First Friday Art

Poem with an artsy mat: First Friday Art

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I framed this river poem I wrote with an artsy mat. The green paper contains small leaves, and the brown paper includes little bits of bark and sticks. I bought this paper at an art supply store.

poem with artsy may

I created the blue paper by dripping acrylic paint onto a pan full of liquid laundry starch and gently swirling it. You drop a piece of paper onto this mixture and peel it away to get a marbled effect “print.” It’s a fun process because you never know how it will turn out.

I altered the length and position of each line of this poem to imitate a meandering river. By showing the poem with an artsy mat and changing the layout, it became a unique piece of art. When I entered this piece in a state fair competition, it won a blue ribbon. 😀

Here’s the poem in another format.

River Retreat

Traveling from afar to alight

In an oasis of comfort and contentment

A restful sleep wakening to

A joyful dawn chorus from feathered friends

Breaking the fast with

Nourishment for body and soul

Flying away

Until the river beckons us again

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First Friday Art

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Penjing drawing & photo: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a colored pencil penjing drawing I quickly drew this morning. Penjing, or penzai, is the Chinese version of Japanese bonsai. While bonsai often focuses on a single tree, penjing represents a scene in nature in a “three-dimensional painting.”

In China, these plantings have been created since at least the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to 221 A.D.).

penjing drawing

My drawing is based on a penjing planting at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon. In my photo below, the wall of the gift shop made an interesting background.

planting at Lan Su

I’ve always admired the artistry that goes into creating penjings. It requires a lot of patience and foresight.

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First Friday Art

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3 fish 3 ways: First Friday Art

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Today, I’m sharing images I created of 3 fish 3 ways. When I took an ichthyology class at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, we visited the aquarium in Vancouver, B.C. Our assignment was to sketch some of the fish we saw and write down notes related to their life history. What a fun assignment! 😀

My first picture shows a pencil sketch of three fish. I drew a Longnose Butterflyfish, Forcipiger longirostris, a Swallow-tailed Angelfish, Genicanthus melanospilos, and a Smoothed Unicorn Tang, Naso lituratus. These three have great common names.

3 fish 3 ways

I traced a copy of the pencil drawing and outlined each fish with an ink brush pen.

pen and ink drawings

In the last of my 3 fish 3 ways pictures, I quickly filled in the ink outlines with watercolor pens. The coloring of these fish varies widely.

Note to self… use a good quality watercolor paper next time. Since I used cheap printer paper, the paint dried fast and I couldn’t blend it.

watercolor pen fish

Here’s the watercolor pen set I used. I found it at one of the gift stores in downtown Bend. I like having them organized in a handy case.

watercolor pens

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First Friday Art

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Deer drawing and video: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a deer drawing and video. I used black and gray pens to create this drawing of a mule deer buck.

deer drawing

I see mule deer regularly near my High Desert home. They often trigger our security cameras. I’m sharing a couple of videos of a healthy buck checking out our cameras in the middle of the night.

A week ago, while out walking in the Old Mill District of Bend, I had a close encounter with a deer. A doe charged at me, stopping within three feet of me. There were two fawns and a young buck nearby. The trails were icy so no one else was out there walking. There weren’t any trees nearby to hide behind, so I stood my ground, waved my arms, and yelled at her to go away. She listened to me eventually and left.

she stands by his side

Protective doe and her fawn

Earlier this year, we had a fawn “trapped” on our fenced property. Though he was big enough to jump our 4-foot tall wire fence, he didn’t have the confidence to try it. His mother was very protective of him and charged at us and our dogs several times. After ten days of putting up with that behavior, I chased the reluctant fawn out of our yard by running towards him with a walking stick. He jumped the fence easily.

Deer may look tame, but they are wild creatures who will not hesitate to protect their young. My advice is to admire them from a safe distance. 🙂

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First Friday Art

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Tiger mug & photo: First Friday Art

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Today I’m featuring a tiger mug. I originally drew this piece with pen and ink. Later, I added color with acrylic paints. It was printed onto ceramic mugs by a professional printing business.

tiger mug

I drew this when I was running for a School Board Director position many years ago. Our mascot at the high school was a tiger and I put this image on my campaign literature. It must have worked because I won over a longtime incumbent. 😀

Since I like to print artwork on things people can actually use, I had a big batch of tiger mugs printed. I also printed some onto canvas grocery bags.

