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)