Landscapes

Daily Soft Pastel and Pencil Sketch

| Patricia

“In the springtime, the heart regrows hope.” – Angie Weiland-Crosby.”

ART FIX: I, once again, have restarted my practice of daily experimental art-making. Sketching, collage, writing, anything to drag the ideas out of my head and on to paper.

Journals for creative writing as well as to make notes for art-making. A tiny sketch pad and a small basket of writing, drawing and painting materials close to hand.

This is a quick little soft pastel and pencil sketch, exploring texture and colour combinations.

Grabbed colours randomly, without thinking about how they might work together. Not sure how successful this combination was but it will form part of my colour catalogue to inform choices for future works.

Practicing a total spur-of-the-moment, don’t-think-just-do, creating.

Drawn 2/6/2026.

What practices do you use to create when the spirit is not moving you?




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.

Rolodex Watercolour washes

| Patricia

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~ Pablo Picasso

When I closed down my design business years ago, I had a box of blank Rolodex cards in a storage cabinet. As most artists are packrats, I thought , “hmm, maybe I can do something with these”. So they sat for years and then I started trying out watercolour wash combinations on them. Kept in a notebook, these make great colour studies for future works.

I ran across them today and saw that they could be ‘matched up’ to create a kind of segmented landscape work. Here, a skyscape and a foreground.

Where do you find inspiration for art or written works?

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 Value of Miniature Sketching

| 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?

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.

Painting Sunny and Cloudy Skies

| Patricia

“The sky, a perfect empty canvas, offers clouds nonetheless. The shift and drift and beg interpretation. Such in the nature of art.” ~ Jeb Dickerson

Explore light, color and movement in cloud studies inspired by those of John Constable.

Artists Network has a good tutorial on painting skies from Maria Baggetta. Take a look and consider a membership. I’ve been a member for a couple years and, even as a seasoned artist, I constantly find interesting information and techniques to explore. Click the image below to read the article.

7 Tips for Painting Sunny and Stormy Skies

by Marla Baggetta

All artwork and writing is Copyright of the artist/author.

Notes App SKETCH – Skyscape

| 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. 

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 this experiment, sketching in the Notes app with its in-app tools, please post a link to your work in the comment section.

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.

excellent guide to pen and wash painting

| Patricia

“Anyone who stops learning is old. Whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” ~ Henry Ford

Pen and Wash, an artist‘s guide to combining ink and watercolour by John Harrison.

I recently purchased John Harrison’s excellent book: PEN and WASH – an artist’s guide to combining ink and watercolour.

Though I have worked in these mediums for years, I believe that we can always learn new techniques or ways of looking at creating, from others.

Like Mr. Harrison, I was also a graphic designer, and found that my design was influenced by the knowledge of scale and placement that I learned studying fine art. Check out this excellent guide: https://drawninyorkshire.com/pen-and-washthe-book/

The book is also available on Amazon and as Kindle and Kobo downloads.



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.

‘EYE SEA’ – A Wee play on words

| Patricia

“Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.” ~ Wayne Dyer

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. 

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. This piece is one of a number of works created for use as a greeting card series.

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

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.

Drawing in the Apple Notes App

| Patricia

“A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.” ~ Paul Klee

The chronic arthritis in my arms and hands can complicate the making of art. On days when it is particularly problematic, I often draw on my iPad Pro in apps such as Procreate, Adobe Fresco and other dedicated painting apps. Lately, however, I have been enjoying the simplicity of the Apple Notes app drawing tools as a vehicle for creativity. I generally use the Apple Pencil for navigating around the tablet to cause less stress on my hands. If the sleeping iPad screen is awakened with an Apple Pencil, it will open Apple Notes with a drawing page open with the tools available (I also open a Quick Note by using a gesture from the bottom right into the centre. See more info here). In this drawing I primarily used the watercolour and ink pen brushes. Give it a try and post a link to your drawing in the comments.

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.

Paint Like CÉZANNE

| Patricia

Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensations.”
– Paul Cezanne

Over the past months I have been reacquainting myself with many of the master artists of the past. Most of them came from traditional roots and many were ridiculed when they broke with tradition to explore other ways of looking at and depicting a subject. They are also the artists we revere the most all these generations later.

This is my quick study, working title ‘Paint Like Cézanne’

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.