I’m including a photograph I took of a Sumatran tiger. Though tigers are known to sleep 16 to 20 hours a day, I caught this one at a wildlife park in a blur of motion.

big cat in motion

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First Friday Art

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Elephant seal drawing & photo: First Friday Art

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I did this elephant seal drawing as part of the Inktober challenge. On October 9th, the prompt was “heavy.”

elephant seal drawing

I drew this quick sketch with a black Pentel Brush Sign Pen Artist pen and I used a gray Tombow ABT pen for the shading. I especially liked the Pentel pen since you can easily vary the width of each stroke with the brush tip. The Tombow pen has a soft brush on one end and a hard tip on the other end.

elephant seal drawing pens

Since I was going to be traveling during part of the Inktober challenge, I wanted a small pad I could tuck into my backpack. I found this cute little watercolor book. Yes, the paper has a rougher texture than I would prefer, but it worked out well.

drawing book

I taped a copy of the 2025 Inktober prompt list onto the inside cover.

Drawing book

This is the photograph I worked from for the elephant seal drawing. I thought of this pair of seals I saw at Elephant Seal Vista Point north of San Simeon, California. They appeared to be smiling. I’m not sure they really were, but they certainly looked comfortable.

content critters

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First Friday Art

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Great Egret drawing & photo: First Friday Art

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On a recent trip, I saw a Great Egret up close. I thought I should try to draw one of these elegant creatures. For this drawing, I used a pen that has a brush on one end and a narrow tip on the other. It was my first time using one of these pens and I think I’ll improve once I get used to them. I also used colored pencils for the eye and bill.

Egret drawing

I saw this egret on a beach near San Simeon, California. The bird was not bothered at all when people walked close to it. I guess if you stand over three feet tall with a wing span of around five feet, you don’t care if other critters get too close to you. 😉

Great Egret

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First Friday Art

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Pronghorn sketches & photo: First Friday Art

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Here are a few pronghorn sketches I did while working on one of my books. I was going to include a pronghorn doe as a character, but decided to remove her from the manuscript. I already had a lot of animal characters. Don’t worry, she’ll show up in a future book or story.

pronghorn sketches

I’m also including a photo of two pronghorn does in Yellowstone National Park. They are such graceful creatures.

two pronghorn does

If you want to learn more about pronghorns, check out one of my previous posts.

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First Friday Art

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Mount Rainier images in 3 ways: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing Mount Rainier images in 3 ways. Mount Rainier is an iconic mountain, southeast of Seattle, Washington.

This active volcano reaches a height of 14, 410 feet at its peak. Native American tribes surrounding the mountain had 20 different names for it. One of them, *nÉ™(xÊ·)xÊ·ak’ʷ, translates to “(sky) scraper.”

Here’s a quick pen and ink drawing I did of Mount Rainier. This is a very simple line drawing.

Mount Rainier drawing

Next, I show a picture I took of the mountain while on a flight to Seattle from Bend. There were some great clouds and low-lying fog that day.

Rainier from above

The last picture shows an embroidery I did of Mount Rainier while I was in college. Since I hadn’t done much embroidery when I created this, I used a running stitch for the whole piece. The stitch is simple, but this was a time-consuming, complex piece of work.

These Mount Rainier images portray the mountain in simple to more complex ways.

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First Friday Art

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Eye drawings and paintings: FFA

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Today I’m sharing eye drawings and paintings. The first three show pencil sketches of human eyes; the second three show paintings of animal eyes done with acrylics.

Pencil drawings

In the first drawing, I tried to convey a person who is bright and inquisitive. Slight changes in how open the eye is and the position of the eyebrow can change the emotions you are trying to portray.

eye drawings and paintings

In the next drawing, I show the eye of a person who is sad and anxious.

eye drawings and paintings

In the last drawing I started out trying to portray someone laughing, but I think it turned into a slightly mysterious, Mona Lisa-type smiling expression.

pencil sketch of eye

Acrylic paintings

The next photo shows a close up of an Australian shepherd I painted on a rock with acrylics. Though I could have added more shading to the eyes, I decided not to. The expression could be seen as startled or alert.

