Trip to Bonaire: Sketching and Scuba Diving - Remainder Sketches and a SURPRISE

In this post I collected the rest of the underwater sketches from Bonaire - these were mostly done with just a pencil or a couple of pencils or my rainbow pencil. These have more notes, and you can see some rust where my clip was holding the page. Click on the image to see it larger. Every sketch has a little story - but I picked the ones where people can read some notes and see it happening, share my excitement from finding lobster in the cave, or marvel at the colors of the peacock flounder, and my amazement at the coral restoration efforts that Bonaire researchers are spearheading. I saw quite a few places where corals were visibly restored, and it is such a welcome sight! 

And here is a surprise - I have a bunch of sketches that I did not share - they are a part of an article in the “On The Spot” - The Magazine of Graphic Journalism published by Sketcher Press. It is available online and will be published in paper in June - but for now, if you are a subscriber, you can read it already - and if not, I will share some of the images next week.

Protest Sketching

This:

1. Solidarity with human beings. Minnesota, you rock!

2. Truth is important - believe your eyes, use your brain.

3. Document what is happening. Protest. Call. Defend your freedom of speech. Our democracy depends on it.

4. Nobody should be above the law. 

 

Trip to Bonaire: Sketching and Scuba Diving - My Favorite Sketches

In my previous post with underwater sketches, I shared results of my oil pastel experiments and mentioned that I enjoyed using a tip or sharp edge of the crayon to add details or even write in some instances, but I found a better way to do so. And what I share below is probably my favorite combination of materials so far: I used pastels to make larger shapes, add texture, and differentiate value, and then I added details with a much more precise and predictable tool - pencil!

All Posts re: Bonaire 2025:

1. What I Packed for a Trip (An Interesting New Brush)

2. What I Packed For A Trip (Underwater Sketching Kit)

3. Trip to Bonaire: Plants
4. Trip to Bonaire: Underwater Sketching - Turtle City

5. Trip to Bonaire: Almost Domestic Animals

6. Trip to Bonaire: Sketching and Scuba Diving - Oil Pastels and Salt Water Mix Nicely

Post-Holiday Feelings

The holiday decorations are packed and back in the storage. It was a nice year with many cards which we put under a tree (and a few of them ended up on a tree this year!). We connected with many people, and I am grateful for the chance to do so. We did not add any new decorations to the collection this year, but I have a feeling we will make some for the next one. As always, I wish I had drawn more, and yet what I drew is what the holidays were like: lots of tiny moments of light.

Recent Forged Bouquets

My friend Jennifer Gaskin is a talented bouquet artist (among many other things - for example - have you seen her recent pastel works??). And Jennifer is a professional forager for those bouquets (if you are interested in what it means ti be a professional forager - let me know and I will gladly draw you a picture!). Jenifer's works are always multi-layered and intriguing (where did you find that plant that works so well with this one??). And she pushed my natural interest in foraging into bouquet making too. Here are some sketches or recent bouquets my family put together: