I’ve been interested in botanical illustration and watercolor for many years. The pear on the left was from one of the first art classes I took after moving to Seattle in 2001. In 2021-22, I took some online foundational and botanical/nature illustration classes from Mindy Lighthipe and Kathleen Moore. I learned a lot and produced some works that I really like, included the shells below that was in a juried show at the Gage.
I’m slowly working my way through the classic text “Keys to Drawing” and doing many exercises on Procreate with Apple Pencil on my iPad. It’s pretty remarkable.
Though I still really love botanical illustration, I’m trying to work much more loosely now. On a recent vacation, I set out to do a small drawing every day. Some days, I even did a couple of drawings or small watercolors. It’s very freeing to let go of perfection.
Moclips 2022, graphite
Grey Beans 2022, graphite
Bologna 2016, pastel pencil
Magnolia Leaf c. 2003, watercolor
Little watercolor and watercolor pencil drawings, 2025
I made some pop-up Valentine books this year, based on a design by Kit Davey. You can see videos of the books on my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@cscihak
This one was done by my mom, Joan Cihak, when she was six years old. It was selected for a show at The White House.