My Way Back (Day#1)

One goal of my return to blogging is to be unashamedly myself and honest. I don't want to deny my struggles; and I hope someone can feel a little less alone in their struggles by reading about mine. I didn't expect my first day back to drawing to be quite so heavy, but here we are *chuckles*. Which brings me to today...

I stayed up too late to “just doodle” and found a flood of emotions waiting to engulf me. I’ve missed it so much, I’ve missed the art community I used to be part of. I’ve let my skills get rusty, pens dry up, pencils break. 

Part of me feels like I’m nuts to put myself through this when I could be asleep….and the rest of me knows I crave creating so much. It is the part of “me” I have been missing! In some ways it’s not about choice; I am not “completely myself” when I am not creating! 

So I push through with good music and doodle this. Here’s to day #1 of getting back to “me”.

In the end I am glad for the wave of feelings. It means this endeavor is worth it :)

Another Chapter

 Another new chapter starts today!

Around this time one year ago, I sat at my desk with my baby asleep in his bassinet next to me. I finally had just enough peace of mind and energy to paint! And I chose to paint his cute little face :) 

Introducing my Little-Guy!

Everything before and after that moment seems both far away and like it happened in a blink! Either way, today I sit with a one-year old sleeping next to me as I write, and I am again setting myself a goal to get back to my creative pursuits. It has been very difficult for me to carve out time for my art on any kind of consistent basis; or post things online! With a new determination to guard time and energy to make it happen, I will embrace this new month as a new start!

A Year, New Art!

A new year, a new place to call home...

...and a new opportunity to share my art and adventures with you! :D 2021 is full of goals, wishes, hopes....and I hope to bring you some joy in sharing my art-journey here!

The snapshots below are my first of the year! Reflections on 2020, a goodbye to France, & a hello to my new home state: Florida! There's still so much I have yet to see, but each time I walk out the door I see something new; something art-inspiring! :) 

Keep an eye out for art soon! I am finally just about settled in, so I can get drawing! 

Sending my sincerest & best wishes for you & your family this year!

Bird's Beginning

It's the second week of quarantine for us, so to keep me from spinning my wheels too badly I decided to embark on a fun 3D project :)

This is a more involved project, as I will be doing a fair bit of experimentation! But I am happy to employ my 3D modeling skills to creating a cute little bird for a video game :) The goal is to create it in parts, keep it low-poly for minimal lag, and to script some simple movements to him. Bonus if I can eventually make him chirp too!

Below are a couple screenshots of my work in progress! You can also see them on my Instagram>>

The screenshot above was taken just after I unwrapped, and had a mess of UVs to size and organize :) Below, You can better see my model in different views, and my final arrangement for my UV map, as it is currently :) As I do a test paint soon, I will see if it needs any editing- hopefully not! :D



 I forgot to take screenshots as I was modeling, but you can see the wireframe in these anyway. I will be painting him up soon, so he will look more handsome than his current grey blob-like appearance :P

That's all for now folks!

As always I wish you well, but today I send an especially sincere wish for good health to you and your loved ones. Take care until next time, when I hope to bring you a little cheer in the form of a little painted bird :)

Happy March Pup

Happy Sunday!

Every day is a good day to appreciate doggos :) Don't you agree? Especially those with big goofy smiles!? So, today I sketched this handsome fella, a sweet german shepherd!

A good start for what I hope to be a very productive work-week. Hope you have a good one too! See you again soon :)

Spring & a Fennec Fox

Happy Saturday all!

As we close out this month, I wanted to share an extra blogpost with you.

This weekend, I encourage you to take a few minutes just to appreciate those good things around you. February came and went like a blur, and I am sure I am not the only one to feel that way! So as we welcome March, I hope that we all can be a little more present, and fully enjoy those little things that make life brighter. :)



To start this endeavor, here are some pretty flowers, a cute fennec fox, and some lovely creations by the wonderful artists of Carnaval de Nice (Click to go to the video)!

