Samantha Zim

Open moleskine sketchbook showing a watercolor and colored pencil illustration of sunflowers, tomatoes and greens- an abundant garden during harvest season.

Open moleskine sketchbook showing a watercolor, colored pencil and ink illustration of moonflowers- a wide white flower shaped like a trumpet with purple tinged edges and spade shaped leaves.

Which should I pick for August in my 2026 calendar? Help me choose by commenting:
🧡 for sunflowers (1st option)
💙 for moonflowers (2nd option)
This will be the sixth year running that I’ve printed a calendar, pre-orders open later this month!
#watercolor #sketchbook #drawing

Photograph of an open sketchbook with watercolor illustrations of a gold granite rock shored like an egg with a spikey Joshua tree in front of it, a desert tortoise and a roadrunner. National park stamps decorate the lower right corner of the page

Last December I found myself in J Tree with a broken arm- the best way to keep from using it was to sit down and paint! Also, I was so excited to spot this roadrunner that I nearly crashed my car into a rock right outside the visitor center 😅
#watercolor #gouache #sketchbook #joshuatreenp #art

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Open moleskine sketchbook showing a watercolor painting of an aspen grove in dappled sunlight. Behind the sketchbook we see the subject of the illustration.

Photo of a summer Aspen grove in dappled sunlight- rays of sun pass through the trees casting long shadows over ferns and wildflowers.

4 days left to submit a public comment on the Roadless Rule- a designation that protects 30% of all National Forest land like old growth forests, critical wildlife habitat, sacred indigenous sites and the aspen grove where I painted this in 2021💚 #watercolor #sketchbook #art #panitning #moleskine

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Open moleskin sketchbook showing a watercolor illustration of an old French mansion in Hanoi, VT that is overgrown with bougainvillea and festooned with Vietnamese flags. On the balcony two men laugh and drink coffee.

My plans for the day immediately went out the window when I stumbled upon this house while wandering through Hanoi last spring. I think you can see why it reminded me so strongly of a Miyazaki film!
#travelsketching #watercolor #moleskine #painting #drawing #urbansketching

Thanks so much!🥰

Photo of an open moleskin journal showing a watercolor painting of a tall craggy mountain and electric blue lake below it, just below tree line. The slopes of the mountain still hold a few patches of snow despite the date on the sketchbook page being July.

My second favorite thing about hikes like this one is the view. My actual favorite thing is that you can just carry a water filter and drink bright, magical, ice cold mountain water the entire time you’re out there🤩🏔️
#watercolor #mountains #moleskine #painting #drawing #art #landscape #natureart

Although I sketched this in May I always like to try to throw a creek piece in the calendar this time of year as the temps start to dip below 90 and it begins to seem like a reasonable idea to tie in again…

September’s spread in this year’s calendar was painted from a perch overlooking the road to Cliffs of Insanity in the Creek. My plans for the day changed as I saw my climbing parter’s truck approach the crux in the road, and then turn around!😅
#watercolor #utah #rockclimbing #moleskine #drawing

Open moleskine sketchbook showing watercolor illustrations of three colorful desert flowers- globemallow (a tightly clustered orange flower that grows in stalks) barberry (a holly-like prickly bush with tiny yellow flowers) and paintbrush (a fire shaped red flower that grows in bushy clumps)

Closeup of an open moleskine sketchbook showing watercolor illustrations of globemallow (a tightly clustered orange flower that grows in stalks).

Closeup of an open moleskine sketchbook showing watercolor illustrations of globemallow (a tightly clustered orange flower that grows in stalks).

Getting back in the groove with a few favorite desert plants! I haven’t painted globemallow is years thanks to emotional damage from the last time, but adding a square brush to my quiver definitely made it less painful!
#watercolor #botanicalart #moleskine #painting #utah #sketchbook #natureart

Fremont barberry doesn’t have the same glamor around it that sagebrush or juniper do, but it’s one of my favorite high desert plants! It is however, kind of a pain in the ass to paint😅
#watercolor #painting #botanicalart #illustration #art #drawing

Lucked out in July and had three clear days to get at much of an eyeful of Denali as I could! Already dreaming up reasons to head back to the north country, and more time to paint mountains is high on the list🏔️
#denali #moleskine #sketchbook #drawing #travelsketching #sketch #outdoorart #alaska

Open moleskine watercolor journal displaying a colorful painting of nasturtium flowers. Beneath it is a calendar featuring the same artwork, surrounded by watercolor tubes and brushes

Open calendar showing the month of August and featuring watercolor journal artwork of orange nasturtiums.

