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Blake Ballard

Artist, Designer, Educator 📍Denver, Colorado
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Great Sand Dunes National Park

A Summer of Landscape Paintings 🏞️

August 12, 2026

Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania

With a travel watercolor palette and sketchbook, I spent this summer capturing every hike, picnic, and pool party that I went to!

I don’t do nearly enough plein air painting, so this was a low stakes way of staying creative and connected to nature. I filled an entire landscape sketchbook over the course of three months with the goal to improve my watercolor skills, which was a success. Rediscovering my interest in this medium was a pleasant surprise, and although some paintings were flops, most turned out great!

I was also developing my debut solo exhibition during this time, and this sketchbook became a bit of an escape from the stress of the process. Whenever I needed a reset, I made sure to spend some time in the park or on a camping trip unplugged and painting.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Arrakis (lovely in the summertime)

Westminster, Colorado

⬇️ Check out the sketchbook tour I filmed to see each spread ⬇️

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