I’m so excited to finish illustrating a new set of woodland wreaths.
I love the idea that a tiny illustration can feel like a gentle reminder to step outside, notice something beautiful, or wander a little farther down the trail.
I imagine they could be trail markers or badges from an old field guide—simple, adventurous, and full of quiet optimism.
Wander Often. Stay Curious. Find Your Path. Roam Free.
I have a feeling these little wreaths will find their way into future Wild Things Mail Club letters. Until then… wander often, stay curious.
In Module one, our mission was to design a mood board to reflect the inspiration for a collection of patterns we are going to illustrate and design. I love to create whimsical, story-filled wildlife illustrations inspired by the wonder and diversity of the natural world. So my mood board is filled with my own photos I’ve taken on many trails, a trail map from a local forest I love to hike through, color swatches I painted with colors I use frequently in my artwork, trail treasures I’ve collected, and one of my own wreath illustrations. My husband said: “that looks like you!”
Inspired by wandering forest paths and collecting little wonders along the way, this collection will celebrate the textures and colors of the woodlands. Leaves, pinecones, mushrooms, feathers, and bark will become simple illustrated motifs, paired with warm earth tones and mossy greens. The patterns will capture the feeling of slow nature walks and the joy of bringing small forest treasures home.
A woodland-inspired collection based on forest walks and found natural treasures—leaves, pinecones, feathers, and mushrooms. Earthy greens and warm autumn tones translate these organic textures into playful, nature-inspired surface patterns.
Next up are some of the color swatches I painted. A nature-inspired palette that captures the gentle rhythm of woodland wandering, from sunlit clearings to shaded forest floors. Warm earth tones—soft sand, honeyed ochre, and rich bark browns—ground the collection, evoking tree trunks, fallen leaves, and sun-warmed soil.
A few pages of motif sketches. Inspired by forest trails, evergreen botanicals and the magic of slow forest wandering. Earthy textures, delicate natural elements, and whimsical details to create a serene cozy aesthetic roosted in quiet emotion, connection to nature and storytelling – some of my favorite things!
Stay tuned for more progress as I begin to develop a placement pattern and repeat patterns for this collection.
I was inspired to illustrate this series of winter woodland scenes after we got a big snow storm recently.
I love it when you look out the window and notice that one tiny spot of red, your heart skips a beat and you realize you’re seeing a cardinal out there in the winter wonderland.
I don’t see bunnies too often in winter – I know, because they are out and about at night and they tend to hang out in their burrows. So I wanted to capture that essence with the warm glow of a sunrise in this next piece.
I love it when it snows at night and the snow frosts every little branch on every twig and all the boughs on the evergreen trees. I’ve never seen a snowy owl in real life but we’ve had the great horned owls visiting our backyard lately, so they inspired me to add a little sparkle and magic.
I’m hoping to turn these watercolor illustrations into greeting cards in my shop so keep an eye out for those new listings to show up.
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!
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.
In order to fill up more sketchbooks, which is on my bucket list for 2015, I’m having fun coming up with new drawing prompts, so I’ve been trying to sketch A LOT more lately. One thing I’ve been doing is a monthly doodle calendar, but instead of using it like a diary, I’m using it to do a daily doodle.
For the month of September, I went with a theme centered around the woods and things you might see and find in the forest, since we usually start hiking again, now that it’s less buggy in the woods around here. It’s one of my favorite subjects to draw!
I’ve never drawn some of these little doodles before, so it was a good challenge, and I’m so happy with how this turned out! Happy drawing!
