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May 6th, 2026

Tips for Everyday Art with Brooke Morales

Explore how small creative efforts keep a daily art habit alive, and how to build your toolkit for different occasions!

By The Art Toolkit Team

A sketchbook lies open on green grass, featuring a watercolor illustration of a large tree by a body of water. Surrounding the book are various art supplies, including pens and a water brush, as well as a clipboard with a note reading "Tiny, but MIGHTY." The setting is bright and inviting, showcasing creativity in a natural environment.

This is a recording from our live demo, Tips for Everyday Art with Brooke Morales, on May 6th, 2026.

In this live demo, we explore how small creative efforts keep a daily art habit alive. California-based artist Brooke Morales shares how she has maintained a daily art habit for the past 4+ years (over 1,500 days!) and how to make art accessible and approachable even on busy days.

Learn how to decide what to draw, and ways to build your toolkit for different occasions—from field and studio brushes, to easels and bags. Brooke shares how simplifying your supplies can make it easier to sketch wherever you are. We also also explore simple strategies for getting started, even when inspiration feels distant.

A Few Tips from Brooke

In the demo, around minute eight, Brooke talks about how to apply the Atomic Habits structure to daily art using the following tips.

An outdoor artist's setup displays a painted landscape of mountains and meadows. Paints, brushes, and a palette are arranged on a table, with a scenic view of rolling hills and distant peaks in the background under a clear blue sky.
Brooke sketching Mammoth Mountain en plein air.

  • Have clear habit triggers and intentions. For instance, Brooke set intention to paint at 7:30am every morning for her 365 Skies Project: “After I get up and before I start work, I’m going to paint the sky.”

  • Pair an art habit with something you’re already doing, like sketching every day after showering.

  • Associate the habit with a community, and join a culture that does the type of thing you want to do. Some ideas include joining Wild Wonder Foundation events for nature journaling, Urban Sketchers meet-ups, and the Art Toolkit community through our newsletter, Instagram, and Circle, our online platform for workshop participants.

A colorful illustrated journal page featuring various birds, plants, and insects. The left side is titled "Tired But" with sketches of a finch, bullock's oriole, and other wildlife, along with handwritten notes. The right side is titled "Inspire" displaying images of plants and insects, including crickets and bluebirds, with additional notes. The overall theme reflects a connection to nature and creativity.
Pages from Brooke’s sketchbook.

Kits for All Occasions

Brooke advocates for having multiple kits with duplicate paint palettes in different places, to make it easier to get out the door, and she shared lots of ideas about halfway through the demo.

We loved seeing how Brooke customizes her kit for different occasions!

A sketchbook open on a grassy surface, featuring a watercolor illustration of a river scene with rocks and greenery. The page includes notes about a fishing trip and a Tenkara fishing rod illustration. Sunlight casts shadows on the pages.
Brooke sketching while fly fishing at Hot Creek in California.

Follow Along and Sketch

Take a peek at a few downloadable reference photos, and follow along for a short sketching exercise!

A large, lush green tree with a thick trunk is prominently displayed in a park setting. In the background, there are picnic tables and well-maintained grass. A street and vehicles are visible beyond the greenery, under a clear blue sky.
A close-up of a vibrant orange bird of paradise flower, surrounded by green leaves and soft sunlight. The background features a blurred landscape with trees and water.
Three delicate white flowers with small holes in the center are scattered on a textured gray surface, accompanied by a couple of dried brown flower fragments.

Recommended Supplies

For this demo, Brooke recommends bringing:

  • Sketching tools: Drawing instrument(s) of your choice, such as a pencil, pen, marker, or colored pencils.

  • Paper: Watercolor paper for painting along, or any other paper for note-taking or sketching.

  • Brushes: Water brush or a regular paint brush with clean water.

  • Extras: Old sock, cloth, or paper towel to dab/clean brush.

About Brooke

Brooke Morales is a designer, writer, and watercolor artist based in California. She is the creator of Life Noticed, a website where she shares inspiration for intentional creativity through nature journaling and art, with a focus on mindfulness and building meaningful habits.

A hand holds an open sketchbook featuring a watercolor landscape of tall trees and distant mountains, titled "Welcome To My Office." A small easel holds a palette of watercolors. The background shows a nature scene with blue skies and greenery.

Her work encourages slowing down, noticing the everyday, and cultivating sustainable creative practices that fit real life. See more of Brooke’s work on her Instagram page.

Brooke Morales
Website | Social Media

Thank you to those who joined us live, and we encourage you to explore past demos on our Demos page!
An artist sites on a rock, dipping a paintbrush in a Pocket Palette.

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