Australian shepherds’ hauntingly blue eyes often are referred to as “ghost eyes.” Here’s a quote from Dogster about this feature:

“According to legend, Native Americans considered them sacred animals whose unique eyes linked them to the spirit world. Other legends speak of heterochromatic dogs as being able to view heaven and earth simultaneously.”

Here is a close-up of one of my current dog’s eyes. Her other eye is predominantly brown, so she has heterochromatic eyes. Now I understand why she sees things in a unique way. 🙂

Close up of dog

The next painting shows a close up of a fox rock I painted. On this rock, I added a light color on the bottom of the eye and darker color near the top eyelid. This adds depth to the eyes and shows the fox’s sly personality.

fox painting

The last painting shows a close up of a lion’s eyes. On this painting, I added a thick black line around the eyes. This “eyeliner” effect pulls your attention to the eyes. They give this lion a powerful presence.

eye drawings and paintings

I hope these eye drawings and paintings show you different ways you can portray a person or an animal’s personality.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.

First Friday Art (FFA)

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Rattlesnake drawings & photos: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a few rattlesnake drawings and a couple of recent photos I took. I did these drawings when I was working on a writing a character in a book. When I draw a character, it helps with my writing.

Rattlesnake drawings

Roca, the rattlesnake character, gets his power from thundereggs. Thundereggs are the official state rock in Oregon. As of this year, they have been designated as the state rock for 60 years.

Here’s a photo of a giant one that I had cut in half. I found it at the Priday Polka-Dot Agate Beds, located near Madras. Read more about this amazing site here.

Thunderegg cut in half

Anyway… back to rattlesnakes. While participating in a workshop through Playa at Summer Lake, we stopped at Abert Lake. At the north end of the lake, we saw not one, not two, but three rattlesnakes rattling their rattles. Here’s one of them.

Great Basin rattlesnake

In Oregon, there are two subspecies of Western rattlesnakes. The one pictured above is a Great Basin rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus lutosus. The other subspecies is the Northern Pacific rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus.

Here’s another snake nearby.

snake in the grass

We may have seen three snakes in close proximity because they denned together over the winter and recently emerged. Reptiles have a hard time regulating their body temperature. In the winter, they gather together and go into a kind of suspended animation called “brumation.”

Though people may fear them, it should be remembered snakes play an important role in maintaining the balance in ecosystems. They play a significant role in controlling rodent populations.

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First Friday Art

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Pygmy rabbit drawing & facts: First Friday Art

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Today, I’m sharing a pygmy rabbit drawing I created with pen and ink. These tiny rabbits are the epitome of cute. They are the smallest rabbit in the world.

Life history

This rabbit weighs between 9 to 15 ounces and measures between 9.2 to 11.6 inches in length, small enough to fit in your hand.

pygmy rabbit

Pygmy rabbits, Brachylagus idahoensis, live in sagebrush-steppe habitats. Unlike other rabbit species in North America, they dig their own burrows. Their range includes parts of Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and California. Washington and Wyoming’s populations are genetically isolated. The Washington state population is endangered and attempts to captive breed them with rabbits from other locations have met with limited success. Elsewhere in their range, biologists classify them as Least Concern.

Comparing pygmy rabbits to mountain cottontails

I saw this rabbit on my back porch one day and I believe it’s a pygmy rabbit. Their fur color is uniformly brown to dark grey and their ears are small and rounded. Pygmy rabbit’s short brown tail is nearly invisible under their fur.

pygmy rabbit

I’ve also seen black-tailed jackrabbits and mountain cottontails on our property. This photo, also taken on my back porch, shows a mountain cottontail face to face with my cat for comparison. It had a white tail and undersides and large ears. Yes, my cat enjoyed the free show. 😉

Mountain cottontail and cat

More life history

In the winter, pygmy rabbits feed primarily on sagebrush. In spring and summer months, they add grasses to their diet. Pygmy rabbits also eat roots, wood, bark, stems, and seeds, grains, and nuts. Weasels, coyotes, foxes, badgers, bobcats, owls, and birds of prey feed on this rabbit. Predation can eliminate up to 88% of juveniles and adults. Other threats include habitat loss, competition with heavy livestock grazing, severe weather, isolation of populations, and road mortality.

