It’s time for the studio news for February 2026.
Studio News for February 2026
CP Magic! News
Canadian artist, Janna Kumi, is the featured artist for the March issue of CP Magic! magazine. Not only is Janna a talented artist; she’s a trained forest specialist. So it’s no surprise that her fascination with the Canadian wilderness and its trees translates into magnificent and unique artwork.
Not only does she draw up-close-and-personal images of bark, but she often draws on cradled wood panels.
Her tutorial begins with the preparation of a cradled wood panel and concludes with sealing the finished artwork with cold wax. You can frame the resulting work without glass and, if you prefer, without a frame.
The March issue is available in digital and print formats.
Artwork
Unfinished Work
I have had several unfinished artworks hanging around for months. Some of them have been hanging over my head for years.
I decided in February to put an end to that, and for more than one reason.
Finishing some of them and getting all of them off my to-do list in one way or another is the obvious reason. But there was an underlying reason, and it was just as important as the obvious reason.
Those unfinished works were making me tired and depressed. Not only the ones I could see because they were hanging on the wall waiting for attention, but also those in my closet. They were out of sight, but not out of mind, as it turns out.
So early in February, I started reading through the journals for those drawings to see if I could figure out why they’re not working. The theory was that the review would help me decide whether to trash them, stash them, or try to fix them. Making any kind of decision would be better than having them all hanging over my head, right?
I reviewed several projects throughout February.
Flint Hills Haze
The first of them was this one, Flint Hills Haze.
This was the second of three versions I attempted in the last couple of years. The first one failed quickly but not unexpectedly. I expected failure because my initial lines had been drawn dark enough to be seen in a scan. I simply couldn’t cover them up.
The third version derailed about a year ago and was cut up into smaller pieces.
The version above is the second version of the three, and the paper and I simply did not get along. I cut that up, too. The 5 x 5 composition didn’t work at all. At the end of the month, the only one remaining was an ACEO, and it was such a struggle that it wasn’t finished.
House Lion
I also reviewed House Lion, a portrait of our white, long-haired cat. I got a lot of help from newsletter readers after using it as a demo for an article on self-evaluating artwork. Although there’s still a lot to do, I am hopeful of finishing it.
Technically, none of this is drawing. But it’s like tidying up in the studio before working on art. It relieved some of the clutter in my unfinished works. It also relieved some of the mental clutter. That alone was well worth the time invested.
ACEOs
I can always count on ACEOs to keep me drawing. If nothing else, making at least one ACEO for the ACEO group‘s monthly gallery helps keep me accountable.
I finished three ACEOs for the month. This is my favorite. I drew this using Prismacolor pencils on the front (the rough side) of Canson Mi-Teintes. It was a fun way to take a work break and still use my pencils!
I also worked on one or two other compositions periodically, but didn’t finish any of them.
That’s the Studio News for February 2026
February always seems to fly by so much faster than any other month. No matter how productive I am, it never seems like there’s as much studio news for this month as for other months.
By I’m still glad to have gotten as much accomplished as I did.
I hope you can say the same!
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