Currently Browsing: Commercially Bound Journals
Hair Cuts and Their Aftermath
Nope I didn’t have a hair cut. I still have my braids. Periodically I give CR a hair cut. He’s too frail now for me to load him into the car and take him to the female barber I found for him, and whom he grew to enjoy. Now he has me. After the hair […]
In Context: I’m Going To Die In This House!
We all have fears. I used my journal to write about one of mine. It always helps to move the brush pen around on this paper!
In Context—The Loose Line and Thoughts on Villainy
“In Context” posts are meant to be “no writing” and an unedited, un-redacted spread from my journal. So click on the image to enlarge it so you can read.
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, […]
Sketching at the Dentist’s
There’s no excuse not to have a sketchbook with you at all times. I’ve made sketchbooks as small as 2 x 4 inches. They fit nicely into a pocket if you aren’t carrying a purse or bag. And now so many commercially bound books are available in small sizes, including the Hahnemühle Watercolor Book, which […]
The Blackwing Notebook
Sometimes I simply can’t help myself when I find lined notebook paper. A few months ago I was in Wet Paint and they had small notebooks by Blackwing (the company that makes the pencils with the rectangular erasers—I use the soft lead version to do my daily sudoku). The notebook is about 3.5 x 5.5 […]
Picking a Pen to Suit Your Paper
I write about picking your art tools and media to suit your paper (canvas, etc.) a lot on the blog. Lately I’ve been working in one of the journals I bound in #2017BigBind that I made with the OLD Gutenberg paper. (This is the Gutenberg paper made before 2017, before the cancelation of the paper […]
A Quick Review of the Leda Art Supply Sketchbook
Why a quick review of the Leda Art Supply Sketchbook? Specifically the “Baby Leda Pocket Sketchbook” which is what I purchased, but seems to be the same paper and construction as the larger version? The paper didn’t work out for me at all. It took three quick sketches to learn what I needed about this […]
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 […]
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 […]