Though we have limited information on their reproduction, they produce 4-8 offspring in late winter and early spring. They may raise their young inside burrows, but no one has found any.

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First Friday Art

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Dog travois sketch & photo: FFA & TTC

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Here is a dog travois sketch I drew based on a display at the Plains Indian wing of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming.

Before the introduction of horses in North America, people relied on dogs to pull loads up to 75 pounds in weight. After the use of horses became commonplace, dogs continued to carry lighter loads.

This quick sketch was done for the Inktober challenge in 2024. The prompt for that day was “nomadic.”

dog travois sketch

This beautiful display at the Buffalo Bill Center shows a woman walking beside a dog travois. A man on horseback leads the way. Native people have relied on dogs as guardians, hunters, and companions for hundreds of years.

Plains Indian on the move

I’ve used saddlebags on my dogs in the past, but travois carry much heavier loads. Here’s a historical photo of dogs pulling travois in Alaska in 1897.

Two Klondikers with dogs packing supplies along the Chilkoot Trail near Dyea, Alaska, 1897. Frank La Roche, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Three Things Challenge (TTC) – people

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Magpie & Painted Hills painting: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a painting I did of a Black-billed Magpie flying over the Painted Hills. They are both characters in my magical realism work-in-progress novel with the working title of Darkness of Hills, Lightness of Wings. I wrote this book for kids in the 8 to 12-year-old age range. Yes, it’s fiction, but it includes factual information related to history and nature.

In the book, the main character, Jīnsè, moves from China to Oregon to work with her grandfather, a local doctor. After a traumatic event, she develops the ability to understand animals and also receives messages written on the hills. The magpie character shown in my painting is named Liàng. Jīnsè also has a snarky seagull friend she names Rěnshòu.

magpie & painted hills

I painted this piece on watercolor paper with watercolor paints and ink from inksticks. I used my set of Chinese brushes. Once again, I was impressed with the Chinese inkstick ink. The ink has a nice consistency. I edited the picture with Corel PaintShop Pro.

Most of the time, I do pencil sketches of characters when I’m working on books. I decided to put a little more effort into creating a color piece. Becky Wallick, my blogging friend at Wild Sensibility, suggested I include some of my artwork when I send out manuscripts for review. Thanks for the great idea, Becky!  😊

I used this picture I took at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in eastern Oregon to create my magpie and Painted Hills painting. The colors of the soil on this visit really stood out after a rainstorm.

After the rain painted hills

I took this picture of a magpie in Bozeman, Montana. Though they live in my neighborhood in Bend, I’ve never had one visit my yard. Maybe one day…

Black-billed Magpie

Kam Wah Chung

I decided to write a book for kids after visiting Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site in John Day, Oregon. When a long-abandoned building was opened in 1967, a treasure trove of artifacts was discovered inside. This building served as a medical clinic and apothecary, meeting place, boarding house, place of worship, and store for Chinese immigrants and local residents from the late 1880s to 1940.

The store inside Kam Wah Chung, John Day, OR 26October2018
The store inside Kam Wah Chung

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First Friday Art (FFA)

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Asparagus drawing & photo: FFA & FF

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While participating in the Inktober challenge last fall, I created this simple asparagus drawing with pen and ink. The drawing prompt for that day was “roam.”

asparagus drawing

We have a restaurant in downtown Bend named Roam and I’ve taken several pictures while dining there. I took this picture of an asparagus dish we had last summer. It was delicious!

food at Roam

For the drawing, I edited out several of the asparagus stalks.

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Foodie Friday (FF)

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Waterlily paintings & photo: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a couple waterlily paintings and a photo I created. I attempted to paint the waterlily using a traditional Chinese style. Artisans train for years to perfect this type of painting. My first efforts at Chinese brush painting pale in comparison.

In the first painting, I used watercolor paint on a smooth cold press paper. Since I like showing a lot of detail in my artwork, this type of painting, where less is more, was challenging. This was my third attempt at doing this style of painting.

Waterlily watercolor

In the second painting, I used acrylic paints on a mixed media slightly grained paper.

I worked from the photo shown below of a waterlily blooming at Petersen Rock Garden and Museum.

waterlily

Before doing the waterlily paintings, I familiarized myself with the brushes using black ink. The quality of brushes varies, but sets can be purchased online at low costs.

