It’s time for the studio news for March 2026. Let’s get right to it.
Studio News for March 2026
March was a busy month in more places than the studio. In fact, the truth is that the studio was one of the least busy places for the month. More on that in a moment.
But there is still plenty to talk about, beginning with magazine news.
CP Magic! News
Geraldine Buckley is the featured artist for the April issue of CP Magic! magazine.
Geraldine has been an animal lover and an art lover most of her life. She says she’s been drawing for as long as she can remember, but her art journey has had some interesting twists and turns.
Her tutorial features her German Shepherd, Zoe, in a playful pose with some of her dog toys. You’ll see how Geraldine draws silky fur, shining eyes, and soft fabric textures. If you struggle with any of those (or even if you don’t), I think you’ll enjoy Geraldine’s tutorial.
The April issue is available in digital and print formats.
Artwork
Decluttering Continued
I continued decluttering unfinished and unstarted artwork. It’s amazing to realize I’d saved enough drawing ideas to keep me busy for the rest of my life even if I did nothing but draw, eat, and sleep. I couldn’t even remember why I’d saved some of them!
Others included reference photos that were so bad, they would be of little use as references. Why I saved them, I don’t know. All of those folders were disposed of.
I also looked at some unfinished drawings. Some of them weren’t worth the effort to continue with. I tried cropping some and working on those, but not all of them succeeded, either.
The other pieces I’ve been looking at and thinking about are still officially in progress, though I worked on only one (and very little on that one).
I admit that all of this is somewhat depressing, but then self-evaluation can be a bit disconcerting. It’s like pulling weeds out of the garden. It can be a big task, tiring work, and discouraging. But once the weeds are gone and the vegetables can grow, it’s a wonderful thing.
Here’s to the growth of some art “vegetables”.
ACEOs
Below is the first ACEO I finished in March, and it’s a glorified doodle. At least that’s how it began.
The ACEO Group challenge for March was the color yellow or time. It was a nice day the day I drew this, so I sat outside. The doodling began in the center with the lightest shade of yellow I had handy. I scumbled around and around the center and ended up with a shape that resembled a Zinnia.
But as I continued doodling, the drawing began looking less like a flower and more like the sun. So I continued adding dark yellows and oranges as I worked toward the edges.
In addition to scumbling strokes, I used straight directional strokes and curving directional strokes.
I finished a total of eight ACEOs in March, including some for which I used markers.
Speaking of markers…
Something New
This past December, I was gifted with a large (8-1/2 x 11 is large for me) drawing pad and a set of eight King Art Pigment markers. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, because I’m not a marker artist. So they sat idle until March.
Then, on a whim, I took them both outside on a nice day, sat on the front porch, and doodled. I did two doodles that day and I liked them so much, that I continued playing with the markers and the larger than normal (for me) format for the rest of the week.
As mentioned above, I also did some ACEOs with markers, and also sketched in my journals. This is the best (and my favorite) ACEO with markers. Some of the larger sketches are better, but I tried all the colors and some of them are just too light to scan.
It took a while to get used to the markers. I can alter the marks by increasing or decreasing pressure, but I couldn’t produce smooth color the same way I can with colored pencils. What I ended up doing was mixing strokes to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish.
I don’t think I’ll ever replace colored pencils with markers, but I have had fun using these new tools, and I’m grateful to the kind friend who gave them to me!
That’s the Studio News for March 2026
With the end of March, the year is now 25% over. I don’t know if that encourages you to get busy or get busier, but it leaves me wondering where the time is going. Three months are already gone and I haven’t even started on my art goals, yet. I’d better get busy!
I hope you’re doing better with your art goals than I am. If not, then maybe we can join forces and encourage one another to do better!
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I have supplies that will probably not be used, especially since I have learned more about what I want to draw and how. The problem for me is that there are not many colored pencil artists in my neck of the woods. My only thought as to how to implement, is to set a time and date in a nearby city for an exchange.
Drema,
Thank you for your suggestion. You’re not the only artist who lives in a neck of the woods where there aren’t many artists. I’m in a similar situation. There are a lot of creative people in Kansas, but not many who use colored pencils unless they use them for fabric art.
A swap meet in a central location is an interesting idea, and not one that I considered. It is worthwhile, though. Thank you!