Tuscan Gold 7.5 x 5.5 inches on Arches Cold Press 140 lb. paper Watercolor

It's summertime and the travel is easy—just take an Imaginary Trip to a wonderful location and never leave home! No packing, no fatigue, no hassles with luggage or security lines.

Come take a look!

Imaginary Trip to Italy 2012 - Six weeks to visit the wonderful country of Italy. This class starts tomorrow, so hurry! More information can be seen here.

Imaginary Trip to Australia - This ALL NEW class starts this Thursday, July 11th. We'll take six weeks to travel around "down under!" You can sign up for the class here.

Imaginary Trip to New Zealand - Another ALL NEW class, we'll be headed to this fabulous country starting August 29th. Come and join the fun here.

Imaginary Trip to New Orleans - This city ROCKS! Come and join the fun starting September 3rd. For more information, click here.

I hope you'll join me on one of these fun adventures. The classes are very flexible and allow you to work on the assignments at your leisure so you can still get in plenty of playtime outside.

As always, we laugh, we learn and we come home with a great sketchbook full of the places we've seen, the things we've done and the experiences we've shared.

Double blue peanut M&M candy Watercolor Stillman & Birn Beta Journal

Yes, husbands are funny (odd) creatures.

This may not be a newsflash to you.

Actually, it isn't one for me either and before I get a bunch of "hate mail" just let me go ahead and acknowledge that the same could be said of wives.

Why do I feel compelled to share this non-newsflash with you?

Because...

The other evening my husband walked in and placed this double, blue peanut M&M candy on my desk and said "I heart you."

Click to enlarge (it's easier to see) Full page, watercolor in Stillman and Birn Beta Journal

Wasn't that sweet?

We all get busy—too busy—in life and forget that it only takes a minute to remember someone in such a way that makes them feel special.

Chris knows I love peanut M&Ms.

He knows that I love unusual heart-shapes.

And look at that…he remembered me during his day and then gave me the reminder that let me know that he was thinking about me when I wasn't around.

It's the little things that count.

Because little things get lost in the day-to-day of daily life, I created a journal page.

And then I ate the candy!

Has your honey-bunny, baby cakes done anything (big or small) for you lately?!

© Sangria Cork by Laure Ferlita Watercolor and Ink (Title) 5.5 x 8.5 Stillman and Birn Beta Sketchbook

I have recently discovered a "Sparkling Sangria" on the market. I didn't go looking for it, so for all I know, there may be dozens, but for me this was a fun discovery. When I purchased the bottle, I fully expected the cap to be the screw-on type.

I was delighted to find out that not only did the bottle have a cork, it also had one of those "little-wirey-cage-thingies" so the cork wouldn't go flying until it was suppose to. It also made a big "pop!" when I opened the bottle—kind of like champagne but without the "ouch" in the wallet.

I left the cork and little-wirey-cage-thingie on the counter for several days because I just knew I was going to have to put it in my sketchbook. Which brings me to the point of this post...

No matter where you are, no matter how skilled, talented, creative you are, there is always something to sketch and paint!

It always amazes me when I hear another artist say "I can't find anything to paint" or "Nothing appeals to me. I can't find anything I want to sketch."

Seriously?

Okay.

Okay, okay, okay. Enough of you have mentioned struggling with this that I'll take it seriously for as long as I can stand it.

First off, let's ask some questions.

• It's a sketch in your sketchbook, right? We're not talking about something we're going to put on display, in a museum or a show, right? 
• It's your sketchbook, right? You didn't borrow your brother's, your kid's or your Aunt Susie's sketchbook, right? If you did, put it back and get your own. Then meet me back here.
• There's no test, right? Because if there is, I'm going home. (Kidding.)

If you answered, "Yes, Laure, it's just a sketch in my sketchbook and I'm not going to judged, tested, quizzed or otherwise measured," then there's plenty of stuff to sketch! Just look around!

We often get caught up thinking we have to "be inspired." While inspiration is nice, I find that I generate far more inspiration when I'm doing (taking action) rather than sitting on my duff thinking about what I could, might, maybe oughta be doing.

Sometimes, not being able to "find anything to paint" is code for "I'm intimidated to try because I don't draw/sketch/paint well." And how do we get better? Um, by doing the very thing we're not good at.