I was very lucky to be able to attend a Carnival celebration; the "Flower Battle" parade, or properly:  "Bataille de Fleurs" :) Performing artists including musicians and dancers dawn beautiful (and fanciful) costumes to entertain and throw flowers at the audience! :D We came home with a nice bouquet! Click on a photo on the left to go to a short video :)

My Moon

Crisp, cool nights have allowed for a beautiful view of the moon over the hills nearby. I don't think I have properly appreciated its glow in a while, and was happy to gaze at it between a break in the clouds :)

Rhino, yo!

I find that if I'm in a drawing-funk that I can't get out of, sketching an animal I seldom do breaks me out of it :) Something about the novelty? Or paying closer attention to the anatomy? Not exactly sure why, but I have this rhino to thank for resetting my drawing-brain again :)

Heart Leaves

As the flowers are starting to bloom in the park behind our neighborhood, I took special care to appreciate them as I walked by. One took my special attention....one with heart-shaped leaves and a happy yellow flower! I couldn't help but paint a study, and it became my favorite drawing of this past week :)

A Workflow Experiment

To make this year a truly insightful one, I wanted to start off this month with a "bang!". This week I wanted to push myself to try new techniques and work flows in digital painting. Thanks to Udemy being a wonderful resource, I found a digital painting class by Hardy Fowler. It has been a great thing to get inside another creative's head and see their techniques and process!

So, the following work-in-progress painting project is one from this class. It's still not finished, and I will update it here when it is. But the most important part (and something that I am excited to say) is that I have learned some digital-painting specific tips that I think I will continue implementing!

Something especially enlightening is the technique he teaches for gaining more organic variability in digital painting. It is easy for digital paint-strokes to look "fake", or calculated and too perfect. His painting technique helps to soften that, and I am very thankful to learn it!

Pictured: (First below) Ink & color blocking mask, (Second Below) initial skin tone painting stage. Click each image for more info.

I look forward to finishing this guy up, and hopefully seeing you back here next week! Thanks for reading! And if you are curious about the course, you can click here. (P.S. I am not at all affiliated)

Welcome 2020!

Happy New Year!

Lots to look forward to this year! Included in the bunches of hopes and goals I have going forward, I am committing to two exciting challenges; the 365art/daily posting challenge on my Instagram (@BriannaLeahyArt) & a weekly blog post here! I will hopefully be able to keep my blog posts on Wednesdays :)

I am excited to take time to draw for myself every day, exploring new topics, media, and generally improving myself and skillset! So, check back often, good luck on your new year goals, and happy 2020!

Pictured:  Some of my challenge posts so far!

Thanks for visiting, as always!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope you all get to enjoy this time with your friends and loved ones! I got to celebrate with my husband and our American friend here in France this year! We had such a nice time and a yummy spread; the illustration below shows just a handful of our creations. I was so excited to make my very first pie & vegan gravy, and both were a hit! 

Brush Rabbit!

This little bunny completes my Oregon Wildlife trio! This is a Brush Rabbit, a species that I would commonly see at home in Oregon. Drawing him truly has satisfied a bit of my longing for the west-coast, for now!

This drawing was created in Photoshop on my Cintiq, mimicking pencil. Additionally, if you would like a print for yourself or a friend, you can pick him up on my online shop! 

Sea-Dragon Mermaid

:) Here's my last mermaid of "MerMay" 2019! I wanted to create a seahorse mermaid, so this lady is inspired by the leafy sea-dragon. Created in Photoshop with a Cintiq tablet.

"(Friendly) Bull in a China Shop"

Watch out bull!
This cartoon is an original take on the "bull in a china shop" idiom. Unlike the traditional meaning, this bull is kindly and concerned at his predicament (even as we all know his situation spells disaster!).

Pictured left:  My "Bull in a China Shop" on screen! Audiences at the Karen Gail Miller Conference Center (Sandy, Utah) got to view this artwork as talking point during a presentation by guest speaker Dave Feldman.
April 17-18th, 2019.

Though I did not attend, the thought of my artwork being shown to an auditorium of people is always exciting!


Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

Learning on the Tram

Kiddos on the tram have been unknowingly helping me learn French, and to train my ears for correct pronunciation :) Yesterday a little one, staring out the window repeated “monsieur, madame, monsieur, madame....” until his mom told him to shhh! 😌

This is the first time in a good while that I have just let myself doodle with ink....oh how I didn't realize how much I've missed the feeling! We hope to be settled into our new home soon so I can really turn my focus back to my personal work (& this blog!)  :)   Take care & see you back here again soon!

We're in Nice, France!

I know you are here for artwork, but this is just too big of news not to share!

The 2019 New Year brought me the exciting and daunting task of moving internationally! For the next two years, my husband and I will be living in Nice, France!

I am excited to soak in the local and historical artwork here, to grow as an artist, and to accomplish many of my long-standing art-goals while I am here! New artwork will be trickling back onto this blog as we reestablish our home and get back to "normal" daily life :)

View this post on Instagram

🛬We made it to Nice! 🏫🌳Walked to the top of Castle Hill, or Park Colline du Château, for this view :) #nicefrance #adventures #artinspiration #travel #france #castlehill #park #walk #collineduchateau #collineduchâteau #prettyview #nice #newhome #sunset #water #beach #city #hillside

A post shared by Brianna Elizabeth Leahy (@briannaleahyart) on Feb 8, 2019 at 1:52pm PST

Here's to 2018!

🎉What a year! 
I had so many new art-adventures, got married, and set up new plans for the new year! Here’s to 2018, and looking forward to 2019! 

Here's my 'best nine of 2018!' from Instagram:

Oregon Wildlife & Holiday Bazaar

This past weekend I shared my artwork at NACC's 4th Annual Christmas Bazaar! I have been so excited to embark on my Oregon Wildlife Artwork Series, and was excited to bring the first few pieces to this event!


A great horned owl and black-tailed deer are the first two creatures in my series!


They're digital sketches, but I have treated them as if it were paper & pencil. These prints (pictured left) are 5 x 7", and have the option of coming framed.


I am looking forward to drawing more of my favorite Oregon creatures! Next up, the brush rabbit!


I want to give a big "thank you!" to everyone who came to our booth! I cannot describe how thankful I am to have such support from great friends, family, and art-lovers!

This spring, I enjoyed seeing the Western Tiger Swallowtail around my studio and along nearby walking paths!

After taking photos and identifying the species, I created a small bunch of butterflies in ink & alcohol-based marker on velum.

These sketches inspired the creation of 3D cards (see left), with delicate wings and thread for antennae. I love how a little breeze flutters their wings!

I am also happy to include them as a part of my Oregon Wildlife Series!

I will be at the Town & Country Christmas Bazaar Nov. 30, Dec. 1 & 2....but that's a story for later! :) If you like, you can follow Brianna Leahy Art on Facebook for more upcoming event info :)


The artwork gifts you see on this post (and more!) will be available at my T&CCB booth!

Thank you again for reading!
-Brianna of Brianna Leahy Art & my booth buddy, Deborah of ChickadeeAndPeeps!

A Batty Idea: Oregon Wildlife Art

One reason I love Photoshop; it's easy to create a seamless pattern! So as Halloween was drawing near, a batty-bat pattern seemed like a must-have :) I have wanted to create more artwork featuring local wildlife, so why not start with Yuma myotis?



A cute little bat, Yuma myotis can be found near my home in Oregon. I have always enjoyed learning more about creatures and plants, especially those who share the same wilderness that I do. Energized by the thought that creating this art can bring me both joy, and the knowledge to identify this creature in real life, I decided to start a new art series!



I am excited to say that I will be focusing on Oregon wildlife artwork for the rest of this year! I endeavor to create art that inspires interest in learning about the natural world, especially for Oregonians young & old :) To do this, I will focus on local species, & include a bite-size bit of educational information with each art piece!

Currently I'm working on naturalistic wall-art, illustrated notebooks (with wildlife facts inside the cover), greeting cards, & even getting my pattern-designs on cloth (pictured left)!


New possibilities are open to my art-gifts now that I am printing my artwork on cotton cloth, and I am so excited!


I hope to bring a fair bit to my art-booths at events this holiday season as well, so keep an eye out! :D