The Value of Miniature Sketching

February 6, 2026February 6, 2026 | Patricia

“A day is a miniature eternity.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I try to adhere to a daily practice of creating something—be it a paragraph or two to further a story or verse; a thumbnail sketch, or a quick concept to be used later for a larger work of art. I like the challenge of doing tiny works, making sure they have the same impact and balance as larger pieces.

I found this 2” square seascape in an old sketchbook today.

I generally list materials used for future reference: In this case, I used Faber-Castell, Grumbacher and Gallery Soft Pastels, plus a few CarbOthello pastel pencils. Created May 24, 2023, 1130am.

What practices do YOU use to preserve ideas to use for later works?

L’ORANGE: One of My First Notes App DRAWINGS. created in 2023

January 15, 2026 | Patricia

“Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.” ~ Wassily Kandinsky

One of my first experimental Notes App Sketches drawn on November 18, 2023. Then exported to Procreate to optimize and add text and outline. Anyone else out there using these note-taking tools for illustrating or other graphic uses? Tell us about it.

Drawing whether using an HB lead pencil, a set of professional watercolours or digitally using an Apple Pencil and iPad, are all valid tools to express creativity. This simple drawing was one of my first sketches using the iPad’s Notes app drawing tools. The basic sketch was then Imported into Procreate, enlarged, digitally optimized and adding text and outline.

What is your favourite medium? The ‘go-to’ tools you pick up when a spur-of-the-moment idea strikes your creative funny-bone? Pop them into the comments section.

Drawing is Putting a Line Around An Idea: Henry Matisse

September 1, 2025September 1, 2025 | Patricia

“In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing.” ~Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), Post-Impressionist painter.

I love both of the quotes above. Matisse’s observation that drawing ‘puts a line around an idea’ is spot on. Sometimes getting an idea from the head to the hand is harder than one might think. Other days it flows easy as silk.

The Van Gogh quote speaks to me at a gut level. The advancing osteo arthritis in my shoulders and hands has been an ongoing block over the past few years leading to great stretches of time where I do little drawing and instead concentrate on writing (often using a voice-to-text app). Still I push on because making art is simply part of my DNA.

Drawing is still my all-time favourite way of expressing myself artistically. Whether as a simple HB lead pencil scribble or a more ‘finished’ example, such as the canine eye study shown here. Drawing is the skeleton that underlies all other techniques. It is the base construction. Here, I was demonstrating how sharpening coloured pencils to an extra long point offers a variety of line and shading techniques to the artist—from fine lines to broad shading.

What is your favourite medium? The ‘go-to’ tools you pick up when a spur-of-the-moment idea strikes your creative funny-bone? Pop them into the comments section.

Quick sketch of painted Posies in a glass vase

August 10, 2025August 10, 2025 | Patricia

“ I paint flowers so they will not die.” ― Frida Kahlo

This quick sketch, painted in 2022, shows how much movement can be produced in a quick rudimentary study. In this case, I created this concept in Procreate, using oil paint brushes. This process makes it easy to quickly get a concept down which can then inform a later, more detailed, work using analogue materials. It’s quick. It’s better for the environment (fewer caustic materials going into landfill). It’s a great way to test positioning various elements on the page, experimenting with how the elements relate to each other as well as testing various ways to place the elements on the canvas (I’d move the main elements a bit to the right, tho not centred, in the next iteration).

All artwork and creative writing is Copyright ©️ of Patricia White. No use of this content or concept may be used without the express permission of the artist/author.

The Great Orb

June 29, 2025 | Patricia

“As the great orb hovered above the land, it felt sadness. It was time to depart this place, this existence. To move on where others need its presence. “Peace be to all living beings who inhabit this space. May your way forward be a gentle journey.” ~ Patricia White

I often write a paragraph or two as a story idea reflecting my Daily Notes app sketch.

Above is an excerpt from the The Great Orb work-in-progress:

This Daily Drawing is part of a recent series of posts showing work that was created in the Apple Notes App (essentially a writing app) using just the basic drawing tools within the text-based app. The basic art is sometimes resized and enhanced in Procreate 5 on my 12.9” iPad Pro. Over the past year or so I have experimented with simple drawings made with these rudimentary drawing tools iPad Pro using a second-generation Apple Pencil as my sketching pencil, ink pen and paint brush.

This drawing exercise has been an effort to show that all the bells and whistles contained in dedicated paint applications are not always needed to create interesting art. If you try the experiment of sketching in the Notes app with its in-app drawing tools, please post a link to your work in the comment section.

Altered Ego: Daily Notes App Drawing

June 21, 2025August 11, 2025 | Patricia

“There’s a mysterious alter ego in everyone. Some call it hallucination, some call it art.” Bhavik Sarkhedi, Author and Branding Expert

I often write a paragraph or two story idea reflecting my daily Notes app sketch. Here is an excerpt from the Altered Ego work-in-progress story:

“She woke up feeling fuzzy-headed, one foot still in the sleep world and the other planted firmly on the floor beside her bed, feeling something heavy and oppressive commanding her thoughts. Thoughts that were still back in the realm of the sleeping, not quite connecting with the waking world.”

This exercise has been an effort to show that all the bells and whistles contained in dedicated paint applications are not always needed to create interesting art. If you try the experiment of sketching in the Notes app with its in-app drawing tools, please post a link to your work in the comment section.

Notes App Drawing – World of Many Suns

June 8, 2025June 8, 2025 | Patricia

“If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one.” ~ from the Bhagavad Gita, a quote made famous by J. Robert Oppenheimer in reference to the atomic bomb.

What would happen if the earth was thrown into a system with multiple suns? Would it survive? Could it adapt? If life was sustained, how would it be different?

This Daily Drawing is part of a recent series of posts showing work that was created in the Apple Notes App (essentially a writing app) using just the basic drawing tools within the text-based app. The basic art is sometimes resized and enhanced in Procreate 5 on my 12.9” iPad Pro.

Over the past year or so I have experimented with simple drawings made with these rudimentary drawing tools iPad Pro using a second-generation Apple Pencil as my sketching pencil, ink pen and paint brush. This exercise has been an effort to show that all the bells and whistles contained in dedicated paint applications are not always needed to create something interesting where there was nothing before.

If you try the experiment of sketching in the Notes app with its in-app drawing tools, please post a link to your work in the comment section.

Notes App SKETCH – Skyscape

June 6, 2025June 6, 2025 | Patricia

“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This Daily Drawing is part of a recent series of posts showing work that was created in the Apple Notes App (essentially a writing app) using just the basic drawing tools offered within the text-based app. The basic art is sometimes resized and enhanced in Procreate 5 on my 12.9” iPad Pro.