the chair a bit easier. It is still a bit flawed, but it was the best I could achieve.

 

Red Gerbera, Peacock Butterfly, Muskoka Chair

 
Instead of continuing with purple, the next secondary colour on the colour wheel, I picked magenta. It is one of my favourite colours and impossible to mix. Therefore, I always pick up a tube of paint or, in this case, a magenta-coloured watercolour pencil. 

Pink Peony, Cosmos, Magenta Bear

I started with the blossoming peony from our yard. The following day, I was short on time and picked the simpler cosmos bloom.  The last subject of my art was a bear I created about ten years ago.

 

Continuing with purple, I painted an iris from our garden. Then, I drew lupins that always remind me of a spring trip to Prince Edward Island.  The delicious haskaps are from our garden. When I bought the two bushes a couple of years ago, I didn't even know that you could eat the delicious fruits.

 

Iris, Lupins, Haskaps

I will continue the colour series after my return from Vancouver, where I plan to capture sights of each day.

 

If my images give you ideas that you would like to transform into a needle-felted painting, I invite you to my upcoming two-part workshop, Bring Your Inspiration to Life in Wool.
 

Bring an image of your choice (a pet, flower, landscape, or any subject that inspires you) and I'll help you transform it into a needle-felted painting.

📅 August 10 & 17, 2026
🕕 6:00–9:00 PM (EDT)

👉 Register now!
🐦 Early Bird Price: $140 CAD ($150 CAD after July 1)

Art to Celebrate Spring's Rebirth

 

 

Blog 5.2

 

It’s hard to believe, but I have already been creating daily art in my sketchbook for the past five months. In fact, despite visitors and vacations, I only missed one day in March.

During May, I have been especially excited about the blooming flowers everywhere. At home, I studied many of the spring flowers in our garden, finding the white flowers the most challenging. I have been experimenting with Prismacolor coloured pencils with varied success. While I like them for bright flowers, I prefer watercolour pencils for the softer transitions and watercolour effects.

 

  

After my return from Germany, I only spent one day at home before we headed to the cottage for a week of relaxation. I couldn't resist drawing the geese gliding noisily through the water in the Ottawa River, our cute dog waiting for my husband, and one of the cheeky chipmunks that raced around the cottage. I also captured the only tulip that bloomed next to the cottage.

 

Gerbera, Chipmunk, Trillium, Cat, Orange-and-Purple Tulip

 

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to paint downtown during the Tulip Festival, but I still visited Major's Hill Park with my daughter and took photos of the beautiful tulips. At home, I drew the brilliant orange-and-purple tulip above and the pink-and-white tulip below. 

 

The cat above was sitting on the sidewalk next to the house where my daughter lives. I wondered if it was missing my daughter's cat that was at our house at the time. 

 

I drew the Iris during one of our virtual Painting Buddies meetings. After the meeting, I used a water brush to create the watercolour effect. Hélène Martin provided the reference photo. 

 

 

 

Yellow Magnolia, Violets and Forget-Me-Nots, Iris, Pink-and-White Tulip, Rosetta Kalanchoe

 

Usually, I don't touch an image anymore after I draw it. However, I was very unsatisfied with the dull background of the Yellow Magnolia drawing. Therefore, I painted over it with watercolours. Unfortunately, I also reworked the blossoms. After adding several layers to the image, I gave up, because I had already spent too much time on this drawing. It was still a good exercise.

Instead of reworking the image any further, I might try painting the blooms again in watercolour or acrylic.

 

 

On May 23, my three four-week Cartooning and Comic courses at François Dupuis Recreation Centre started. In the first class, the children created superheroes or villains from simple shapes. I was inspired to create a male ice cream character consisting of a raspberry scoop (circle) on a waffle (triangle) with chocolate frosting. 

 

Later, I wondered if the character wouldn't look better with long hair and a skirt. I didn't want to draw the figure again. Instead, I used the photo software on my computer to edit the original image. With a freehand pen, I drew the skirt and outlines, and used the pink highlighter for the hair. The chocolate frosting turned into a hairband.

Bleeding Heart, White Tulip with Rain Drops, Yellow Archangel, and a garden snail

I will post the last May images and my June artworks in my June blog on June 26, 2026.

 

 

Until then, I wish you a wonderful spring. If you enjoy creating art in a social setting, I invite you to my Spring Art Café on June 14, 2026, from 2 PM to 4 PM. We will create beautiful paper flowers from old magazines and books. I will provide all the art materials and light refreshments. Let’s have fun together creating art, chatting, and laughing to build connections. 

Memories of Germany - Travel Art

 

Blog 5.1

 

Due to the large number of artworks since my last blog post, I decided to publish an additional blog this week with the drawings and paintings from my time in Germany. 

