Mike Hendley 🎨 ✍️ 🇨🇦
@mikehendley.com
Artist, naturalist, podcaster, art teacher. Graphite, watercolor, oil, acrylic, and digital. By day, I work in IT & health research.
https://MikeHendley.com/links
https://MikeHendley.com/links
Reposted by Mike Hendley 🎨 ✍️ 🇨🇦
Welcome, former Twitter artists!
From paleoart to fine art,
comics to medical illustration,
bioart to space imagery,
explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with the SciArt Starter Pack.
150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡.
And no gen AI or NFTs.
From paleoart to fine art,
comics to medical illustration,
bioart to space imagery,
explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with the SciArt Starter Pack.
150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡.
And no gen AI or NFTs.
December 24, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Welcome, former Twitter artists!
From paleoart to fine art,
comics to medical illustration,
bioart to space imagery,
explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with the SciArt Starter Pack.
150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡.
And no gen AI or NFTs.
From paleoart to fine art,
comics to medical illustration,
bioart to space imagery,
explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with the SciArt Starter Pack.
150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡.
And no gen AI or NFTs.
Came for the owl, stayed for the stump and snow. Drawn with Pentel .2 .3 .5, HB 2B 4B. So many layers. So much blender work. Half of this was adding graphite, the other half was taking it back. Learning what to leave alone and celebrating all the textures in nature. #bird #sciart #graphite
December 18, 2025 at 6:11 PM
A curious wolf pup, a red ornament, and too much feeling about reflections. Painted with QoR watercolors on a blank Etchr cold press card with my Art Toolkit palette, QoR watercolors and Pentel Aquash brushes. Wolf pups can howl at 3 weeks old. Not sure who gets this card
December 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A curious wolf pup, a red ornament, and too much feeling about reflections. Painted with QoR watercolors on a blank Etchr cold press card with my Art Toolkit palette, QoR watercolors and Pentel Aquash brushes. Wolf pups can howl at 3 weeks old. Not sure who gets this card
A chickadee giving serious side-eye to a holiday ornament. Painted with Golden QoR watercolors and a Pentel water brush on cold press Etchr card stock. Two hours and two coffees later and we’re done. I kept this one loose and made it fun. Happy Watercolor Day! #watercolorday #birds
November 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
A chickadee giving serious side-eye to a holiday ornament. Painted with Golden QoR watercolors and a Pentel water brush on cold press Etchr card stock. Two hours and two coffees later and we’re done. I kept this one loose and made it fun. Happy Watercolor Day! #watercolorday #birds
Playing with the idea of Magic: The Gathering type collectible cards with my art and a focus on animals in certain regions. Thoughts?
November 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Playing with the idea of Magic: The Gathering type collectible cards with my art and a focus on animals in certain regions. Thoughts?
Blue jays are always around here but I don’t always observe them. This one found a corn niblet and posed for my reference photo. Sketched it fast with 0.5mm 4B + 0.3mm 2B Pentel Graphgear, plus a blender to bring the forest floor into focus at the end. Jays mimic hawks. Wild. #birds #sciart #drawing
November 19, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Blue jays are always around here but I don’t always observe them. This one found a corn niblet and posed for my reference photo. Sketched it fast with 0.5mm 4B + 0.3mm 2B Pentel Graphgear, plus a blender to bring the forest floor into focus at the end. Jays mimic hawks. Wild. #birds #sciart #drawing
Water practice, iridescence panic, a rogue corner hit by blue… and somehow this loon still came together. Painted with Pentel water brushes in an A6 Etchr sketchbook using QoR paints and interference pigments for that shine. Solid bones, just like the bird. #birds #sciart #watercolor
November 16, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Water practice, iridescence panic, a rogue corner hit by blue… and somehow this loon still came together. Painted with Pentel water brushes in an A6 Etchr sketchbook using QoR paints and interference pigments for that shine. Solid bones, just like the bird. #birds #sciart #watercolor
Caught this great blue heron at Mud Lake in Ottawa striking a rare wing-drying pose. I sketched it with Pentel Graphgear 1000s in 2B and 4B, layering blends and erasing to pull form from shadow. Herons always feel like ghosts dressed in feathers and silence. #birds #sciart #artist
November 9, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Not my usual subject but that’s what pulled me in. Layer after layer, pencil after pencil, I let the water shape itself. GraphGear 1000 (.3 2B and .5 4B), a lot of blending, a lot of learning. It scared me. That’s how I knew it mattered.
November 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Not my usual subject but that’s what pulled me in. Layer after layer, pencil after pencil, I let the water shape itself. GraphGear 1000 (.3 2B and .5 4B), a lot of blending, a lot of learning. It scared me. That’s how I knew it mattered.
Not my typical subject but felt compelled to start this one over coffee today. Maybe a feeling of keeping one’s head above the water. Busy days. Happy to be heading back to Ithaca for a few days. I plan to fit in some drawing and painting.
