Lunchbox Tiny Art

June 12, 2025June 12, 2025 | terriaw

I’ve been making a little illustration on a tiny piece of paper for the past few months that I slip into my husband’s lunchbox on Friday mornings.

Sometimes the illustration includes a little encouragement or motivation to get through the day.

Sometimes it’s just a fun little story.

I found a pack of watercolor cards in my stash that are about the same size as a standard business card, a perfect canvas to whip up a little illustration and remind him he’s not alone.

I’m on a roll of bringing positivity to the world so I’m going to keep going!

Wouldn’t these tiny illustrations make great greeting cards or a deck of inspiration cards?! Hit the subscribe button to see more of what’s to come.

Bird Nerd

May 6, 2025May 5, 2025 | terriaw

I discovered recently that I’m a bird nerd! I’ve always love birdwatching, especially the challenges of trying to get a photo and identifying them.

Often times, they move too quickly to get a photo. So I’m happy to be able to illustrate them.

I recently saw a ruby-crowned kinglet in my yard for the first time. I wasn’t familiar with this bird so I loved learning about it by drawing and painting it.

Then decided to turn this into a theme, illustrating migrating birds I’ve only seen passing through, like this white-throated sparrow. I identified them by their high-pitched, piercing whistle.

I’ve only seen a flicker once and would love to see them more. They remind me of a red-bellied woodpecker which I see all the time.

I don’t see Baltimore orioles too often, and usually remember to put out jelly and orange slices a little too late. But I’m grateful I’ve seen then a couple times.

And last, the scarlet tanager which I’ve only seen once in my yard or anywhere. It was quite a thrill!

I used a variety of mixed media, starting with a base of watercolor, then adding details with colored pencils, Neocolor II water soluable pastels, and white ink for highlights.

There are so many birds that I could spend a lifetime watching them and illustrating them!

Marsh Wetlands Collage

Marsh wetlands illustration by Terri Wilhelm

March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 | terriaw

I’m so excited to share this new illustration piece I finished in March!

I did some sketching first in my sketchbook to brainstorm ideas and test out different scene compositions and birds.

Then I illustrated the marsh background on a large piece of Arches hot press watercolor paper with watercolor and colored pencils.

I illustrated the birds on a separate sheet and cut them out.

Voila, my first collage illustration!

I started with the idea of illustrating birds since I haven’t focused on that in a while, which led to researching birds that live in a marsh wetlands habitat. I didn’t want to illustrate the birds and then have to do a background around them which led me to the idea of this collage. It turned out even better than my imagination!

I’m on a roll this year completing a bigger illustration project like this (outside of my sketchbook) each month, the Stargazing animals series in January, the Woodlands Map in February, and this Marsh Wetlands in March. Stay tuned for what’s to come in April!

Wood Lands Map

February 27, 2025February 26, 2025 | terriaw

There’s always a big list of ideas to draw, brewing in my head. My husband recently suggested I draw a map. Which I jumped on right away. I love looking at maps!

This illustration project was a lot of fun to play make believe and dream up a new wood lands.

I started out with a version in my sketchbook using colored pencils. I loved it so much I did a second version on Arches paper with watercolor paints so I could have it as a stand-alone print.

This illustrated map is full of deer grazing in a clover meadow, fox and raccoons drinking from a river, bunnies romping among the trees, squirrels hanging out in their tree hollow, turkeys chasing each other, bear surveying the woods where their secret den is. There’s also a crow and hawk flying overhead.

Fallen logs allow for crossing the river and tracks help you make your way on the trail. A couple run-down outbuildings might be a good spot to rest and have a picnic.

January’s great illustration project was all about Stargazing, February was all about this woodlands illustration map. Stay tuned for next month’s great illustration project!

Stargazing

February 3, 2025February 2, 2025 | terriaw

January is always a great month to stargaze – the air is crisp, skies are dark and clear.

I’m excited to share my new illustration series called Stargazing.

I really love how these illustrations turned out. I did them with watercolor, colored pencils and Neo Color II wax pastels on hot press watercolor paper.

I’m planning to order postcards and stickers so far, but there are many other nature gift shop-oriented products out there, like this adorable zipper pouch.

ZipperPouch-StargazingAnimals-TerriWilhelm

Remember to look up at the night sky and keep dreaming!

Woodlands Advent Calendar

February 2, 2025February 2, 2025 | terriaw

I had a lot of fun making this Woodlands Advent Calendar in Melanie Chadwick’s class.

Woodland Advent Calendar by Terri Wilhelm

The front piece is a tree with doors cut into it for each day. I painted the background with watercolor and the tree with colored pencils and Neocolor II wax pastels.

The piece behind is a grid of woodland flora and fauna illustrations for each day of Advent.

I also cut out a mat frame to put over the illustrations so I could display this all year long.

I adore Advent calendars so I’m already starting a second one with a frosty blue background for winter animals.

2024 Recap

December 31, 2024 | terriaw

I made so much art this year that I adore! I created the art I want to see out there, and then had it printed on stickers, coasters, tote bags, mugs and so much more. And I self published my own picture book! Cheers 2024!

Best of all, I opened a print-on-demand shop and started printing my illustrations on products!

Great Lakes Wildlife Gifts by Terri Wilhelm

Great Lakes Wildlife Tray by Terri Wilhelm

I am so grateful I got to travel to Naples, Florida earlier this year for some rest and relaxation and one of my favorite things – beach time. I also got to spend time at the lake house on Lake Michigan in Door County.

I spent a week galavanting around Los Angeles with my sister and nieces.

I finally got to go to the ICON Illustration Conference, ICON12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve been wanting to attend that conference for ten years! It was so fun to be immersed in a crowd of illustrators talking about art.

Many local micro adventures brought me great joy!

Cheers to more art and adventure in 2025!

Commission Illustrations

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024 | terriaw

I was recently commissioned to illustrate two animals – a Peregrine Falcon and a Duck-Billed Platypus.

I decided to illustrate two versions of the Peregrine Falcon, one standing on a beach and another in flight.

The Duck-Billed Platypus is a strange creature, in a cute way.

Each illustration is on a 6 inch by 8 inch piece of hot press watercolor paper using watercolor and colored pencils. I framed each one with an 8 inch by 10 inch mat frame I cut out from cold press watercolor paper.

Contact me if you’re interested in commissioning an animal illustration of your own!

New Wild Things Collection

December 9, 2024December 8, 2024 | terriaw

I started a new collection in my online shop called Wild Things, which is filling up with more fun products with my illustrations printed on them, such as ornaments and postcards, new tote bags, stickers and coasters!

I adore doing these nature-inspired wreath illustrations with some of my favorite sayings in my sketchbook with watercolor and colored pencils, and then turning them into fun products!