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Looking Back at My March Project: Sketching Alun Armstrong
So much has kept me from scanning the many sketches of made of Alun Armstrong in March 2021 #MarchisSketchAlunArmstrongMonth. But I did manage to scan a few of the sketches in the past week. There are many, many more, some I quite like, some have no resemblance to Armstrong and I can only look at […]
I Forgot to Tell You About September on Patreon
I just realized, in putting up the new blog side bar image for OCTOBER that I forgot to put up the one for September. I’m sorry because it was a great month—8 videos (the last one goes up on Monday). I focused on preparing for a project and working in ink (dip pen, brush pen, […]
Fun Sketching Hair Part 2
Hairdos in the 1960s were lots of fun. A range from short to long for men. Here’s an actor from an episode of “Perry Mason” with a short hairdo. 1960s hipster in a turtle neck—not a mock. For me, drawing this hair, it was all about finding a way to describe some edges and walls […]
Two Things I’ve Just Learned
Since the pandemic started I’ve needed more containers for food. Just before the pandemic I had returned to baking bread after about a 6-year break. But with the pandemic I decided I’d rather make all the bread we eat than have Dick bring loaves home from the Co-op that had been handled and coughed on. […]
Commit to a Line or Correction
A couple days ago I wrote about accepting wonky lines. Here’s a sketch I haven’t posted, but just came across in organizing my files. Sometimes I have so much fun with the ears I don’t reach quite high enough for the head—but I commit to the correction and just start adding the hair, or in […]
Warm Up Sketches Can Sometimes Be the Best of the Day
I think that the warm up sketches you make can often be the best of the day. You haven’t settled into the need to complete a task yet. You haven’t tightened out of play yet. And you haven’t had your vitamins yet—a healthy does of stubble (this time on the head instead of the chin). […]
Embrace the Wonkiness
Too many of my students fuss and fuss over a wonky line, or worse, stop a sketch altogether because a likeness is lost. But I think there is great fun in diving in with a bold pen and feeling about for the features, one wonky line after the other. Finishing something leads to something else […]
Lines: Achieving a Likeness with Different Approaches
I love working in a series just in an evening—sketching the same subject over and over to see how I can approach it with different tools, media, or even just something like line which is infinitely variable. I’ve posted three sketches of British actor Robert Morley in this post. I became a fan of his […]
I Knew Very Little About Prue Leith Until…
Last December, already a fan of “The Great British Baking Show” I knew very little about the host Prue Leith except her love of wonderfully colorful glasses, wacky jewelry, and her kindness to the bakers. While poking about on Amazon Prime one evening I found, “My Greatest Dishes.” Each episode features a famous chef going […]
Series Television’s Response To The Pandemic
There have been numerous ways that series television has responded to the constraints and realities imposed on production by the Pandemic. This is one of my favorites: Comedians sitting on couches watching episodes of “House Hunters.”