Mike Hendley

  • Come join us in celebrating International Nature Journaling Week, June 1-7, hosted by the amazing Bethan Burton! I am honored to be contributing to the festivities with a LIVE workshop on Friday, June 2nd at 7 PM EST. Learn more www.naturejournalingweek.com

    A photo with me sketching in a field promoting my upcoming workshop

  • Drawing Inspiration🎙️Ep100 is here, podcast fam! We’re diving into the history & celebrating with a $100 giveaway thanks to Etchr! 🎁 Tune in by June 5. Grateful for your audio tributes on the 4yr journey. Homework may feel familiar! Here’s to the next 100! 🥂🎊 drawinginspiration.fm/100

    A collage of the show art from all 100 episodes of the Drawing Inspiration podcast

  • A little sketch practice on my day off at a coffee shop in advance of a workshop I am doing next Friday about creating textures with pencils. Details to come. Subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date.

    A profile sketch of the head of a baby rhino. Pencils used lying in front.

  • It’s World Turtle Day!

    A collage of 6 turtles. Sea, snapping and painted created in different mediums.

  • I cut up a 4’ by 8’ 1/4” piece of hardboard into fourteen smaller pieces for drawing/watercolor boards. 24” by 32” (2), 16” by 24” (4), 12” by 16” (8)

    Fourteen pieces of hardboard cut up and lying in 3 piles on my driveway.

  • Our first clutch of mergnasers have emerged with a total of 19 ducklings. Two more clutches to come and one of them are wood ducks.

    A female merganser in a pond with 19 ducklings

  • A little graphite sketch in my Etchr A6 hot press sketchbook. I know some of you aren’t fans of bugs but I love their textures. This is a sisal agave snout weevil beetle. You’ll find it’s larvae in some bottles of tequila. Drawn with a Pentel Orenz .3mm 2B

    beetle graphite drawing in small sketchbook behing held by the artist with a mechanical pencil resting on the desk in front of it.

  • A fruit study. Ok, and a hissing cockroach :-) Spotted at the insect display at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Painted with a Pentel water brush and QoR watercolors. Etchr A6 sketchbook and an Art Toolkit palette.

    a watercolor study in a sketch book of a hissing cockroach ona rock beside a couple of pieces of orange.

  • It’s coming up on episode 100 of the Drawing Inspiration podcast at the end of May. It’s been an incredible 4 years. Has the podcast impacted you? If so, go here and leave an audio message. I may use it on the show drawinginspiration.fm/contact/

  • A baby sea turtle in watercolor inspired by the photography of Sketched with the a Sakura pen, painted with Pentel Canada water brushes and QoR and DS watercolors in my A6 hot press Etchr book. This was quite challenging trying to capture a sky which I don’t typically paint.

    a watercolor painting of a baby sea turtle just below the surface on the ocean under a purplish sky. the book is on a table with two art palettes, brushes and pens.

  • Sketching to relax

    Sometimes I sketch to finish and other times I sketch to meditate and explore. This was 45 mins of just slowly enjoying the paper, pencil and the sounds. I don’t do exercises. For me the exercise is just drawing. Today I needed more from this and so I took it slow and took it all in. I forget sometimes to do this for mediation because it buys me a few hours of joy I can lean on for the rest of the day. Yes, I’ll probably finish eventually…maybe. Enjoy the time and keep drawing.

    start of a tiger drawing including its ear and eye. pentel orenz nero pencil and a moleskine sketchbook

  • I sat outside this evening and a sketched this great blue heron with a ballpoint retractable pen using black, blue and red as well as green for the grass. Some white Gelly roll for feathers and highlights. Sketched on Strathmore toned tan paper.

    great boue heron sketched in ballpont using black, red and blue ink as well as white Gelly roll. sketched on strathmore toned tan paper.

  • This male wood duck looks great and he knows it. Our pond friends are all coming back.

    A male wood duck perched on a post with trees in the background.

  • Lunch sketch today was in a new style Moleskine sketchbook. Arlo the Havanese.

    small sketch of a havanese in a seated position. pentel graphgear 1000 in frame.

  • Enjoying a cup of coffee this morning while boiling down my last batch of maple syrup. This system reduces 40 l down to maybe 1.5 l of syrup in 3.5 hours.

    cup of coffee held in hand with a homemade maple sap boiler built with cinder blocks in the background.

  • I cleaned out and replaced the shavings in our duck houses a few days ago. Look who is checking it out this morning. It’s wonderful seeing these common hooded mergansers return. The water is frozen over this morning but should open this afternoon. Fish and tadpoles are active.

    a male common hooded merganser standing on a snow bank on the edge of a pond

  • An ink drawing then watercolor of The Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland.

    ink drawing then watercolor of the wiritng museum in Edinburgh Scotland. watercolor pans off to the left and a pentel water brush.

  • It’s that time of year again. Replacing the shavings in the 5 duck houses around our pond. This one was was occupied by some blackbirds last year. Wood ducks and mergansers are regular guests (30-45 ducklings per year)

    Duck house with the side open showing compressed shavings part way up and a bird nest on top of the pile. Snow and ice on a pond in the background.

  • A little coffee shop piece today. Barn owl in watercolor in an Etchr A6 sketchbook. All my tools are packed nicely in my Peg and Awl Sendak Artist Roll.

    watercolor of a barn owl in watercolor in my Etchr A6 hot press sketchbook. Show with a Peg and Awl sendak artist roll.

  • Lunch art from today. 45 mins to calm and clear the mind. 🎨 🐸

  • Starting a new graphite piece. My largest in this medium. Love using my Pentel Graphgear .3 2B. Paper is hot press Bristol.

  • Sketched this in a Starbucks while waiting for my daughter to write an exam this evening. Finding the time and the space to be creative.

  • Launching my first drawing course

    Excited to announce my first online course in collaboration with Etchr. You can check out the trailer here https://youtu.be/3HV_i5-_j8A and the course will be live 12 PM EDT March 18th via learn.etchrstudio.com/programs/… . Thank you all who have been part of my journey thus far.

  • American Bullfrog

    I love frogs and toads. Their textures are so fun and challenging to render. This male American bull frog is one of many that inhabit our pond. As tadpoles they take a few years to mature and are massive. Drawn with a Pentel Graphgear 1000 .3 mm and 2B lead in an Etchr A6 hot press sketchbook.

  • I made good use of my lunch time today at work.

subscribe via RSS