Every summer, nature shows off like it’s auditioning for a role in a Miyazaki film, dappled light, buzzing bees, overgrown trails, all of it.
And if you’re an artist (or even art-curious), that natural energy can be the best kind of fuel.
The real question is: how do you actually bring that into your art without painting yet another generic sunset?
Let’s talk about 10 real and creative ways to weave nature into your summer art, in ways that feel fresh, fun, and sometimes even a little messy.
Also see: 15 Amazing Outdoor Art Installations to Visit This Summer
1. Paint with Nature, Not Just About It
Skip the brush. For real. Use pine needles, seed pods, bark, or even the edge of a rock. You’d be surprised how expressive a leaf dipped in ink can be, it creates patterns you couldn’t make on purpose even if you tried.
Mini experiment I did last June, I used a sliced okra as a stamp with watercolor. The flower-like imprint? Gorgeous.
And above all, it made my sketchbook smell like a salad.
Try this with:
- Dried grass dipped in acrylic
- Fallen petals as stamps
- Ferns for spray-paint silhouettes
2. Create with Dirt, Clay, or Natural Pigments
This one’s for the wild ones. Get down and earthy, literally. You can grind up red clay, charcoal from a fire, or yellow turmeric and mix it with water or egg yolk (tempera-style) to make your own pigment.
A friend of mine who does this regularly even forages for iron-rich rocks and scrapes them into fine dust. Her palette? 100% forest-approved.
As a tip, use a binder like gum arabic or just go primal and paint with water + pigment on raw canvas or thick handmade paper.
3. Document the Unnoticed (a.k.a. Don’t Draw Just the Obvious)
You don’t have to sketch the biggest tree in the park. Try capturing things people usually overlook, how the light filters through weeds, the textures on a cracked acorn, or the shadow a dragonfly’s wings cast.
One of my favorite sketchbook pages? A close-up of beetle shells I found on a hike. Looked like metallic jewels under the sun.
Find what’s the tiniest thing you can find and still make art from?
4. Use Nature as a Timekeeper
Try this: pick the same view, plant, or tree, and draw or paint it at different times of the day, morning, noon, and evening.
Or document how it changes over a week. Nature is never still. You’ll notice light, shadows, and moods you wouldn’t catch otherwise.
I once painted my backyard hedge every evening at 6 PM for a week. Ended up with a series that unintentionally told a story, from sharp golden light to stormy blur.
5. Make Ephemeral Art (That You Don’t Keep)
This is one of the most freeing things I’ve ever done: build temporary art using only natural stuff, sticks, petals, stones, sand, and walk away. Like Andy Goldsworthy, but messier and no film crew.
Try:
- Leaf mandalas
- Rock arrangements
- Water ripples using pebbles
Here’s a good news, you don’t have to store it, frame it, or even explain it. Just photograph it and let it go.
6. Sketch the Sounds, Not Just the Sights
Okay, this one’s unusual. Next time you’re outside, close your eyes for a bit and draw what you hear. Maybe it’s the rhythm of cicadas, a branch creaking, or wind brushing through grass. Don’t think of it as realistic drawing, think abstract.
One artist I met in a nature journaling class made entire zine pages inspired by bird calls, with wavy, looping lines and quick color dabs to show sound “feeling.”
7. Use Fallen Nature in Collage or Mixed Media
Don’t throw away those dried flowers or shells. Glue them. Layer them. Tear around them. Or embed them into gel medium and add texture.
One collage I made last summer used cracked eggshells, flower petals, and a pressed snail shell. People asked what I painted it with, it was literally just nature and matte medium.
8. Let the Weather Decide Your Art (No Umbrella Needed)
Let wind, rain, or sun take part in your art. Leave watercolor paper in the sun with natural dyes. Let rain splatter your sketchbook (seriously). Use wind to move ink around with string or thread.
I once left a canvas outside during a drizzle, and the resulting drips looked like dreamy, accidental magic. Rain’s a great collaborator if you’re not too precious about the results.
9. Do a Nature-Based Color Hunt
Limit yourself to a specific color palette inspired by nature. Try “everything sage and rust” or “only yellow and white from things I found in the park.” It forces you to look differently, and mix better.
Here’s a hack, collect samples in your sketchbook, swatch them with colored pencils or paint, and then create a piece using just those tones. It’s surprisingly grounding.
10. Build a Summer Nature Sketchbook (with a Personal Twist)
Don’t just draw what you see. Add notes, what it smelled like, what song was stuck in your head, who you were with. Make it a summer diary with doodles, pressed flowers, and weird thoughts.
Mine includes things like:
“Saw a squirrel stealing a samosa. Not related to art, but relevant to mood.”
It’s your sketchbook. Let it be wild and slightly chaotic, like nature itself.
Bonus: Quick Nature Art Prompts
- “Draw something that looks alive but isn’t”
- “Create art inspired by a bug’s point of view”
- “Make a leaf your canvas and draw on it”
- “Turn a root or branch into a character”
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a cabin in the woods to make nature-infused art.
You just need to look closely, let go of control a bit, and be willing to get your hands (and maybe your pants) dirty. Nature’s weird, messy, magical, and so is great art.
So, go outside. Pick up a rock. Smell a flower. Make something you weren’t expecting. And maybe, just maybe, let a butterfly land on your brush while you’re at it.
What’s your favorite way to bring nature into your art? Or what weird nature-object have you painted with recently?
Let me know. I’m always up for a good leaf story.
Written by someone who’s painted with beetroot juice and lived to tell the story.