Currently Browsing: Brush Pens
Simple Approaches for Backgrounds—A Five-Part Series: Part 5 Lifting Off Color
This is Part Five of a five-part series on executing simple backgrounds in your journal or other artwork. Part One of this series can be found at this link. I’m going to end this series with the simplest approach to background texture—color lift off. To do this you need a paper with sufficient surface sizing […]
Simple Approaches for Backgrounds—A Five-Part Series: Part 4 Fold Outs
This is Part Four of a five-part series on simple approaches to backgrounds in the visual journal and paintings. See Part One here. Last December I was buried beneath the latest of the blog transfer issues. I didn’t get to post a number of images and posts I’d worked up. Today’s image falls well into discussion […]
Simple Approaches for Backgrounds—A Five-Part Series: Part 3 Patterns
This is Part Three of a five-part series on simple approaches to backgrounds in the visual journal and paintings. See Part One here. Today I wanted to look at pattern—it’s something that you can use to quickly fill up the background space around a subject. I’ve written about some of my favorite approaches numerous times […]
Simple Approaches for Backgrounds—A Five-Part Series: Part 1
I was organizing my images for blog posts and noticed that I had a lot of common themes, some not as obvious. What do the images in today’s post and those referenced (linked) all have in common? Well all but one have backgrounds painted AFTER the sketch is made (and typically even after the sketch […]
New Winsor & Newton Watercolor Paper Part 3: Professional Hot Press
This is the third and final part of my three part series on the new watercolor paper lines from Winsor & Newton: Professional, which is their wood-free fine-art line; and Classic which is their wood-pulp (but acid free) paper. See part one in the series here. Note that this is the NEW Winsor & Newton […]
New Winsor & Newton Watercolor Paper Part 2: Classic Cold Press
Before doing my watercolor demo at Wet Paint on April 7, 2018 I had to test the “Classic” cold press sample I’d been given. I feel that “Classic” is a bit confusing as names go. To me that sounds like “traditional,” or “original.” While I don’t drink Coca Cola, it sounds like Coke Classic and […]
In Context: Dirty Brushes
In general I like to start a work session with clean brushes. Which means you want to end a session by cleaning your brushes. Sometimes when I’m sketching out and about there isn’t enough water in my water brush to flush out the bristles. I find that I would rather paint something than worry too […]
This Is Not A Review—The Best Laid Plans
Today I was going to start a week long review of either a sketchbook I’ve been working in or a paper I’ve been working on for the first part of the year. But life happened. Those reviews will still come along, probably in April. All the images are scanned and organized, I just haven’t […]
Ink Wash on Pre-Painted Background Textures
Textures make me smile. What can I sketch on one today? I ask. The other day I made this brush pen and ink wash sketch on a pre-painted background texture. I love the way the yellow bits of textured background show as a glow here and there while the warmer reds come through as warmth […]
What’s on the Table?—The Curl of the Paper
I just love working in my favorite Japanese Lined Journals from APICA. The paper loves the Pentel Brush Pen. Sometimes I work in gouache on this paper, but sometimes I leave the sketch as is and turn the page. Other times I put in an acrylic marker background. I used an orange 15mm wide Montana […]