 

 

I returned from Germany in early May. During my visits with relatives and many friends, I received so much generosity and hospitality. I witnessed the frailty of my older relatives and realized even more how precious our time together is. Therefore, I concentrated on connecting with the people I only see once a year. I still created daily drawings, often late at night after my parents went to bed, but only started one watercolour and one needle-felted painting.

 

 

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Many spring flowers were already blooming during my visit. My drawings reflect the blossoming nature. I was extremely fortunate with the weather and experienced only three rainy days during my entire stay, with temperatures rising up to 27 degrees in the last week of my stay.

 

 

 

 

Except for trips with my parents and friends, I only relied on public transportation. Therefore, I have some sketches of fellow passengers. For the first time, someone talked to me about drawing people on the train, asking me if I had asked the person’s permission, which is not necessary as long as you don’t create a drawing that clearly identifies the person. I am more interested in the posture and how it affects the body's perspective and proportions. I struggle immensely with glasses. The person concluded the conversation with a dismissive comment about my drawing abilities. I consider it all a good way to practice, whether it turns out the way I envisioned it or not, but someone who hasn’t tried creating art might not understand my motives.

Unfortunately, my pencil sketches are usually very light. When I took the pictures, I couldn't increase the darkness of the images without also increasing the darkness of the writing on the backsides.

 

To strengthen my connections with art collectors and students, I invite you to my free Art Café on June 14, 2026, from 2 PM to 4 PM. I still have three more spaces available. If you plan to join us, please register soon.

This event offers an opportunity to connect through conversation, shared food, and a fun art project. We will create beautiful paper flowers from old magazines and books. I will provide all the materials and some light refreshments. You are welcome to bring a treat, especially if you have any dietary restrictions.


I will publish my regular May blog on May 29 with the rest of my May daily art projects. Until then, enjoy the  abundance nature offers.

There Is Always Time for Art

 

Blog 4

 

I already wrote this blog before I left for Germany on April 11, 2026. Therefore, this blog is shorter than usual. 

First, I share the last four March images, which I created after publishing my March blog.

 

 

The first image was influenced by my final Cartooning and Comics class of the winter semester at François Dupuis Recreation Centre in Orleans. I created an image of Patrick from SpongeBob. I don't recall my kids watching the show. However, they often talked about the characters. Therefore, it is a bit like a trip to the past.

If your child loves to draw, the spring semester runs from May 23 to June 13, 2026. This four-week session is a great opportunity to explore drawing and storytelling while creating their own unique comic.

For the last three days of March, I picked a tea cup from a recent café outing with my daughter. The cup and saucer were challenging to draw due to the perspective and ornate decorations. I almost wanted to switch subjects after the second day, but I persevered.
 

Here are the images from April 1 to 10. I am proud that I continued drawing daily, despite the visit of a friend from Germany and our week-long stay at the cottage, which included our Easter celebration with my family. Luckily, my friend Bob, who has been creating daily art for years, advised me to create my art either before everyone else got up or after everyone else was in bed. I chose the second option because I prefer to work until late at night, when everything is quiet around me.


After a delicious waffle breakfast on April 1, I drew the dish that evening. It was a complicated composition with many fruits.

 

  

Inspired by the Easter holidays, I chose a bunny sculpture for my practice. During the five days, I drew the bunny from different views. I created the first two images in 45 minutes, but needed an additional 30 minutes for the last three drawings. The easiest was the back view. The bunny looking to the left side felt the most challenging, maybe because I am right-handed. 

When I researched my theory, however, I found that many right-handed artists feel that drawing subjects looking to the left is easier. 

Here are some reasons I found online: 

• Right-handed people move their hand more comfortably towards the left across the page, away from their body, allowing for smoother, more controlled strokes. 
• Drawing a face looking left means the dominant hand doesn’t cover what has already been drawn, making proportions and details more clearly visible.
• Many right-handers find that drawing curves feels more fluid towards the left. 

Do you have a preference? 

 

On April 7, we went to the Wilno Tavern in Wilno, Ontario. Not only was the food delicious, but I loved the fresh carnations on each table. While we waited for our food, I sketched one in the sketchbook I always carry in my purse.

After we returned to the cottage, I created a coloured carnation with my watercolour pencils and a water brush. It's much darker than the ones on our table, but I got my shadows too dark, so I had to adjust the light pink of the flower to keep the balance.

Thinking about the last three days before my trip to Germany, I wondered what I could draw, considering that I would not have much time. We travelled home from the cottage on Friday and left for Germany on Saturday. I decided to reverse the order of my previous three-day projects, starting with a one-hour drawing. As the subject, I picked a landscape from our week at the cottage.

 

 

I will post the drawings from my trip and the additional May ones in my blog on May 29, 2026. 

Have a wonderful May and enjoy nature's blooming miracles!