Currently Browsing: Brush Pens 265 articles
In Context: Sketching Hair
It is a universally understood truth that when I see hair I go big. We can chat about this some day, but I think it’s obvious why—I spent my childhood and young adulthood focusing on birds and dogs—it’s all about the volume.
Working Quickly with the Brush Pen
One of my favorite things to do is to work directly, and quickly with a Pentel Pigmented brush pen. I’ll sit and sketch this way when I’m out and about, or when I’m at home watching TV. If Dick is at home I’ll sketch him this way (though those pesky eyebrows of his cause problems!). […]
Rewatching “Death in Paradise”
In January I started rewatching “Death in Paradise.” It’s a “murder/detective/fish-out-of-water” show that I have enjoyed since first seeing it on PBS several years ago. I don’t want to give significant details away about the whole arc of the series, but basically an English policeman, not well liked at home for being a bit fussy […]
Flat Brushes for Watercolor
In this brush pen portrait from 2017 I used a large two-inch wide flat brush to lay in washes. Then a 0ne-inch wide flat for details. (You can turn a flat on its edge remember.) It was great fun. Flat washes on a rounded set of surfaces. I’d been playing with flat brushes before […]
In-Context: Before Cataract Surgery
Even avid readers of the blog might not recognize when this was sketched unless it had the date on it. I know exactly when it was sketched because I can still feel how my eyes felt on this day as I searched for the lines. I have found it interesting to observe my own artistic […]
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 […]
Do You Stop Or Keep Pushing?
One of the things I’m asked most frequently by students is, “When do I know I’m finished with my [painting/sketch]?” I’ve heard many people give the flip response, “When you realize that you’ve gone to far, then you know you should have stopped.” It’s actually more simple and more complex than that. First, yes, if […]
Drawing Beard Stubble
Even if you don’t enjoy sketching beards as much as I do you owe it to yourself to practice some beards. Why? Because if you enjoy sketching people, some of the people you sketch will have beards. And all those beards will be different. You’re working on your visual vocabulary. The human face has a […]
Look Around for Elastic Faces
You’ll recall that last week I wrote about starting projects. My drawing examples were all faces. If you’re looking for muses to sketch and your family won’t pose for you (or can’t because your schedules don’t align) there are lots of folks on the Sktchy App who have elastic faces. Exaggerate them on not, it […]