Daffodils in Colored Pencil

June 21, 2019 Natalie Wargin

Shortly after I moved into this house in New York my sister, who lives only three miles from me, came over with a bunch of daffodil bulbs. Three varieties. I chose a spot which was easy because these would be the first things I planted here and there was plenty of room for planting. Now, eleven years later, they still come up in the spring, a reminder of where my garden began. This was the first small bouquet of the year. If you’ve been following me at all you’re familiar with the little blue vase. It really is a tiny thing and I chuckle at the absurd size it’s become. It did hold the daffodils but it’s simply not as large as it looks here. I’ve invented the table and the table scarf. I wanted some movement in this drawing and the blue linen cloth provided that. There must be a window open somewhere. The wallpaper pattern is taken from an older drawing of soapwort. The sparrows are there because I love sparrows.

“Daffodils”
Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore drawing paper.
19” x 25”

The original drawing and prints of the image are available in my shop.
All shop items are 20% off from June 21 through June 23.

You can find the original drawing here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714829157/daffodils-original-colored-pencil?ref=listing_published_alert

Find the print here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714826829/daffodils-art-print-of-original-colored?ref=shop_home_active_2

Thanks so much for following along!

A New Kingdom and a Podcast

May 30, 2019 Natalie Wargin

“Peaceable Kingdom. The Animals” detail.

This piece has taken it’s sweet time coming into being. I was sidetracked by several matters that took me away from my work. But here finally is the finished painting. It features the animals that I see almost daily. That’s me on a very good day, jawline tightened, with faithful Maggie in the center beneath a surge of blackbirds. In real life I was caught beneath that surge one morning on the trail with a flock of one hundred blasting above me, nearly touching my head. It was breathtaking. Here is a calmer version. I appear to be releasing a blackbird into the spiraling flock, insinuating myself I suppose, into this impossible scenario. Blackbirds, coyote, deer, black bear, fisher, turkeys, pheasant, squirrel, skunk, fox, rabbit, chipmunk. You’ll recognize my house in the background. The question remains, why are they all on the move? I could get political and say it has something to do with the damage we’ve done to our natural world and the list of soon to be extinct species I’ve been hearing about. But I actually think those crazy birds just got everyone excited.

“Peaceable Kingdom. The Animals.”
Acrylic on board
24” x 18”
$1500.

A reader made a suggestion that I add an audio feature to this newsletter. I kind of liked the idea so here goes. I wrote several versions of a script, all of which I tossed. They sounded too stiff and in the end I decided to simply talk about what I see when I look at this painting. Although I’ve called this a podcast it technically isn’t, not yet. You won’t find it on iTunes although, if this goes well, who knows?

ETSY SALE! Get free standard shipping on any purchase from May 30 through June 3.
The painting and prints of the image are available in my shop here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/693860112/peaceable-kingdom-the-animals-original?ref=listing_published_alert

https://www.etsy.com/listing/693858252/peaceable-kingdom-the-animals-art-print?ref=shop_home_active_1

Work in Progress -- Herons

June 5, 2015 Natalie Wargin

I've been asked a few times if I could show my progress on a painting so here goes. This first image shows my light sketch and the beginning of the painting. I've learned from experience that I should start on the important parts -- in this case the herons -- because if I'm not happy with the stars of the piece I will need to start again and I'd hate to throw away more work than I need to.

I pass this pond on my daily rounds. It's very close to a section of the rail trail that has a swamp with the most amazing array of birds, frogs, turtles, and snakes. And beavers. I usually see a single heron at the swamp without fail but one morning I saw this pair on the pond. I had never seen a pair before and certainly never on the pond which is also close to a somewhat well traveled road. It was early morning and still quiet and there they were, the happy couple. The people who own the pond have planted dozens of daffodils. The purple phlox is wild. It's everywhere, the rocks too. I added the dashing squirrels because I love to watch them flying through the trees.

This is a large painting for me, 12 x 18". It's watercolor and gouache. You can find it in my shop, together with prints of the image in various sizes:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/234865593/watercolor-original-painting-herons?ref=shop_home_active_1
https://www.etsy.com/listing/234866381/art-print-original-watercolor-herons?ref=listing-shop-header-0

Spring Bouquet in the Dead of Winter

April 3, 2015 Natalie Wargin

I received a bouquet of gorgeous spring flowers in the middle of February. They couldn't have been more welcome since we here in the northeast were struggling with the freezing gray winter that would not end. As you can see, the bouquet was very colorful and it fell into a very pretty arrangement, thankfully -- I'm not much good at floral arrangement myself. I used my most colorful vase too, a majolica carrot pitcher actually. The flowers lasted about a week but I'd taken a few snaps and, as winter continued to hold on, I decided they needed a longer life. So, the painting. I added a few of the funny green caterpillars I see sometimes. They're in there somewhere.

This is an original watercolor and gouache painting of a bouquet of spring flowers. It's 9.5 x 12 inches (24 x 30 cm). It's available in my Etsy shop along with prints of the image. Find them here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/228382184/watercolor-original-spring-bouquet?ref=shop_home_active_1
https://www.etsy.com/listing/228385231/art-print-original-watercolor-spring?ref=shop_home_active_2