Chinese brush set

Here are some of the exercises I did with ink using hard and soft brushes. I really enjoyed doing these exercises. When using some of these techniques, you hold the brush straight up and down instead of at an angle. I used The Chinese Brush Painting Bible by Jane Dwight as a guide.

brushwork

Inkstones and Inksticks

I recently decided to purchase an inkstone and an inkstick. You grind the inksticks on the inkstones with a little water to make ink. In the Chinese period dramas I’ve watched, they frequently feature characters grinding ink. The inkstone I purchased is of a simple design, but some are elaborate works of art.

I bought an inkstick because you can vary the density of color more than you can with traditional bottled ink. To see the ancient method used to create inksticks, watch this FASCINATING video. The oldest Chinese inkstick artifacts date back to the 12th century BC.

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First Friday Art (FFA)

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Magpie silkscreen & photos: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a magpie silkscreen image I created with blue ink. One of the things I like about Black-billed Magpies is their contrasting black and white plumage. There are a lot of birds that are showier than magpies, but their simple markings make them a good subject for art.

Magpie silkscreen

Though I’ve only created one magpie silkscreen, I’ve done several paintings and drawings of this bird in the past. Here’s a magpie I painted as part of a mural on my studio/guesthouse.

Black-billed magpie Siobhan Sullivan August 2020

Here’s a photo of a magpie perched on a fence in Bozeman, Montana. They are year-round residents in much of western and central North America.

Black-billed Magpies are omnivores that feed on a wide variety of plants, insects, birds, and small mammals. They are also opportunistic feeders. Here’s a picture of a couple magpies trying to get a bite of a rabbit a Red-tailed Hawk was feeding on.

hawk with prey and magpies

The scientific name of Black-billed Magpies is Pica hudsonia. When people have compulsive cravings to eat things with little to no nutritional value, it’s referred to as a ‘pica disorder.’ This temporary disorder is most common among children and pregnant women.

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First Friday Art (FFA)

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Corky’s Bunny: First Friday Art

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Years ago, I volunteered at an artists’ cooperative gallery in Bellingham, Washington. A man named Corky regularly visited the gallery. He had special needs and, despite his challenges, always had a sunny outlook on life. One day, he asked if I could draw him a rabbit. I drew him this pen and ink drawing that I titled, “Corky’s Bunny.” I decided to portray this rabbit looking up because that’s what Corky always did.

I’ll never forget how excited Corky was when I gave him the final drawing. I only charged him ten dollars for the original artwork. To him, this drawing was something of immeasurable value that he would always treasure.

Corky's Bunny

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Boot for walking drawings: First Friday Art

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Before going on a long trip, I spent a lot of time shopping for a good boot for walking. Today I’m sharing my pen and ink boot drawings and photos.

boot for walking

While considering different boots, I considered the fit, materials, quality, etc. These Chaco boots seemed to be just what I was looking for. I liked the styling, but also how you can roll up the cuff to keep your ankles warmer in cold weather.

Chaco boot

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Owl shirt & sign: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing an owl shirt & sign I created. I’m featuring a drawing I did of a Flammulated Owl, Psiloscops flammeolus. When I originally drew this small owl with pen and ink, it was one of my favorites. In fact, I liked it so much I made it my logo for the art business I once ran.

First, I’ll share a photo of the t-shirt. I used sublimation ink, sublimation paper, and a hot press to transfer this image.

owl shirt

As mentioned in a previous post, I’m still learning how to do sublimation printing. This time, my first transfer didn’t work well at all. I used the settings included with the hot press. When I redid it, I used the settings recommended by the sublimation paper manufacturer. On some fabric products designed for this transfer process, there may be an additional set of instructions. I figured out you should keep extra blank products to discover the best settings.

Here is a closer view of my owl shirt. A few areas aren’t as dark as they should be, but it turned out well overall.

owl print

Next, I’m sharing a picture of a sign from my one-time business, NatureWise Art. For a while, I participated regularly in arts and crafts fairs with my wildlife art. I sold stationery, prints, boxes, and rocks featuring my artwork. Creating this post showing my owl shirt & sign reminded me of the many hours I put into participating in fairs.

owl shirt & sign

Since I’m an introvert, these events weren’t easy for me. I thought I must not have inherited my family’s salesperson gene. Later, while working as an elected School Board Director, I learned successful politicians rely upon the key qualities of salespeople regularly. Over the 12 years I served, I became a salesperson. Though I no longer work at fairs or serve as an elected official, I “sell” information and entertainment on this blog site.

