Illustration Friday "Beard"

My submission for this week...

Illustration Friday Submission

So..I decided to submit my painting  "American Summer" 

for this week's Illustration Friday. Perfect for the "Summer" topic. 

Fun Illustrations from my Art Journal

I've always loved to doodle from my imagination, apart from painting.

Here's some recent images....

Beauty around you

 I thought I'd share a few inspiring jems with you.
I love the beauty of the colors of nature.

The Storms of Summer

The storms of Summer are bringing some amazing views to the 

lake recently. I thought I'd share. I pray you are having a 

summer full of blessings!

Getting Out!

So I finally got my paints together and pushed myself out the door to paint today! 

I made it short and sweet. I chose a simple landscape 

and painted for about an hour straight once I got set up. 

Here's my results. Not bad I think for not doing this in a while. 

It can be cumbersome to take some colored goo (aka paint) and 

mush it around and make it look like anything in such a short span. 

So, I'll give myself a gold star for today. It helped that I listened 

to my favorite inspirational station while I painted, Z88.7, so it felt good.  

Although this was a quick painting on a 4x4 panel,
 the sky was constantly changing 

due to storm that moved in while I was on location.
Even the cloud colors changed from a warm grey to
a cool grey. Needless to say I ended in a downpour!

Inspiration to Paint

As an artist, I naturally drew as soon as I could pick up a pencil.

Painting, however, for me was intimidating.,Especially oil painting. Inspiration struck,
on an unplanned trip to Ottawa, Canada, where a Tom Thompson exhibit was on display.
I was amazed by the colors, the brush stokes. His plein air work had a feeling of presence and being in nature that I loved. Once I got home, I started to paint and haven't turned back since.
Here's a glimpse of this inspiring individual!

Morning's Quick Study

Revving up for more plein air work, I decided to do a quick study in 

watercolor of my bird, Scooby, on the back porch.