Sometimes, a good goodbye is also a fresh hello.
As we wrapped up our "Sacred Spaces" paintings, I asked our student teacher to design a one-day project—something playful, earthy, and engaging to ease the class into her care. She brought mud. Literally.
Using mud and simple stencils, students pressed images—flowers, insects, wings—onto the sidewalk behind our school. There's something timeless about making marks with the ground itself. It felt ancient and immediate at the same time.
These prints won’t last long, but maybe that’s the point. A fleeting image, a shared laugh, a new hand guiding the next phase of learning.
Art is about making marks. Not all of them need to be permanent.
It's never been my practice to stick pins into insects and collect them that way, but drawing them is quite appealing. These are created with Prismacolor pencils and a Micron pen.
Hello, this is me in sunglasses. My name is Tricia (they/them) and I live on the east-coast of US in Maine (which is up by Canada). I look forward to the cooler weather. My goal is to draw more insects and moons in the future. Hope you have a great day~
Every day in 2017 I drew in a Moleskine Japanese (Accordion Fold) Album (pocket size) with the goal of completing one continuous drawing all year. I filled up nearly six complete sketchbooks, completing a drawing that is 5.5 inches high and more than 600 inches wide. Now, what do I do with it?
Mantid on a rose bud was done on Strathmore Bristol with Derwent Graphitint (tinted graphite) pencils. I love these insects and they are all over the rose bushes this time of year. I tried to capture her natural grace and beauty as she stepped down from her rose bud perch while eyeing her prey.
Mixed media, colored pencils and Photoshop. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea) are a very small songbirds and are most frequently encountered in pinyon-juniper habitat but can be found in any low-elevation areas with an abundance of shrubs. It prey mainly on small insects. Main source: https://www.instagram.com/camilojulianc/
I just finished the Calandra Lark. Here are some facts about this beautiful bird...
Appearance: It's a large lark, about 17.5-20 cm long, with a robust build, a heavy bill, and noticeable pale eyebrows
. Its plumage is mainly greyish-brown streaked above and white below, with large black patches on the breast sides.
Habitat: This species is found in open plains, steppes, pastures, and dry cereal cultivations. It's mainly resident in the west of its range but Russian populations migrate further south in winter.
Diet: Their main food source is seeds, but they also consume insects when nesting.
Behaviour: Calandra Larks are known to be gregarious outside the breeding season, often forming large flocks.
Song: Their song is considered musical and slower than the Skylark's. It has been historically popular as a cagebird.
These masters of leaf-like camouflage can be found throughout Southeast Asia, with some of the biodiversity hotspots being Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea . This is Nanophyllium suzukii watercolor painting, I like so much this technique. More like this on: https://www.instagram.com/camilojulianc/
The implementation of the project for the Akademos kindergarten in Poznań has ended. The idea behind the project was to create a jungle staircase in which children will be able to cover something new every day while walking down the corridor. Many animals, reptiles, and insects are hidden in the thicket of plants. So that the number of details and small elements does not overwhelm the space, we used a black and white combination with small colorful accents, which are also to stimulate the imagination of children. Realistically painted birds are an additional decorative element, which can be a background for photo sessions.
Continuing my insect series. This yellow jacket was drawn with Micron pens and water-based markers. I used graphite for the shadow and a Gelly Roll pen for highlights.
The implementation of the project for the Akademos kindergarten in Poznań has ended. The idea behind the project was to create a jungle staircase in which children will be able to cover something new every day while walking down the corridor. Many animals, reptiles and insects are hidden in the thicket of plants. So that the number of details and small elements does not overwhelm the space, we used a black and white combination with small colorful accents, which are also to stimulate the imagination of children. Realistically painted birds are an additional decorative element, which can be a background for photo sessions.