October 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Not my typical subject but felt compelled to start this one over coffee today. Maybe a feeling of keeping one’s head above the water. Busy days. Happy to be heading back to Ithaca for a few days. I plan to fit in some drawing and painting.
A chipmunk showed up with a nut, cleaned its tail, and something about it made me paint without thinking too hard. Used QoR watercolors and Pentel water brushes in my A6 Etchr sketchbook. Felt like catching stillness mid-chaos. Like holding your own tail. #sciart
October 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM
A chipmunk showed up with a nut, cleaned its tail, and something about it made me paint without thinking too hard. Used QoR watercolors and Pentel water brushes in my A6 Etchr sketchbook. Felt like catching stillness mid-chaos. Like holding your own tail. #sciart
Spotted this tufted titmouse in Sapsucker Woods a few weeks ago. I didn’t notice the band until I started this piece. Light washes in my A6 Etchr sketchbook with Pentel brushes. I always start with the eye and stop when it winks. Like trying to hold a moment still without hurting it. #sciart #birds
October 25, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I watched this osprey at Stewart Park (Ithaca, NY) this summer. Its posture, that nest, the feathers in the breeze. Drew it mostly with my Graphgear 1000 .5mm (4B) and some fine .3mm 2B for detail. The nest was my fave part to draw. We’ll dive into this technique in my January course. #sciart #birds
October 19, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I watched this osprey at Stewart Park (Ithaca, NY) this summer. Its posture, that nest, the feathers in the breeze. Drew it mostly with my Graphgear 1000 .5mm (4B) and some fine .3mm 2B for detail. The nest was my fave part to draw. We’ll dive into this technique in my January course. #sciart #birds
New to drawing or coming back to it? Join me in Stittsville, Ontario. 5 Tuesdays, Jan 13 to Feb 10, 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Learn to see shapes, measure, and shade with simple tools. Supplies included. Waitlist: shop.mikehendley.com/products/… #sciart
October 16, 2025 at 1:24 PM
New to drawing or coming back to it? Join me in Stittsville, Ontario. 5 Tuesdays, Jan 13 to Feb 10, 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Learn to see shapes, measure, and shade with simple tools. Supplies included. Waitlist: shop.mikehendley.com/products/… #sciart
Happy international podcast day! I’m coming back with season 2 of my podcast “Drawing Inspiration” in spring 2026. First season was 109 episodes. Second is 6 😁 This time with a season and episode sponsors. More to come … drawinginspiration.fm
Welcome - The Drawing Inspiration Podcast
Join artist Mike Hendley who is sharing his creative journey through personal projects and interviewing some exciting artists and creatives.
drawinginspiration.fm
October 1, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Happy international podcast day! I’m coming back with season 2 of my podcast “Drawing Inspiration” in spring 2026. First season was 109 episodes. Second is 6 😁 This time with a season and episode sponsors. More to come … drawinginspiration.fm
Painted this river otter in watercolor using a medium Pentel Aquash for the fine fur. It started curious, turned kind of defiant, and now it’s quietly judging me for working so small. Definitely want to go way bigger next time. #sciart #watercolor #artist
September 26, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Painted this river otter in watercolor using a medium Pentel Aquash for the fine fur. It started curious, turned kind of defiant, and now it’s quietly judging me for working so small. Definitely want to go way bigger next time. #sciart #watercolor #artist
An hour into this watercolor sketch of an otter. I added Washi tape around the edge because this piece will include a background. This was a very tricky start trying to get the details in the eyes with a medium tip Pentel water brush. Paynes grey violet is fantastic for wet brown fur #wip #sciart
September 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Between workshop prep, I squeezed in this leopard sketch. The scale pushed me, specifically the spots and face details. Pentel Nero Orenz .2 mm HB for the fine stuff, Graphgear 1000s for the rest, and a 2.0 mm 6B clutch pencil for the dark rocks. Leopards carry prey heavier than themselves. #sciart
September 20, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Between workshop prep, I squeezed in this leopard sketch. The scale pushed me, specifically the spots and face details. Pentel Nero Orenz .2 mm HB for the fine stuff, Graphgear 1000s for the rest, and a 2.0 mm 6B clutch pencil for the dark rocks. Leopards carry prey heavier than themselves. #sciart
Coffee shop sketches, photography, and patience with wildlife feed my art. Practicing in public is how I grow. Bringing that approach into my first in-person drawing workshops starting in 2026. I wrote about it here. www.pawstrailsmagazine.com/practice-… #sciart
September 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Coffee shop sketches, photography, and patience with wildlife feed my art. Practicing in public is how I grow. Bringing that approach into my first in-person drawing workshops starting in 2026. I wrote about it here. www.pawstrailsmagazine.com/practice-… #sciart