A Peek In My Sketchbook: Mixed Media Migrating Cranes Painting

One thing I can happily say about 2020 is that I was able to stick to my plan of making a “sketchbook practice” part of my creative life! What can I tell you dear readers? While I was once very afraid and sceptical about sketchbooks, I am so very happy that I stuck with it, as today I am a staunch supporter! Sketchbooks or art journals, however you choose to call them, can truly be an amazing place to create, as without pressure to display your work, and without having to worry about what you’ll do with the results, you are FREE to just explore. And at the same time you are contributing another page to the story that tells the very interesting and inspiring tale of your creative journey! And once you have more than just a few pages completed, you may even, gasp, be okay with pages that weren’t all that successful, as that is part of the journey as well.

The other interesting thing I’ve discovered is that one page, or one spread in my sketchbook can inspire the pages that follow, imagine that, like an actual book! This happened to me last week, when after adding some tiny migrating cranes in the sky of my sketchbook llama family, I suddenly had the desire to try painting some cranes flying overhead. We are very fortunate to live on the migration path of cranes that fly from Europe to Africa in the fall, and back again in the Spring, and it is always a amazing site…….we scream to each other “cranes!” and we all run outside to witness a few hundred, or sometimes even more cranes flying overhead. Generally they are quite far away, but once a few flew much lower and I remember looking out of my kitchen window and even catching a glimpsy of some tiny crane feet!

So this somewhat loose mixed media crane painting in my sketchbook is all about capturing an exciting seasonal experience that we look forward to twice a year!

How To:

I am no painting expert, but I’ll tell you how I did this:

1. Paint the pages blue, then go over them with a wide brush adding some swirling strokes of white.
2. Use a black permanent marker to draw the shapes of the cranes, and look up a photo for reference
3. Use paint, white/grey/black to fill in the bodies and the wings.
4. Once the paint in dry go back in with a black permanent marker to loosely define the head/beak, the body, the legs and the feathers.

Okay, now go draw or paint something in your sketchbook!