And let me say this...there are no shortcuts. You can read, you can buy art supplies, you can think about it, dream about it, talk about it till the cows come home, but until you start putting pen, pencil and/or brush to paper, you aren't going to get a bit better! (Sorry, that's just the way it is.)

Now, here's the bottom line...I have never NOT learned something (even if it's how not to do something) every single time I put pen, pencil or brush to paper. So, in the end, it doesn't really matter what I paint so long as I paint. If I'm painting, I'm learning. And so are you.

Once we're past the big obstacle of what to sketch and paint (oh, for goodness sake, go into the kitchen and grab a spice bottle if all else fails!), comes the opportunity to challenge ourselves. Maybe you want to get better at shapes, pick a vase, cup, bottle or anything else that strikes you as oddly shaped and get busy.

If you want to do shiny surfaces, pick something with a shiny surface, (a hair clip, a SOLO® cup, a ceramic vase, a tea cup, a pair of reading glasses) and go to it.

Don't make this harder than it has to be! And if at first you don't succeed, turn the page and try again!

Find something ordinary and turn it extraordinary. Now, get busy!!

...are about as rare as hen's teeth. We've had days and days of wet weather for the last week or more. We finally had a reprieve yesterday and was it ever fabulous! The temperature dropped and even better the humidity dropped to make it a fantastic day.

Breezy, cool and low humidity is a Floridian's idea of a perfect day. Chris and I decided to have lunch at one our favorite places to eat, a little Greek taverna so we could sit outside and enjoy the weather.

Huge cypress trees in big, big olive-style pots sit around the area as a privacy screen and wind break.

Acropolis Greek Taverna Cypress Watercolor and Ink Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook 5.5 x  8.5 inches

The cypress in the sketch above sat close to the front door and made for the perfect opportunity to sketch as I love the mellow colors of the bricks behind it. I sketched a bird nest from the same place in this post.

Have you ever seen a green brick before that wasn't painted? Probably not. But if you look at the bricks above, I have a few. This is called embellishing, it's one of the "5 E's System" I teach in the Imaginary Trip classes to help artists learn to sketch on location.

Embellish means just that—to embellish what you see with colors that may not be there or may not be very obvious. Embellishing can be subtle or quite obvious depending on what the art calls for.

When we rely on photos for the majority of our sketching references, we sometimes forget that a camera is limited in the colors it can "see," versus what our eyes and more importantly, our imaginations, can see.

Try adding some "extra" pop to your work by embellishing with some unexpected color and see what you think. Let me know how it goes!

Wild Yard Birds, Ybor City Stillman & Birn Beta Journal 11 x 8.5 inches, Full Spread Watercolor and Ink

 I would love to tell you that I sketched these wily critters out in the wilds of Ybor City, a historic area just outside of downtown Tampa, but I didn't. I sketched and then painted them in my studio. First off, we were in a busy parking lot and second, it was lunchtime.

Detail, Wild Yard Birds, Ybor City Stillman & Birn Beta Journal 11 x 8.5 inches, Full Spread Watercolor and Ink

Sketching anything live is like hitting a moving target. Looks easy…until you try it. Besides, it was lunchtime. Instead, I gave myself a time limit of one hour.* Now you may wonder why I chose to sketch this so quickly…how about I share my reasons? (*And that one hour included drawing, painting and lettering).

The main reason I sketch quickly is because it guarantees that the sketch won't become too precious. (Insert Gollum's voice here.) You know what I'm talking about…things are going so good you become afraid of putting down the next mark for fear that will be the ruination of your sketch, your day and quite possibly your life.

Detail, Wild Yard Birds, Ybor City Stillman & Birn Beta Journal 11 x 8.5 inches, Full Spread Watercolor and Ink

Next, it's almost always guarantees I'll make mistakes. Why in the world would you want to make mistakes, Laure? Glad you asked. Because mistakes happen when we're out in the field. They happen when we're in the studio, too. Mistakes are going to happen, so why not go ahead and push the envelope? The sooner we get comfortable making mistakes and learning to either recover from them or move on, the happier we will be in our sketchbooks.

