Currently Browsing: Commercially Bound Journals 531 articles
Mixed Media Portrait on Toned Paper
If you’re going to play around with mixed media I encourage you to seek out toned papers. The strokes and values you achieve on the toned background make a fun departure from white paper. This sketch of an Earth’s World Fairgoer (who was wearing black lipstick) is in a hand bound journal I made with […]
In Context—Sarcasm and Compliments
The page spread is the post. You can click on it to enlarge it for reading. (A brush pen sketch in a gridded journal from Hemlock & Oak.) I always think it’s a good idea to capture these discussions in my journal.
Planners—It’s Already Time to Plan for Next Year’s Planner
For a decade I used a certain planner which was the right size—and well the right everything else: layout and paper quality. When that company stopped making planners (or datebooks) a friend told me her search led her to Hemlock & Oak and she thought I might like them too. So I checked them out. […]
Don’t Be Afraid of Messy Studies—What Are You Learning?
Too many of my students in the past have obsessed about perfection in their studies. They worry about their studies being messy, partially complete, and in every other way weak and unconvincing. They are worrying about the wrong thing. The purpose of a study is to try out an idea or approach. To give a […]
Improving Your Eye: Working through Corrections
I write a lot about working directly in ink and embracing the wonkiness that results. I encourage my students to work in ink and embrace the wonkiness—but that doesn’t mean we stop training our eye, and stop refining our work. I’ve seen hundreds of students who believe the only way to improve is to start […]
Cerulean Blue Chromium—Does it Stay or Does It Go?
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that my friends like to talk to me about pigments. A couple years ago my friend Paul started talking to me about Cerulean Blue Chromium (CBC). In the Daniel Smith line it’s PB36. There is no standard usage of paint names in the industry so in a different line a different […]
Found Some More Grids
Sometimes life can seem very quick, agonizingly slow, and full of all the wrong things—all at the same time. If your life feels like that it’s important to pick up your journal and start writing notes about your life and activities; and to keep drawing (or start drawing if you haven’t already). These activities will […]
Fun with Grids and Studies: Or Things to Do with Leftover Paint
You always have time to make tiny sketches. Don’t forget that! Even the tiniest of sketches allows you to work on your observational, paint mixing, and shape comprehension skills. And in my case, fascination with hair and beard styles. Background Events I’m doing the last bit of journal index catch up I had hanging over […]
Doodling: Let Your Mind Play—Remind It of the Value of Play
I’m often doddle and draw on non-art papers—simply because I’m sitting at my desk working and all that I have immediately around me is office supplies—bond copier paper and Post-It Notes™. (You see both of those types of paper in the first image today.) I wrote earlier this month, and many other times in the […]
The Value of Creative Exercises Lingers
It might seem that a short, creative exercise of 15 minutes can have no real impact in your daily life. But the value of a creative exercise lingers and resurfaces, enhanced by time—opening our minds to new ways of thinking and new questions to ask. This post is about those lingering effects. I’ve advocated painted […]