Short Painting Sessions Yield Impactful Results
Don’t let your internal critic, or your busy schedule tell you there’s no time to paint. Pick up a brush and soften some dark-valued watercolor (which can be diluted for lighter values) and make a quick sketch. Focus on the shadow shapes you see, don’t think about anything else. Even if your end result isn’t […]
Journal Galleries
Sketching
Warm-up Sketches and Studies
I don’t think people spend enough time doing warm-ups and studies. I think part of the hold up is that people listen to their internal critics and buy into the “it’s got to be perfect” baloney. But part of the hesitation in doing more studies and warm-up sketches grows also out of a worry over […]
Simple Things to Sketch
There are a lot of simple things around your home to sketch. What you choose will reflect on what you’re interested in. Shapes, colors, values, negative space. Subjects around us keep us practicing for other subjects we’ve yet to meet. Enjoy exploring your home for simple subjects which yield greater understanding of all those skills […]
Mixed Media View of the Backyard: Expanding Your Visual Vocabulary
It’s always a great idea to take a moment and look out the window. Our neighbors at the back of our yard have a lush growth of ferns at this time of the year. I turned the page in my journal and sketched on this pre-painted background—the verso page background was in the same vein […]
Visual Journaling
Book Arts
Book Arts
In Context: Mixed Media Chickens
Sometimes it’s late and you want to get one more sketch in. I find this especially true when I’m trying to take a looser approach. Past bedtime—too tired to be fussy about details and accuracy—it’s a great time for one more sketch. But if something isn’t keeping you up I suggest you get to bed […]
Mixed Media Portrait on Toned Paper
If you’re going to play around with mixed media I encourage you to seek out toned papers. The strokes and values you achieve on the toned background make a fun departure from white paper. This sketch of an Earth’s World Fairgoer (who was wearing black lipstick) is in a hand bound journal I made with […]