Currently Browsing: Handbook Watercolor Journal 16 articles
Direct Brush Sketching with Another Rigger/Liner Brush
Last month I did another rigger/liner brush test—sketching Rick Niece again. While I missed the likeness I had a ton of fun with the line and shapes I could make with the Silver Ruby Satin Scriptliner 2. This was, and looks like it will continue to be, my favorite, or one of my favorites going […]
Another Liner Brush Test with a Direct Brush Portrait
Here’s another direct brush painting I did with a liner brush. I used only the Princeton Select Liner P3750L-1 #1 to make this portrait. I found it difficult to write with it (though not as difficult as some of the others I’ve tested), but just in case I’ll transcribe my notes: Soft, good pigment load, […]
Two More Liner Brush Tests
I’ve got two sketch-tests for two different liner/rigger brushes. Both were executed in a pre-Covid Handbook that’s about 5.5 x 8 inches, with 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. (These pages don’t smell of wood and chemicals the way the pandemic purchased books do.) For these two I departed from my 3-color palette of the […]
Liner Brush Test Sheet
Most of you might not want to wait until I finish testing all the liner and rigger brushes I’m going to be testing to hear which is my favorite. Frankly I don’t know how long this project is going to take me. So in the interim I’m posting my initial test sheets (which are two […]
More Direct Brush Painting With the Liner Brush
This is about sketch 4 or 5 in my series of testing liner brushes. I like this dog sketch (and it’s already on my Instagram page so I thought I’d round out the week with it). I’m still using Schmincke’s Ocean Grey with a warm and a cool red. The difference here is that I’ve […]
Bringing Some Files Up-to-date
I’ve been attempting to reorganize past sketching files and blog post ideas. Images pop up in the search and I think I might have already posted about them. Instead I discover that I’ve only posted a cropped portion on Instagram. I haven’t posted the full image or written about it. And it was in my […]
In Context: Things I Ponder
A page spread from a Hand•book watercolor journal with 140 lb. watercolor paper.
Giving Yourself Feedback
Recently on the blog I wrote about how it’s important to ask yourself questions in your journal. It’s also important to give yourself feedback in your journal. I find it useful when I’m making portrait studies to write short notes to myself about the angles that need correction, proportions, colors used and so on. I […]
Using Your Journal to Ask Questions
A journal is for asking questions. You can ask visually, and you can also ask written questions. To me, often the most interesting thing about my journal pages is not what I drew on the page or what I noticed as I went through my day and captured visually, but the questions and thoughts I […]