Currently Browsing: Art Materials
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen—New Ink Colors
Finally, at last, we’ve all wanted it for so long and now we get it—the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen can now be purchased with gray or sepia ink as well as black ink! These are Pentel’s hard-bodied pens, the fountain-pen type pen with a synthetic brush tip. (Some readers seem to be confused about which […]
Project Friday—Let’s Collage
In this post I’ll walk you through a recent collage I made. This isn’t something that I preplanned. It’s simply something that I worked on with the materials at hand, moving from one thought to the next. I’ve turned the step-by-step into a Project Friday because I hope you’ll get up from the computer, make […]
Stonehenge Aqua Review Part 5—A Look at the Hot Press Surface
This is part 5 of a multi-part review of Stonehenge Aqua cold press and hot press. Please see this link for the first post in the series. Hot press paper is my paper of choice, so I’m going to spend more time testing a new hot press paper than I am testing a cold press […]
Stonehenge Aqua Review Part 4—Washes on Hot and Cold Press
This is part four in a multi-part review of Stonehenge Aqua Watercolor paper. Please click here for part one and work your way through the series. When looking at papers I think it’s useful to compare things side by side. I suggest that you open each of the images in this post in a separate […]
Stonehenge Aqua Review Part 3—Color Pencil on the Hot Press Surface
This is part three in a multi-part review of Stonehenge Aqua. Please click here to view part one. If you wish to read part two please click here. At two future posts will deal with the hot press version of this paper and a wrap up. If you think I’m fussy about which brand and […]
Stonehenge Aqua Review Part 2—Ink on the Cold Press Surface and Binding
This is part two of a multi-part review of Stonehenge Aqua (hot and cold press) 140 lb. watercolor papers. Please see part one (which contains a recommendation summary) at this link. While I may have started as a child with color pencils I quickly transitioned to pen and ink. As a result of that I’ve […]
Stonehenge Aqua Review Part 1—Overview and the Cold Press Surface
In 2017 I requested Stonehenge Aqua samples based on a company promotion. I’m sure many of you did the same. You’ve probably already made your decision about this paper. I spent most of January 2018 working on Stonehenge Aqua 140 lb. watercolor paper in both the cold press and hot press surfaces. For various reasons—the […]
The Daily Potato: A Look at a Daily Drawing Project
At the end of September 2018 Jennifer Okano brightened everyone’s day by posting this wonderfully dimensional sketch of a sweet potato in a group I host for past students. She wrote: This month my focus has been on contours. Outside, inside, cross. Picking the oddest Japanese sweet potatoes at the market has given me a […]
Looking at Canson Heritage Watercolor Paper
This past fall I purchased a block of 140 lb. hot press Canson Heritage Watercolor paper. It is a 100 percent cotton paper with vegetable sizing. (Yep, I am not happy about the sizing, but there you have it.) Since then I’ve been working on it to complete a project. I haven’t posted sketches from […]
In Context: The Last Selfie With My Original Eyes
I found it interesting when sketching this self portrait earlier this January that I wasn’t concerned about seeing color at all. That seems to be what everyone goes on about when they find out you’re going to have cataract surgery. I’ve been very happy with the way I see color, and the cataracts are new, […]