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@seabornecloud.bsky.social

4 years ago my dad mailed me this locked vintage suitcase. It’s heavy. There’s something inside. Today I’m dropping it off at the locksmith to get it picked and find out what’s inside.

A vintage brown suitcase sitting on asphalt.

February 8, 2025 at 4:56 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

I’ve finished the notes for the first ~100 paints in my project to swatch all 266 Daniel Smith paints @danielsmithpaints.bsky.social. I’m looking forward to having this on my studio wall….. eventually.

#danielsmith #arttools #watercolorpalette #painting

An angled photo of a piece of paper with watercolor paint names and pigment codes written in neat rows. Empty boxes await watercolor swatches.

February 5, 2025 at 3:56 AM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

My climbing holds portrait series was featured in my bouldering gym's newsletter! Wonderful to have such a supportive community. 🥰 #climbinghold #watercolor #artist #bouldering

A watercolor painting of a bright pink climbing hold with some chalk smudges and a delicately rendered bolt

A watercolor painting of a round green climbing hold with a big hole in the middle and lots of ridges

Three climbing holds painted with acrylic marker in a bold, high-contrast, colorful style

February 2, 2025 at 5:25 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Working on this dualtex crimp with a goofy little face today. Getting the blue right is been a huge challenge, but I finally found a mix that I’m happy enough with. #climbing #climbinghold #crimp #bouldering #dualtex

A rounded square shaped climbing hold in a shiny blue plastic. It has two small screw holes above an oval area of textured blue plastic and looks like a face. There are two paintings below the hold, one with the face right side up and the other upside down.

January 30, 2025 at 8:41 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Photographing some of these for a feature on my work, so have another climbing hold artwork! This one in acrylic paint pen. I’m planning to make stickers out of this subset of the series.

#climbing #bouldering #art #posca

A stylized drawing of a climbing hold used for bouldering or top rope climbing with lots of ridges and a hole in the middle. The hold is pink with maroon and deep khaki green shadows.

January 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Sketchbook pages from 2022. The small brush and the cellulose paper gave me sky effects I really enjoyed. Even "bad" materials can produce art you love, if you know how to use them.
#sketchbook #watercolor #art

Two landscapes made of simple shapes. The first could be a beach and ocean or the sky over the desert. The second seems to be rolling hills in shades of green under a blue sky. Both skies are striated, offering the effect of abstract clouds.

January 22, 2025 at 2:23 AM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

New edition of my newsletter, Risotto Tuesday. Catch it here - I'd love to know what you think!
risottotuesday.substack.com

January 21, 2025 at 11:52 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

I started a very ambitious project: swatching all 266 watercolor paints on the @danielsmithpaints.bsky.social dot card. Last night I spent an hour gridding out one full sheet of Arches, and this is less than half the paints. What a reference this will be!
#watercolors #danielsmith #artisttools

A large sheet of Arches watercolor paper on a table, with neatly arranged boxes in light pencil all across it. The first row has paint names and details written in it. Over the top of the Arches sheet are five printer-size pages fanned out. Each one has a neat grid of dots of watercolor paint.

January 21, 2025 at 2:58 AM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Today’s drawing exercise focused on what we do (or don’t) see in our “mind’s eye”.

I don’t see anything! Rather, I “know” what something looks like. But any “image” is hazy at best.

Both pages were drawn from memory. The left, eyes closed; the right, eyes open.

#aphantasia #sketchbook

A two-page sketchbook spread. On the left are scribbley, messy drawings. On the right are sketches that are a little more accurate but less energetic. The drawings on the left were made with eyes closed and the ones on the right with eyes open. The first drawings are a person with a beard; the second pair of drawings is a desk with a computer monitor and laptop; the third pair is a to-go coffee cup with cardboard sleeve. Above the sketchbook is a small fountain pen.

January 13, 2025 at 4:18 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

In today’s 30 Days of Draeing prompt, I tackled negative space drawing. I surprised myself with this challenging subject (my pink princess philodendron). I’m pleased with the framing across the spread. #negativespace #pinkprincessphilodendron #plantparent #drawing #sketchbook

A Pink Princess Philodendron plant tied along the left side of a heart-shaped support. The leaves are wild and jubilant, with splotches of pink against deep green.

