Natalie Heaman

The Art Garden 🌱

  • Kobe Portrait

    I picked up oil paints for the first time in a couple years and painted my friend’s very handsome boy, Kobe. Who so perfectly matches their rug. Perhaps more pets on carpets will be in the future ✨

    An oil painting of a pale organ and white cat with blue eyes. He is laying on a colourful floral carpet and looking up at the viewer.

    Here are some work-in-progress pics plus the subject on his way to check out the final result!

    A work-in-progress shot of the painting: most of the red underpainting is visible with some spots of colour.
    A photo of the work-in-progress painting next to the original pencil sketch.
    A photo of the painting’s subject, Kobe, with the final painting.

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  • May ’24 Hobonichi

    Another month of Hobonichi pages on most days. This month has a lot of abstract blobby drawings and colouring them in – I wasn’t feeling very inspired, but tried to make myself sit down and do something. Here are my top 9 pages, because we love a 3×3 grid ✨

    A portrait of the character Melinoe from the video game Hades 2, done in coloured pencils and brush pen. She is seen from shoulders up and looking ahead with determination.
    A Posca pen drawing of a blue person – their long hair covers one eye. They are looking off to the side with a subtle smile. It is not a drawing of any person or character in particular.
    A Posca pen drawing of a blue sky with white fluffy clouds drifting across it.
    A sketchbook page showing an abstract sketch. Looping lines cross over one another, making many smaller shapes. The shapes are each coloured and have line patterns drawn over-top.
    A loose drawing of a somewhat abstract face. The face is divided into different shapes and each is coloured a different shade or green or blue.
    A loose drawing of an olive branch with the words “Free Palestine” below it. The drawing is done in red, black, and green, on white paper.
    A Posca pen drawing of a green house with the silhouette of a cat sitting in one of the windows. A faint caption reads “green house with a cat on Knight Street”
    A drawing done in felt pen: there is text that reads “Today it’s raining on the parade (literally)”. Behind the text are drawings of raindrops and clouds.
    Another drawing of abstract criss-crossing lines, with the shapes they create coloured in different shades of blue, green, and purple. This drawing is done with felt pens.

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  • April Hobonichi

    It’s been another month and I managed draw in my Hobonichi on most days – “most days” is what I’m aiming for, and as someone who’s completed a number of self-assigned daily challenges before, I’m trying not to be hard on myself for missing a day. That said, I also try not to miss more than 2 days (or–gasp–3) in a row – even if a page has a really rough 1 minute drawing that is better than nothing!

    Also, for anyone interested, here is a YouTube video where Lynda Barry talks about the spiral drawing exercise.

    Here are my favourite April pages. Image descriptions in the alt text.

    A gel pen drawing with the word “infraordinary” and the definition “the layer inside or just beneath the ordinary”, with floral shapes around it. The word was coined by Georges Perec.
    A felt-pen drawing of blooming miners lettuce. The round green leaves each have a small white flower in the middle.
    A blue pen and ink drawing that shows the silhouette of a dog standing in the water with the sun and clouds overhead. The drawing is rough with loose lines.
    A felt pen drawing of a frog on a lily pad. It is green with brown spots, and behind it is a blue sky.
    A sketchbook page filled with a blue ink spiral. The many rings begin from the centre of the page. This was based on a drawing exercise by Lynda Barry.
    A felt pen drawing that shows stylized stars, planets, a sun, and a rocket ship with a small alien inside.
    A drawing of chestnut tree saplings growing up from a drain where the chestnuts fell in the fall. The drawing has vibrant colours and was created with Posca acrylic paint pens and a brush pen.
    Another drawing with Posca paint pens and a brush pen. This shows a wood duck sitting on a log at the edge of a pond. It is resting, with its head tucked into its feathers.
    A Posca paint pen drawing of a dog portrait. The dog looks straight ahead with alert ears. Most of her fur is coloured in dark blue, with brown on her neck and face. Text reads: “Good girl does it again!”

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  • March Hobonichi

    I got myself a little Hobonichi book! I’ve seen others use these as a-page-a-day art journals and I thought I’d give it a try. I’m giving myself flexibility to not add to it every day, and am working through it front to back to avoid the pressure of filling the page with that days date. The goal is to add to it, in any capacity, most days. So far its been a mix of random drawings, or something I saw or read or heard that day. Here are my favourites from March (So far the paper has been surprising durable considering how thin it is!)

    Image descriptions in the alt text.

    A small notebook with a fabric cover with a pattern of green sea horses
    A notebook page that has the following written text: Goal: page-a-day art journal/sketchbook (most days). Why: art as habit, making more small/inconsequential things, loosen up! Play! Explore! Have fun! Low stakes!
    A loose drawing of a face using continual lines – the face isn’t anyone in particular. Text is also written on the page: “Overheard: We need to be render insecure in order to be exploitable.” – Astra Taylor
    A sketchbook page of a fish drawn with Posca paint markers.
    A quote in block letters with a colourful pink and yellow patterned background: “To begin anything is to cast a spell against stagnation.” This is a quote from Maria Popova on her blog The Marginalian.
    A blue pen and ink drawing of a squirrel-like creature. It is looking directly at the viewer.
    A sketchbook page with two quotes in speech bubbles. The first one says “Can a man standing on a platform scale make himself lighter by lifting up on himself?” And the second says “Why can not a man lift himself by pulling up on his boot-straps?”. It’s noted these quotes were read in Jenny Odell’s “Saving Time” and she sourced them from a 1888 physics book.
    A sketchbook page done in pencil crayon, it shows a seagull standing on a green sign that reads “Staff Parking”
    A sketchbook page done in pencil crayon. In the middle of the page is a drawing of a dog sitting alert with an inquisitive expression. Behind her is the text “Perfect princess baby angel good-est puppy dog”
    A drawing with Posca paint markers of pink cherry blossoms on a branch with a teal sky background.

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  • See You, Space Pony

    Another fun little thrift store catch-and-release! Though this little guy is yet to be ‘released’ back into my local thrift store. He’s sparkliest little pony you ever did see!

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Blog Index

PROJECTS / SERIES
Gouache Creatures Series, 2019
Somerset Series, 2021
Thrift Store Catch & Release
Beautiful Day Records

SHARED SUBJECTS
Dungeons & Dragons
Figure / Life Drawing
Pet Portraits
Character Art

OTHER
Daily Challenges
Bookbinding
Writing
Photography

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