There's also a thing called time. Maybe you've heard of it? If I asked most of you to sketch something quickly, you would, but you would take as much time as you needed.

Now I ask you, how often do you have all the time you need? If your life is anything like mine the answer is seldom. So it pays to learn to sketch in an allotted amount of time rather than taking all the time we want.

Wild Yard Birds, Ybor City Stillman & Birn Beta Journal 11 x 8.5 inches, Full Spread Watercolor and Ink

Challenge yourself to paint something in an insane amount of time. If it would normally take you an hour, give yourself twenty minutes and see what you can get done in that timeframe. I can almost guarantee you'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish.

Give yourself permission to make mistakes, to be sloppy, to sling paint with abandon, to have fun, to play, to fail and to have lunch. Did I mention lunchtime? Make sure you get some lunch. Ybor City is one of our favorite places to go for lunch as there are a number of quirky restaurants.

Tucker March 1998 - April 2013

We lost our sweet Tucker today. As a kitten, he was found wandering in a grocery story parking lot by our neighbor. She waited all afternoon for us to come home. We didn't even make it in the house before she scooped him up and deposited him into my hands. It was love at first sight.
He was just a little mite and looked a lot like a ball of steel wool with legs, but cute as the dickens!
And he had a thing for box tops, big sheets of crinkly paper, curling ribbon and plastic bag handles. Size was not relevant when it came to boxes. He'd find a way to jam himself in there.

Bon voyage, Tucker. Travel safe, my sweet friend. You will be missed…

©1997 Alaskan Sketchbook Cover Laure Ferlita Watercolor 11.5" x 5.5"

Game On! Or maybe I should say "Schedule Up!"

I have posted the 2013 Imaginary Trips Schedule and you can find it here! New trips and visits are planned as well as some prior destinations that you might have missed the first time around. For those of you waiting for the Independent Learning Classes (or should I say still waiting), that is my first priority for 2013. The first of the ILCs will be posted by the end of April!

I have to tell you I'm pretty excited about the first class on the schedule for this year, An Imaginary Visit to A Past Vacation! (Please click the title for more information.)

If you're anything like me, you've probably taken at least one vacation in your life before you started to sketch or before you became comfortable sketching around others. Or maybe you've taken one recently, but the trip was so fast-paced you didn't getting any sketching done.

Take a look at the sketch at the top of this post...you'll note the copyright date is 1997! And that's when I completed the sketch from my trip to Alaska...from 1996! It also happens to be the only sketch I completed from that trip despite my well-thought-out plans.

Is that just not sad? That was a fabulous trip! I made the sketchbook, I gathered my materials and I painted the cover. What happened to everything else, all those other great pages dancing in my head?

Somewhere along the way life got busy and interfered with my well-thought-out plans. I have no sketches for that trip other than the cover. The horror! You know they say about "good intentions," right?

I decided to correct this huge oversight and it started me thinking about the trip and all the stuff I didn't remember. (Oh, come on, it was nearly 20 years ago! Surely you don't think I can remember it that well!)

How could I go about reconstructing my trip so that I had a sketchbook that was worthy of this great trip when I CRS (can't remember stuff)?

This experience lead me to put together the class and to share it with others who might have done something similar. So if you're one of those people—just like me—that have lots of good intentions but no sketchbooks, come join me!

Please check out the new schedule for a "trip" or a "visit" as we're going to some fun new places as well as revisiting some of the prior places we've visited.

Clearwater Beach Visit March 2013 Still & Birn Beta Sketchbook 8.5 x 10.75 inches

One of the cool things about living in the middle of the state of Florida, is that I sometimes get to meet "online friends" in person. I had the opportunity to meet up with a Michigan friend this past Monday who is visiting Florida with her husband.

I had arrived a little bit early as you never know what traffic is going to be like between the Spring-Breakers and the general beach vacationers.
With 15 minutes to kill before our stated meeting time, I sat down on a handy wall and painted the stormy skies and some of the beach. Due to my limited time, I made three lines with my pencil—the horizon line, the line indicating the sand dune and the water/sand line. Then I let the paint fly.