I have always said that everyone is in sales. Maybe you don’t hold the title of salesperson, but if the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales. Zig Ziglar

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First Friday Art (FFA)

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Fringed gentian drawing & photo: FFA & FOTD

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Today I’m sharing a fringed gentian drawing I created from a photo. I used colored pencils for this drawing. Originally, I planned to paint over the drawing with water since I had used watercolor pencils. However, I decided to leave the drawing as is because I liked how the texture of the lines turned out.

fringed gentian drawing

Did you know that the fringed gentian, Gentianopsis detonsa, is the official flower of Yellowstone National Park?

If you visit the park in the spring, you’ll see lots of wildflowers in full bloom. We were there in the beginning of June 2024.

I took this picture at Black Sand Basin, just west of the Old Faithful area. As soon as I saw these blooming beside the boardwalk, I knew I wanted to do a fringed gentian drawing to try to capture their beauty.

Fringed gentians

I previously featured another photograph of fringed gentian and showed how they look with three different photo processing techniques. These flowers look pretty, no matter how they are presented.

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Flower of the Day (FOTD)

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Gray squirrel drawing & photo: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a gray squirrel drawing and photo I created. I drew the squirrel with a charcoal pencil.

It’s fun to work with charcoal because you can change its appearance by using different techniques. You can “stump” it by using the side of a charcoal stick, your finger, a chamois cloth, or other materials to spread it. Since it lifts easily from a surface, you can erase or scrape parts of it off. Some artists mix charcoal with water or other liquids .

Gray squirrel

I’m also sharing a photograph I took of a gray squirrel at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. I like this picture because it looks like the squirrel is giving me a fist bump. The diagonal streams of water from a sprinkler in the background add an interesting detail to the photo.

fist bumping rodent

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Brown Pelicans drawing & photo: First Friday Art

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Here’s a pen and ink drawing I did of a Brown Pelican. Brown Pelicans are big seabirds with a unique appearance.

They capture fish by diving into the water and scooping them up in their stretchy throat pouches.

Brown pelican drawing

I saw several Brown Pelicans perched on posts at Seafarer’s Park in Warrenton, Oregon last summer.

brown pelicans

Seagulls and cormorants perched and flew nearby. This park is at the mouth of the Columbia River. It’s not far from Fort Stevens State Park, a popular destination for campers.

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First Friday Art 

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Cedar waxwing drawing & photos: First Friday Art

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Cedar waxwing birds are one of my favorite kinds of birds. This month, I’m showing a simple pen and ink drawing I did of one.

cedar waxwing drawing

When you first see a cedar waxwing, you might think of it as “simple” looking. They don’t have bold markings. Instead, their markings blend together smoothly.

Their tail feathers are tipped with a yellow wax-like substance and their wingtips are tipped with red.

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Coyote print & photo: First Friday Art

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A coyote howling drawing

Today I’m sharing a coyote print & photo. I drew the coyote in pen and ink and printed it with sublimation ink onto special paper. Then I used a heat press to transfer it onto a fabric bag. I gave the finished product to a friend for a birthday present.

coyote print & photo

This was my first attempt at this type of printing. It turned out a little blurry. I tried transferring another one of my drawings and didn’t have the press hot enough. Maybe I should have read the suggested settings by the fabric manufacturer. 😉

Sublimation printing

What is sublimation printing? It uses heat to bind the ink and fabric together. A post on prodigi describes it as follows: “The inks that are used turn into gas when brought under heat, then combine with the fabric and permanently print onto the fabric.” They compare it to a tattoo.

Sublimation ink & paper

One thing to think about if you are considering trying this type of printing; the printer should only be used with sublimation inks. Fortunately, the cost of the equipment is relatively low. I bought an Epson ET-2800 printer and an Offnova heat press machine for less than $300 total. Of course, you can spend hundreds of dollars if you want products with more features.

