Category Archives: Catholic art

How to Draw Mary for May Crowning

Happy May! The month of May is often the time families honor Mary with flowers, so I thought it would be fun to offer a video tutorial of how to draw Mary with a flower wreath crown. All you need are a pencil, paper, and something to color with. I used colored pencils, but you can use any media you desire! The nice thing about this project is you can change up the colors however you would like. Perfect for budding artists and the young at heart.

I did this project with my 4 year old and 7 year old. My oldest, Holly, gave Mary a flowing veil and depicted her surrounded by angels. My youngest drew her twice.

If you have children who are too young to draw along but like to color, I have a copy of the line art listed below that you’re free to print and use for personal use.

Feel free to tag me on Facebook or Instagram and use #artwithamyheyse so I can see your finished Marian masterpieces! You can find a few more drawing tutorials on my YouTube channel. I also have a St. Lucy painting tutorial available in my Etsy shop.

Illustration Opportunities

Growing up, “illustrating a children’s book” was on my dream list (probably right under “workin a Disney”). I loved the work of illustrators like Jan Brett, Chris Van Allsburg, Mercer Meyer, and more. I used to write and illustrate my own stories. In fall of 2020, I got asked by Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) to create the cover illustration for a new Catholic kids magazine called OSV Kids. The January cover was to depict a family inviting home a new baby, so I had my daughters model for photos with an American Girl doll wrapped up in a blanket.

I created the cover illustration with the help of my new iPad Pro and the app Procreate. It was a dream come true. Seeing my daughters holding a copy of the physical magazine bearing their image was definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve had as an artist.

It was such a positive and rewarding experience, so I was extra excited when I was asked to create another illustration for the centerfold of the June 2021 issue (I’ll try to share that one later when it comes out) as well as the artwork for a new book on the Jesse Tree by Colleen Pressprich (which will also be published by Our Sunday Visitor).

The cover illustration started off as a line drawing that I shaded using dark brown tones. I tried to create all of the tonal values with this brown shade to make an “under painting.” On a separate layer, I added the colors for the girls on top. You can see what the different stages looked like in the above photo (cover image copyright Our Sunday Visitor).

Holy Family Sacred Hearts

I had been listening to a podcast last spring about Eucharistic miracles. In the interview, they talked about the scientific testing that has been used on Eucharistic hosts. Under a microscope, the host looks like the heart of someone who has died from severe trauma.

The Holy Family aren’t bland, emotionless statues. My purpose with this series is to highlight that they were people who experienced severe trauma and were emotional beings.

Prints and stickers of each heart can be found on my Etsy page.

Liturgical and Sacred Art Festival

I’m excited to announce that my piece “Psalm 91:4” was accepted to the Springfield Liturgical and Sacred Art Festival coming up soon!

My piece “Psalm 91:4” that was recently accepted at the Springfield Liturgical and Sacred Art Festival.

During the last few weeks, I had been working on finishing up two pieces to submit to a call for entries for a Liturgical and Sacred Art Festival in Springfield, Illinois. I personally have not heard of that many contemporary artists creating religious themed artwork, so I was excited to hear about the chance to exhibit religious work. I had a Joan of a Arc bible journaling sketch and a sketch I had done as a Pentecost mass reflection that I decided to revisit to create as larger scale paintings to submit for the exhibition.

Though my “Courage Under Fire” piece inspired by Joan of Arc was not accepted, I still am very proud of the time I spent creating the piece.

“Courage Under Fire.” A watercolor, acrylic and mixed media piece inspired by Joan of Arc.

My “Psalm 91:4” piece was based on a personal mass reflection sketch I created during Pentecost, but the title is from Psalms:

“He will shelter you with his pinions, anded under his wings you may take refuge; his faithfulness is a protecting shield.”

In my original sketch, I was reflecting on how we all have vulnerabilities or fragility, but we also all have an inner strength burning within us. I was drawing inspiration from the Holy Spirit and how it reveals itself in many different forms (feathers, flames, tongues, etc).

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit… To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13

My original sketch that “Psalm 91:4” is inspired by.

My “Courage Under Fire” piece was originally a sketch and Bible reflection I did for All Saint’s Day. The reflection had been inspired by Beth Davis of Blessed Is She’s Teachable Tuesday talk. 1 John 4:18 was the verse she talked about.

“There is no fear in love…”

Joan of Arc had a great quote that I felt paired nicely:

“I am not afraid. I was born to do this.”

My original Joan of Arc “Courage Under Fire” bible journaling sketch.

It’s super special that these were the two pieces I created to represent me for this call for entries. Fear had been telling me to scale back, to keep it small, to keep it comfortable… Taking a step and risk sharing a vulnerable part of me, to put my art “out there,” and to celebrate the small sketches and baby steps that brought me to where I am at this moment has been very rewarding.

My piece will be at the Liturgical Arts Festival of Springfield at the Springfield Art Association in Illinois starting on April 28, 2018.

Sunday Sketches

I had been struggling to find time to put time aside for art. Being a full-time mom as well as a painting instructor for Pinot’s Palette, it was a struggle finding time and motivation to work on art.

In the spring, I read a book called Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly. I read a chapter a day during Lent and it inspired me to make the time to create. One of the things Kelly suggested in the book was to keep something called a Mass Journal. The idea is that you bring a journal to mass every Sunday and write down one thing that connects to you during the service. This could be a line from a reading, a song, or something the priest says during the homily.

I liked the idea, but instead of using a journal I chose to do sketches. A friend had gifted me a set of artist tiles, like the kind used for zentangles, so I decided to use these to write and draw my mass reflections. Because the artist tile cards are small, they fit nicely in a small pouch with a couple of pens and pencils I bring along. I listen during mass, write down my connection, and illustrate my reflection.

I like doing these Sunday sketches because it not only because it makes me dedicate time every week to sketching, but it also has helped me connect during church and learn more about myself as well.