Evolving as an Artist

Hello! Spring has definitely sprung here at Thimbleberry Studios, and I'm finding myself inspired more and more by the stories around me. An unlikely backyard friendship between an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit and Gray Squirrel, Buffleheads pairing up and fishing together in a nearby lagoon, Pacific Chorus Frogs croaking their little hearts out: all these little vignettes are calling out to be made into prints. So, I'm working on some reference images while exploring a different style. So much of my work last year was defined by colorful shapes, and now I'm leaning more towards varied linework and markmaking with more dark and neutral colors and then maybe just a pop of something brighter. It's a big change for me and I'm just at the beginning of this shift, but I'm excited about exploring this new approach. Basically, I've been doing a lot of sketchbooking, studying the work of artists whose work I admire, and testing out a new color palette and sketching toolkit. If you're curious about some of this preliminary work, check out the images below.

Hope you're well, and thanks for joining me on this journey!

Darby

Bufflehead study in progress

Pacific Chorus Frogs in different positions

Bird eye studies

 New sketching toolkit