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Apple drawing & photos: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing an apple drawing I did using the stipple technique with pen-and-ink. I used hundreds of tiny dots of ink to portray this red delicious apple.

Most of the time when I’m working on a final version of a drawing, I work on it from start to finish. However, when I’m doing a stipple drawing, I often take breaks. Sometimes I go back to it the next day. You have to concentrate on not overlapping dots in most of the drawing. If you’re too hyper or too tired, you will mess up. I was happy how this drawing turned out after working on it for a couple of days.

apple drawing

To go with the drawing, I’m sharing a photograph I took of a red delicious apple. For this portrait, I used the Food setting on my Samsung Galaxy phone. I like how it blurred the background. It reminded me I should experiment more with other settings on my phone.

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Vine maple drawings: First Friday Art

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Today I’m showing a few pen-and-ink vine maple drawings I created. Years ago, I took a Scientific Illustration course during spring quarter at the University of Washington.

The teacher had us take a cutting from a tree or shrub and place it into a glass of water. I clipped off a piece of vine maple, Acer circinatum, growing in my yard. Each week, we drew the twig using a different technique. The twigs leafed out a little more throughout the course. I thought it was one of the most clever teaching ideas I’d ever seen.

The first drawing shows a vine maple line drawing with varying weights of line. With certain nibs, if you press down the line becomes heavier. This is a view of blooms close up.

Vine maple drawings

The second drawing shows the stipple technique. It takes a steady hand to do all those tiny dots of ink.

Maple branch
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3D owl & photo: First Friday Art

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My son recently printed this 3D owl with his brand new Anycubic Kobra Max 3D printer. The owl stands about 3.5 inches tall.

3D owl

I decided to try painting it since I’ve never painted a 3D sculpture before. First I sanded it and painted it with a white base coat.

Then I began painting the owl with acrylic paint. I usually draw and paint freeform so it was a little different to try to work within the raised lines of the sculpture.

painted owl

I attempted to use some of the markings you’d see on a real Great Horned Owl. This 3D pattern included a little flower on top of the owl’s head and I painted it yellow.

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Painted turtles drawing & photos: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a pen and ink drawing I did of a painted turtle. I have fond memories of them as a child, when I kept painted turtles as pets.

Painted turtle

I’m also sharing a couple photos of them I took in Custer State Park in South Dakota. When we made a quick stop to walk the dogs, I was surprised to see this “island” near the road.

Turtles in the sun

When I took a closer look, I discovered the island was covered with painted turtles, taking a break in the warm sun. Cool! 🙂

Turtles

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Happy Hyopsodus 3 ways: First Friday Art

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While visiting Wyoming, I noticed the interesting pose of this happy Hyopsodus wortmani fossil at one of our stops. To me, it looked like a dog asleep on its back.

Extinct small mammal

I thought I’d try to draw what it may have looked like based on the fossil. The first drawing is in pencil.

Happy Hyopsodus drawing

The second one is pen and ink, drawn with a dip pen with a pointed nib tip dipped in ink.

happy Hyopsodus

On the last one, I added a light wash of acrylic paint.

painting

You may have noticed the Hyopsodus I drew is smiling. Do mammals smile?

Here’s a recent picture of one of my dogs, hogging both dog beds. You be the judge. 😉

bed hog dog

Check out the happy Hyopsodus and many other amazing fossils at Fossil Butte National Monument in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Tough terrier painting: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing an acrylic painting I did of a tough terrier. He’s resting comfortably within the spines of my cactus garden. Juniper berries and branches cushion his bed.

tough terrier

I used to sell my artwork at craft shows and a customer requested this rock. The elderly woman described her dog’s two-colored face. Unfortunately, I never saw her again. Maybe she passed away.

The spirit of her dog “Charlie” lives on in this little rock, guarding my garden.

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Eagle drawing & photo: FFA & BOTW

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This month, I’m sharing an eagle drawing I created. This is a pencil sketch of Rapaz Nube, the evil character in one of the books I’m working on. Rapaz Nube translates as “Cloud Raptor.” He shifts shape and is always harassing the main character, Melodía. She and her companions go on a quest to return water to a parched land.

Eagle sketch

I’m also sharing a photograph I took of a Golden Eagle on its nest near Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. This nest is in the same area where my fictional novel takes place.

