Art Journal Birds and Books on Sketching and Painting

A peek inside my art journal shows what's on my mind. Birds. No Surprise!

Have a look at five pages from my mixed media journal followed by details on how they were created. I've also included some book recommendations at the end of this post for learning or improving doodle-y sketchy paint-y skills.

These birds are practicing some birdie acrobatics and feeling very brave while they do so...

And this red bird is savouring the quiet on a gloomy grey day.

While this gold and pink chicken is being blown by a gust of wind. A storm must be brewing.

And finally, these penguins are surely feeling the love. Awww.

Each of these sketchy paintings were "found" on a background randomly applied paint. A pencil found the shapes and the addition of paint refined the details. Each painting has a bit of text added on the left as a kind of caption for the drawing.

Update: See my art journal bird paintings in under one minute in this quick flip through:

or see it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/dRRQvWLcdNI

And now, some book recommendations.

For inspiration and instruction on creating your own pictures and paintings check out  If You Can Doodle You Can Paint by Diane Culhane.

Full of fun, this book has step by step instructions on taking a simple doodle and translating it into a painting. Everything from what to doodle, to supplies and process are included. Suitable for everyone from beginners to advanced, there is something here for anyone interested in drawing and painting.

For help and ideas to get started with drawing, have a look at 20 Ways to Draw a Doodle and 44 other Zigzags, Twirls, Spirals, and Teardrops by Rachel Taylor.

Full of instruction on getting your pencil moving, this book is great for beginners or anyone wanting to get unstuck from creating the same old doodles

Also from the series is the excellent 20 Ways to Draw a Tulip and 44 Other Fabulous Flowers by Lisa Congdon.

Simple, beautiful and helpful ideas to get sketch onto paper, these books also have blank spaces for those who like to mark up pages with their own interpretations.

And for even more fun, The Art of Silliness by Carla Sonheim is a must read.

Easy, approachable and as the title says, silly, this how-to can get anyone loving to doodle, and in only 10 minutes a day. That's do-able. What's not to love!

Now, Go forth and Doodle.