February 6, 2025

Sketching Flowers with a Purple A5 Art Toolkit

A playful purple that embodies creativity and individuality: for those who embrace their unique artistic voice.

By The Art Toolkit Team

A person wearing a blue sweater and yellow pants holds a notebook and a pen amidst vibrant yellow flowers in a garden. A purple folder rests underneath the notebook.

We met flower farmer Elyse of Fig and Otter Farm at the Port Townsend Farmer’s Market. Elyse offers captivating fresh flowers during the summer and dried flower bouquets, wreaths, and garlands into the winter months. After chatting at her booth at the local Farmer’s Market, Elyse graciously invited us to sketch and photograph her gorgeous farm.

A person tends to a vibrant flower garden filled with blooming dahlias, surrounded by lush greenery and trees under a clear sky. In the background, a rustic wooden structure and tents can be seen, indicating an agricultural setting.
A vibrant flower field filled with pink and orange dahlias, surrounded by lush green foliage and blurred blooms in the foreground.
A small green frog perched on a leaf amidst vibrant greenery and colorful wildflowers.
A person sketching flowers in a notebook while surrounded by vibrant blooming flowers in a garden. A watercolor palette is placed next to the notebook, and the sunlight highlights the colorful scene.

We spent a beautiful fall morning among rows of colorful blooms, including dahlias, zinnias, scabiosa, sunflowers, and Black-eyed Susans. The garden was alive with honey bees laden with pollen and buzzing hummingbirds, and we even found a frog among the dahlia leaves!

A person wearing sunglasses sits among vibrant yellow flowers in a garden, with trees and a clear sky in the background.
A hand writing in a notebook surrounded by blooming sunflowers in a garden.
A person holds an open sketchbook surrounded by vibrant yellow flowers, with a palette of watercolor paints nearby. The sketchbook features a detailed drawing of flowers.
A purple bag is placed among vibrant purple and green flowers, surrounded by lush greenery.

Maria enjoyed the chance to slow down and sketch the colorful blooms, and we had an amazing morning, photographing our new kit colors as a team.

A woman with curly hair wearing sunglasses and a blue sweater stands in a flower garden, holding a pen and notebook while taking notes among vibrant blooms.
A vibrant watercolor illustration featuring seven different flowers, including yellow, orange, pink, and red varieties, with loose, expressive lines and cheerful colors.
A sketchbook lies in a patch of grass, featuring hand-painted flowers in vibrant colors. A watercolor palette sits nearby with various paint squares, and a water brush is resting beside it. Purple flowers surround the scene, creating a colorful, artistic atmosphere.

Purple Pocket Palette Paint List

Maria sketched flowers in her 100% Cotton Watercolor Book with a water brush and a selection of vibrant and metallic Daniel Smith watercolors. Purple Pocket Palettes, inspired by our newest kit color, are available on our website and in our retail shop in two configurations: Pocket Palette Without Pans and Pocket Palette with Assorted Pans.

A watercolor palette with vibrant paint squares, partially open next to a sketchbook featuring colorful, smudged paint swatches. Bright flowers are blurred in the background.
(12) Mini Pans and (1) XL Mixing Pan in a Purple Pocket Palette.
A woman with long, wavy hair holds a vibrant bouquet filled with colorful flowers, including dahlias and thistles, in front of a rustic wooden backdrop.
Two black dogs are lying in a bed on the floor of a flower-filled workshop. Behind them, shelves are stocked with a variety of dried flowers, and several potted arrangements are neatly displayed. A pink bicycle is also visible in the background.

Born and raised in Homer, Alaska, Elyse moved to the Quimper Peninsula in 2012 and stuck around to enjoy the much longer growing season. Tending plants has always been a meaningful part of her life, from when she was a child helping her mom in the garden to her first job at age 13 working on a peony farm.

Elyse’s dream of turning her passions for farming, community, and creative expression into her livelihood came true in 2020 when she formed Fig and Otter Farm. Named after her two pups, they are Elyse’s constant companions and embody the spirit of the farm with their sweet, positive, and lively personalities.

For Locals and Visitors

In addition to stocking her booth at the Farmer’s Market from June through December, you can find Elyse and her dried flower bouquets at the Bishop Block Bottle Shop on Valentine’s Day and check out her annual bouquet CSA through her website starting March 15th this year.

Keep up with Elyse’s offerings on her website and on Instagram.

Thank you for joining us on the farm to explore our new purple kit and palette! Learn about all of our new kit and palette colors on the Art Toolkit Blog.
An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

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