This might be one of my favorite calendar spreads so far- hope nobody’s opposed to nasturtiums in the calendar every year! On a related note- I think I’ve got enough flora focused sketchbook work to do a 100% plant-based year…
#watercolor #painting #moleskine #drawing

July’s spread in my calendar this year! I’m a few days late flipping my month over due to being on the road, but still love these pages. Nothing like the high country in the summer🏔️💚
#moleskin #calendar #art

Photo of an open sketchbook with an ink drawing in curvilinear perspective of the interior of the train car. The photo is taken from inside the train car that is in the illustration. The train car has a glass roof and large windows.

Open moleskin sketchbook with an ink drawing in curvilinear perspective of the interior of a train car with a glass roof and large windows.

New favorite way to spend time on mass transit! Another stab at curvilinear perspective, this time on the Alaska Railroad 🚞🌲
#traintravel #scenicroute #alaska #moleskin #journalart #sketchbook #drawing #penandink

Same same🧡

Photo of an open sketchbook in front of a hedge of blooming pushki, a body of water and mountains. The sketchbook shows a watercolor illustration of the scene in the background.

Finally made it up to the north country, and yea, I get it🏔️🌞

The world is still beautiful, even when the weather is tumultuous and the headwinds are stronger than ever before. Do not loose hope- go outside. Breathe.
#moleskin #watercolor #landscape #painting #art #drawing #alaska

Gotta keep myself entertained at least🙃

When art sells in a gallery, the gallery keeps 40% (or more) of the sale price. I’m shocked by how often people outside fine art don’t know this. Gallery rep can be central to an art business, but if you’ve ever wondered why the work you see in galleries costs so much- yea, that’s why

This is beautifully done! What a cute boy☺️

Glorious day to be alive in the desert🧡🏜️

Thanks to the cutie on trail with the tiger tattoo who gave me her ballpoint pen so I could keep drawing after the trash pen I dug out of my glove compartment sputtered out #sketchbook #drawing #ballpointpen #moleskin #art #desert

Open moleskin sketchbook showing a pen and ink illustration of the interior of a train car drawn in five point perspective

Open moleskin sketchbook showing a pen and ink illustration of the interior of a train car drawn in five point perspective, with an overlay of a curvilinear perspective grid to assist with drawing using this technique

Four hours of public transit this weekend= no excuse not to finally take a crack at curvilinear perspective! When given the choice, I’ll always take the train🚃
#sketchbook #drawing #brushpen #moleskin #art #perspective

Open sketchbook with funny drawings of pelicans trying to fit their mouths around human’s heads

Drawing of three pelicans in a storm, their mouths open to stretch out their large pouches in the wind

Drawing of a man taking a selfie while a pelican tries to eat his head

Drawing of a kid crouching on the ground while a pelican tries to eat his head

Wanted to draw something that would make me smile- so here’s a bunch of pelicans attempting to eat humans :)
#moleskin #sketchbook #sketch #drawing

This is Utah in case anyone’s wondering how pissed off people are. I have never seen anything like this.

Moab demonstrators join national movement against federal worker firings “The parks are our gems," one protester said. “Our public lands drive the economy here in Moab, and it is insane that they are literally killing the goose that’s laying our golden eggs, so we’re here to be a voice of support.”

“The parks are our gems," one protester said. “Our public lands drive the economy here in Moab, and it is insane that they are literally killing the goose that’s laying our golden eggs, so we’re here to be a voice of support.”

cartoon drawing of a the artist's persona holding a piece of paper that says "my art : )" with a doodle sun in the corner. the artist's face looks sad and exhausted, but smiling. in the background, there's a few cartoon buildings on fire with "literally everything" pointing to it with an arrow

just making my silly little drawings : )

El Capitan displays a massive American flag upside down—the traditional signal of distress or extreme emergency.

The National Parks have played a central role in my artwork for as long as I’ve been making this type of art. The people who work to protect these landscapes and ecosystems have, by extension, contributed to my process and work.

You know what else? I don’t care about govt efficiency. I would rather our government was really gd inefficient and we had more wild spaces. I don’t care.