Plein Air Sketching in Northern England

Joel and I returned to England again this spring, but this time we headed north. We toured Manchester, the Lake District, Yorkshire and finished in the Peak District. The weather somewhat co-operated, but we persisted anyway and managed to do six sketches. Is there anything more pleasant than sketching in an English garden and/or countryside? No, I don’t think so 🙂

Fall 2022 roundup

Here is a roundup of my most recent editorial illustrations:

A portrait of Jane Addams for re:Porter Magazine
An illustration of Hull House in Chicago for re:Porter Magazine
Portraits of architects for Ottawa Magazine
Portraits of employees for Digital Stronghold
Fall bucket list illustration for WBEZ Chicago
Illustration for a fictional story about storm drainage for Skeleton Park Press
Portraits of academics for Dim Sum Co.
Portraits for Diablo Publishing

Sketching in Iceland

Joel and I recently rented a campervan and toured around the Westfjords and a bit of the north of Iceland. We had a fun trip, but the weather was definitely not conducive to plein air sketching (rain and gale-force winds) but we managed to get four paintings in regardless.

Prints are available in my Etsy shop

Dorset and the Jurassic Coast – plein air sketching

Joel and I finally had the chance to go back to one of our favourite destinations: England! We spent two weeks there in total, the first 5 days in London and the next 10 days touring the New Forest then heading into Dorset, the Jurassic Coast and ending up in Lyme Regis. We were excited to get back into plein air sketching again (it’s always more fun when you’re on a trip).

We had an absolutely amazing time! We had two weeks of sun and beautiful spring weather. It did us a world of good 🙂

Prints are available to purchase in my Etsy shop.

Corfe Castle view from the village of Corfe.
Corfe Castle
Easily our most ambitious subject; the Helter Skelter in Weymouth.
Working on the Helter Skelter sketch.
Thomas Hardy’s Cottage.
Joel and I at Thomas Hardy’s cottage.
view of Lyme Regis.
Beautiful day for sketching in Lyme Regis.
On our way back to London, we stopped in at Monticute House with its “wibbly wobbley” hedges.
Another view of Elizabethean mansion Monticute House.
And of course, a trip to England is incomplete without the requisite afternoon tea, this one at the Dalloway Terrace in London.

Library Card

I was very glad that the Westport Public Library thought of me to help illustrate and re-design their new library card. It warmed the cockles of my booklover heart. I wanted to pay homage to the resident swans in our local lake here.