Raptor on nest

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Bird of the Week (BOTW)

Hummingbird painting: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a hummingbird painting I painted. I did a quick drawing with pen and ink and later filled in the lines with acrylic paint. The colors of the fuschia flower and leaves are reflected in the plumage of the bird.

Hummingbird painting

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Cholla painting & photos: FFA & FOTD

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It’s time once again to share a piece of my artwork for the First Friday Art prompt. I created this watercolor painting yesterday afternoon. This is a cholla cactus in bloom. For my inspiration this month, I looked in my own backyard.

Cholla painting

We have a few kinds of cactus growing in our landscaping. You have to be careful when working around them or you’ll get poked by the barbed spines. I held my phone out at arm’s length and snapped a picture, but I couldn’t see the photo I took. It turned out surprisingly well, I thought. I like the how the spines radiate outward from the magenta blossom.

Cholla blossom

Several chollas grow in my backyard. I started a couple in the front yard by placing a cactus stem on the ground. There was no drip irrigation going to those parts of the landscaping, but the plants grew anyway.

Here’s one of the propagated cholla plants blooming. It’s doing great, and currently measures about three feet across.

Cactus blooming

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First Friday Art (FFA)

Flower of the Day Challenge (FOTD)

Ponytail drawing & photo: First Friday Art

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One of the prompts for the 2022 Inktober event was “ponytail.” My interpretation, shown below, was a quick pen-and-ink drawing of a pony’s tail. 😀

Ponytail drawing

I’m also including a photograph of a ponytail. Okay, it’s not really a pony, but people often mistook him for one.

This is Calypso Blue, a miniature horse I once owned. He measured 32 inches at his withers. Miniature horses are supposed to have proportions similar to full-sized horses, only smaller in size.

Mellow fellow miniature horse 9January2019

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First Friday Art

Mountain scene table: First Friday Art

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I created this mountain scene table with my husband twenty years ago. He made the table from milled birch wood and vine maple, cut from our property. I designed, painted, and carved around the mountain scene on the table’s top.

mountain scene table

Here’s a picture of the table while I worked on it. I painted the mountain scene with acrylics and used different colored stains on the game boards to mimic marquetry. Real marquetry uses different colors and types of wood that is cut and pieced together.

Mountain scene table
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Snowy Owl drawing: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a pen and ink drawing I did of a Snowy Owl. Some have more black markings on their feathers than others.

Snowy owl drawing

I once took a long drive to see a Snowy Owl when I lived in Bellingham, in northwestern Washington state. The owl had been spotted in a residential neighborhood in Point Roberts, Washington. To get to the peninsula where Point Roberts is located, you have to drive into Canada or get there by boat. At that time, it was quick and easy to drive into Canada from the states.

I’m including a map to show where Point Roberts is. Zoom out to get a better view.

When I got to where the owl was, I watched it perch on a fence post in someone’s yard, oblivious to the crowds flocking around it. The bird was there for a few days, just long enough for many birders to check this species off their list.

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Wild sunflowers: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a pen-and-ink drawing I did of wild sunflowers. These were growing at Wawawai Canyon, in southeast Washington State.

wild sunflowers

Here’s the picture from my archives I was working from.

Wild Sunflowers

The wild sunflowers in the photo below were growing on the east side of Steens Mountain in southern Oregon. There are 52 species of sunflower in North America.

Sunflowers & stagecoaches at Steens Mountain, Oregon August 2019
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Great Horned Owl painting: First Friday Art

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This month, I’m sharing a Great Horned Owl painting I did over the past couple of days. I used acrylic paint on a piece of unfinished oak wood. Sometimes I paint the main subject shape with off white paint before adding the color. I used this technique in my High Desert Mural. This time I did not do the lighter base painting.

Great Horned owl painting
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Killdeer sketches and photos: First Friday Art

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Here are a few killdeer pencil sketches I did while watching them in the field.

Killdeer sketches

These shorebirds always let you know they are there with their distinctive kill-deer call. Here’s one calling near Sizzling Basin at Yellowstone National Park.

furry & feathered, killdeer at Yellowstone National Park

In the photo below, you can see a killdeer defending its nest from ornithologist Pepper Trail at Summer Lake, Oregon. I circled it to make it easier to see.

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