As I started back towards the restaurant, I saw a gorgeous Sea Grape Leaf lying at the base of the wall I had been sitting on. I picked it up and tucked it into my bag so I could sketch it later. A few steps further and I spotted this gorgeous shell shard. Abalone shell, maybe? Lots of pretty iridescent colors!
We met for a quick lunch (which was actually breakfast and very, very yummy—thank you J & T!) before we walked down the beach. I sketched the lifeguard shack or observation stand or whatever the call it these days. The flag was standing straight out as the winds were really kicking up, but strong winds didn't keep folks off the beach.

Living in Florida, my favorite time to go to the beach is on overcast, windy days. There's more wave action in the water and you can see some truly spectacular cloud formations. You'll occasionally find a "beach treasure" (unusual shells, beach glass and very rarely, a gold doubloon) you won't find on other days.

I did all of my sketching in pencil and didn't add color to the rest of the page until after I reached home. Then added the lettering and journaling. I put a bar under the "er" of Clearwater because somehow, I managed to get off track with my lettering.

I seldom make it to the beach any more and the day was a great deal of fun. The beach is in my own backyard, and yet I don't take advantage of it—why? Maybe because it's in my own backyard and I don't value what is around me all the time? (Sam's in the background just shaking her head.)

Sharing time, art and the beach with like-minded friends, not to mention great food, makes for an excellent combination!

Do you have some fabulous outdoor venue near you that you don't take advantage of simply because it's in your backyard? What keeps you from going there to sketch with friends or even by yourself just to enjoy the place?

Le Mouton Noir Bakehouse Watercolor and Ink Stillman & Birn Beta Series Sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 Inches

KJ (Catching Happiness) and I ventured forth this past Friday for an adventure. We went to our downtown area to a bakehouse named Le Mouton Noir Bakehouse. She'd read about it in the newspaper and we're always game to try new restaurants and Friday's weather was too spectacular to stay inside.

So off we went. We both took sketchbooks and cameras. By the time we found the restaurant, we were starving. Starving. We kinda got lost in our own hometown! We're blaming Google Maps...but before I digress to far...

I can assure you that sketching and painting was not at the top of my priority list by the time we arrived.

So, what's an artist to do?

Compromise.

I decided to sketch the food in pen then took out my camera and snapped a quick shot before digging in! I figured I would add color once I had convinced my stomach that my throat had not been slashed, but it didn't happen at the restaurant.

Later, when I arrived home, I was no more in the mood to paint than I was to to clean the house. And yet, I didn't want an unfinished page in my sketchbook. (The house being dirty didn't bother me. Never does and rewards don't seem to work either.)

Using compromise to finish the page didn't work because there was no reward (like getting to eat)…or was there? What could be my reward, besides a finished page?

A really, really good piece of chocolate!

You may be struggling to get back into the sketchbook habit. How can you reward yourself to create a page and finish it? What will your reward be?

The second element I incorporated was to challenge myself.

The idea of sitting down and spending an hour—or more—to finish the page held no appeal to me. Since it was a super quick sketch to begin with, I saw no reason to labor over the painting portion of the project.

To keep the quick-sketch feel of the page, I set myself a challenge to see how quickly I could paint the page. In total, I have about 25-30 minutes in the page.

Consider other ways you might challenge yourself: limit your palette to 3 colors or even one; just received new art supplies? Incorporate some of those new supplies. Use only pencil or pen. Use no pen or pencil and just paint. Limit your time. Add a piece of collage such as a patterned paper or part of the menu. The ideas are endless.

Evaluate the page becomes a matter of perspective. Is it a successful piece of art? Depends on your perspective.

In my case, I have recognizable objects. I have a record of a very fun day with gorgeous weather and a good friend. I also have a reminder of a great restaurant that I'll visit again soon. Considering I didn't want to sketch and I didn't want to paint it in the first place, I consider this a successful page.

Creativity to comes in many different strengthens and concentrations. If we focus on what we can do with what we have rather than what we can't do (for whatever reason/excuse) or what we don't have (time, interest, inspiration), we will almost always surprise ourselves with what we do. 

Being creative doesn't require time, money, or inspiration. It requires doing.

I've had to push myself lately. What about you? Are you struggling too? Tell me how you're going to push yourself to be creative by simply doing. Tell me about your rewards too!