Currently Browsing: Handbook Watercolor Journal 21 articles
Playing with Markers in Backgrounds
There are a gazillion ways to use wide tipped makers for backgrounds on your artwork. Typically you see me put backgrounds on some of my portraits AFTER I’ve drawn the portrait. I like cutting around the figure with the wide tip. It’s just fun. You can’t really see the edge of the portrait all the […]
Guest Artist in My Journal
I had week off from blogging last week while I tried to balance physical therapy and reactions to various events, personal and national. In the latter category I was touched by the very sad death of Rob and Michelle Reiner. If you make a list of my favorite 30 films of all time almost all […]
Euclid, Geometry, and the Practice of Art
Here’s a quotation from an article I was reading in the New Yorker Magazine recently. Beyond geometry the writer, James Somers, reminds us something about the practice of anything. And the many paths to something—whether it’s geometry, coding, art, or…
A Page From My Journal
12.24.23 Dick called when I was about to die. I didn’t pick up because the phone was in another room and while I usually can hear it ringing I didn’t. My mind had closed down to that unique focus of an instant of surprise. The realization “This is it.” Followed by “what can I do […]
In Context: I Love a Bit of Marigold
In a scribbly mood. But it wasn’t enough, I still had to move some paint around. Uni Posca Markers scribbled down, black brush pen on top, and marigold gouache (Holbein, because I like to use it for backgrounds). Handbook 140 lb watercolor paper, in the 5 x 8 inch (or so—it isn’t in front of […]
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 […]