This winter I have been heavily inspired by all the dry grasses, neutral color palette and the look of the frozen plants, so here I am sharing beautiful moments that I’ve come across and nature sketches from my botanical sketchbook. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what to look for during your next winter walk and how you can stay inspired by flora during this season too.

Dried leaves & grasses

Since I committed to “stop and smell the roses“ more, or to explore the beauty of nature around me more often to be exact, I’ve spotted so many beige, golden, brown colors in dry leaves and grasses, that shine through beautifully with a little touch of sun.

I wanted to record this feeling, so here is my botanical sketch where I tried to capture dry leaves and their amazing, uneven texture - with all the small spots, unevenness and imperfections. Most of my botanical illustrations are usually very precise, detailed and have some level of realism, but here I just wanted to create an impression and work freely, so I used watercolor techniques that involve more water. I was actually quite impressed how paper in my Canson Art sketchbook handled this one, as it’s only 96 gsm.

Trees, fruit & seed

I have this cool memory from my childhood, where maple tree seeds are falling off the tree in this circular, weird but kind of magical motion - why they are called helicopter seeds. During my short walk to the coffee house near my home I would also pick up linden seeds and discover couple of trees that froze unexpectedly and still have some fruit or berries hanging from the branches.

Here is another botanical sketchbook page - ash-tree seeds I picked up during one of my recent walks.

Frozen & winter waters

Glass-like textures and winter waters are strange but exciting to observe. This weekend we were having a long riverside walk, spotted quite a few ducks and a flock of swans that just took off the water, that was magical to watch.

Winter watercolor palette

The neutrals have been also my favorite color palette lately. I love painting simple watercolor swatches, after studying the plants I took home from long Sunday walks or outdoor trips. I always save spare pieces of watercolor paper for the future color studies.

It’s fascinating how some dry grasses look almost black on a white snow background. This winter I added quite a few colors to my custom watercolor palette, inspired by some favorite colors of nature:

Sennelier l'Aquarelle Watercolor: Gold Ochre, Permanent Alizarin Crimson Deep, Van Dyck Brown

Schmincke Horadam Watercolor: Potters Pink, Perylene Violet, Sepia Brown, Perylene Green

So, there you have it - my ideas on what to look for to stay inspired during this winter season. I can’t wait to share more with you here and hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hope you enjoyed!

-Anna