Currently Browsing: Color Pencils
It’s Fun To Change Media Now And Then
Sometimes if you’ve been working steadily in one medium it’s good to take a break and do some sketching with a totally different medium. I’d been sketching so much with pen and watercolor before the Minnesota State Fair that I decided to start a sketchbook for color pencil quick sketches. (I say quick sketches because […]
Working on Hahnemühle’s Expression Watercolor Paper
I would have sworn that I had already written a review of the Expression (100 percent cotton, cold press, 140 lb.) watercolor paper I’ve been testing. I received a block of this paper at the same time that I received a block of the Harmony paper which is also 140 lb. and is acid free, […]
Painting with a Paper Towel?
If you don’t remember to restock your regular day pack with all the tools you put in your Minnesota State Fair fanny pack, you’ll have to manage with what you have left. Saturday when I visited my father-in-law with Dick I didn’t realize I had practically nothing in my pack! My last Fair day was […]
How Do We Pick The Subjects For Our Art?
My childhood was spent in many places, amidst many cultures. Something I always found, wherever I was—birds. It didn’t matter if we were in Switzerland and it was pigeons on the city window sill, in a Fijian village where chickens were scratching for survival, or an animal sanctuary where Emus had perfected the ninja […]
Learning about Yourself while Messing Around with Mixed Media
The other day I wanted to get some sketching done but it was late. I found a cute puppy photo on the Sktchy app and picked up a red China pencil/marker to do a quick sketch. Then I grabbed a green color pencil—lime green. I started filling in some areas with it. I didn’t have […]
Art Materials Nostalgia—Work It
Above: The set of 24 with some extras of my favorite colors—Berol Karisma Colour Pencils. In the front, a Global padded pencil case. Decades ago a large portion of my artwork was in color pencil. It's a labor-intensive medium (stroke after stroke after stroke) but it allows for looseness and detail, and it's fun to use. […]
The Puzzle of Eyebrows
Above: Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Water-soluble color pencil used dry (Indanthrone blue), in an 8 x 8 inch Seawhite sketchbook. While I’m busy this week coming and going from the Fair I set up some short posts in advance, just to keep in touch. Here’s a little sketch of CR made during one of our chats. […]
Cynicism, Hope, and Painting’s Life Lessons
Above: Sketch of Dick sitting in the TV room next to a bright light. Read below for details. Friday was movie night and we watched “Welcome to Happiness.” It’s a quirky film that doesn’t have super heroes, mutants, or trips into galaxies far, far away. I enjoyed almost every moment, though more than once I […]
Moleskine Myths: They Open Flat?
Above: A quick sketch of Dick sitting on the TV room couch next to a bright light. I worked in a new Moleskine with the whiter, more absorbent paper. Look at the gutter area and the offset that prevented me from working across the page. There’s flat and then there’s flat. People who use Moleskines […]
Still Working Out What To Do About Those Eyebrows
Left: Water-soluble color pencil (Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer) and watercolor on Arches Cold Press Watercolor Board (8 x 10 inch board). Even though International Fake Journal Month is over I'm still working on that Arches Cold Press Watercolor Board with Watercolors. And Dick is still patiently sitting while I sketch him from life. But now I'm shining […]