A negative space drawing of the pink princess philodendron in the other photo. It is centered in a small sketchbook.

January 13, 2025 at 1:27 AM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

If you see this, post something orange!

From my Climbing Holds painting series. Done in acrylic paint marker on acrylic paper.

#climbing #bouldering #climbinghold #artist

On the left is an orange climbing hold used in indoor bouldering and top roping gyms. It has a variety of textures and is reminiscent of a three-dimensional sculpture of outdoor terrain, or a softened kind of rock face. It is bright orange.

On the right is a stylized drawing of the hold done in orange, with light pink blocks of color describing the highlights and medium blue lines describing the shadows.

January 12, 2025 at 3:36 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

30 Days of Drawing Day 11 - 3-line, 3-color contour drawings. This was a fun exercise, new to me, and one I’m looking forward to trying again.

#contourdrawing #sketchbook #danielsmith #artist

A small sketchbook with a variety of simple contour drawings of watercolor paint tubes. They are formed using three lines each, with one color for each line. The colors are red, blue, green, and purple. Next to the sketchbook is a tube of Daniel Smith watercolor paint and a small paintbrush.

January 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

30 Days of Drawing Day 10 - Blind Contour

If you look at this and thing “well that’s a blob,” congrats! You nailed it!

It’s a hold used in indoor bouldering (climbing) gyms - I’m working on a collection of portraits of these blobby delights. More to come in that regard!

#painting #boulderung

A blind contour sketch in a small sketchbook of a hold used in indoor climbing and bouldering gyms - it looks like a messy green blob.

A blobby, bright green plastic hold used in climbing and bouldering gyms. It sits flat on an art easel shelf and looks like a mountain with a few holes in it.

January 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Today’s 30 Days of Drawing prompt is INFOGRAPHICS - thinking about the gap between my idealized life and my actual life, and I’m realizing that averaged over the course of a week, my dream day does come into being. This was a fun art journal style prompt today! #drawing #art #artjournal

A sketchbook drawing of two pie charts, one of a dream day and one of an actual day. The dream day includes a lot of categories like art, sports, and spending time with friends. The actual day is mostly working, sleeping, and doomscrolling.

January 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

30 Days of Drawing
Day 8 - Finders!

I loved this exercise of making a small finder and only looking through that to create a composition. I’m enjoying watching my sketchbook fill in!

#artist #sketchbook #drawingprompt

The view through my viewfinder that inspired the sketch in my art sketchbook.

A sketch of a candle and a mug on a windowsill in a small sketchbook.

January 8, 2025 at 7:06 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Day 7 of 30 Days of Drawing - Ellsworth Kelly inspired thumbnails and shapes. Took inspo from my Pink Princess Phildodendron. #art #artist #sketchbook #watercolor

January 7, 2025 at 4:56 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Artists, what's your still life setup? What's your lighting situation like?

Photo tax - my current setup needs some help! (I will be painting it black and adding a little LED light through the hole in the top)

#artist #painting #stilllife

January 7, 2025 at 12:46 AM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

My last car drawing? MY LAST CAR DRAWING (for now)

Playing with Caran d’Ache Neocolor II wax pastels and these are just like watercolor crayons. They’re amazing. Can’t believe it took me so long to experiment with them!

Day 6 of #30DaysOfDrawing

#art #sketchbook #artist

January 6, 2025 at 6:36 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

30 Days of Drawing Day 5 - SHAPES! Another car drawing from me today. The 10-minute time limit really is perfect for letting go of perfectionism (and working in this small sketchbook too) #art #sketchbook #doodle

January 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

Day 4 of 30 Days of Drawing. Easy to avoid the stricture against straight lines when driving (through Indiana, no less). I’m the passenger, obviously.

#artist #sketchbook #drawingpractixe

January 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM

Shell 🐚 Artist + Climber

@seabornecloud.bsky.social

#30DaysofDrawing Day 3 - circles.

Drawn in the car, somewhere in eastern upstate NY. I love the colors of northeast winter - a full muted palette.

There’s something lovely about quick #art, get it done art, #doodle art - it doesn’t all have to be formal or a big production. Just make something.