Currently Browsing: Curiosities
The Things You Learn Watching TV
I like to watch “QI” with Stephen Fry. Topics of all sorts get brought up. Other people have taken over as host in recent years, but I haven’t seen any of those episodes yet. Acorn streams episodes. Someone is always saying something funny as they try to answer Fry’s questions. For me it’s a good […]
Throwback Thursday: My Favorite Necklace and Fun with Holiday Cards
Left: The full holiday card, probably 1985 because we didn't have the girls yet. And they became the focus of our cards. You can see the cover, inside panel, and back panel. Our cards always had a back panel. That "Priceless" bit—didn't I ever tell you about that? When I first came into the family […]
Art Materials Nostalgia—Work It
Above: The set of 24 with some extras of my favorite colors—Berol Karisma Colour Pencils. In the front, a Global padded pencil case. Decades ago a large portion of my artwork was in color pencil. It's a labor-intensive medium (stroke after stroke after stroke) but it allows for looseness and detail, and it's fun to use. […]
Join Us for the Eighth Great Minnesota State Fair Sketchout
Above: The button for this year's sketchout. Artwork copyright 2016 by event organizer Marty Harris. Participants in the sketchout will receive a fabulous rectangular pin-backed button with Marty's great artwork. Wear it proudly at the Fair as you sketch, save it as a memento—along with the great sketches you put in your sketchbook! It's time […]
Eyebrow Update: My All-Time Favorite Sketch of Richard and His Eyebrows (so far)
Above: Dick, sketched from life using a non-photo blue pencil, on an 8 x 8 inch page in the Seawhite journal. The writing at the bottom reads "Caran D'Ache Sketcher, non-photo blue; 6.12.16, 5 min. sketch; Dick standing in kitchen, overhead light and side." There seems to be a piece of lint on the scanner, […]
Drawing as a Diagnostic Tool
Above: Sketches made while watching a movie—using one of those Cretacolor pencils that has multiple colors in the tip. This is the BEFORE image, the sketch made while I was stable on a group of allergy medications that had worked well for me for some time. This past month has been “interesting.” March was also […]
The Eyebrow Update
Above: Click on the image to view an enlargement (and read the text), and read below if you want to know more about the sketch. Today’s post is for all the friends and fans of Dick who, like me, are wondering just when his eyebrows might make their play to take over the world. This […]
Likeness vs. Caricature: Is It Ever Really Clear Cut?
Above: Two gouache portraits in my 7 1/2 inch square journal that I made with Nideggen. You can see some of the toned paper coming through in the face on the left. None of the paper is showing on the right. The drawings were done independently of each other and even though they are on […]
Fluid Hot Press Watercolor Paper
Left: Quick sketch made using a brush pen and left over gouache. Even better, scroll down into the post and click on the detail image. I’ve written about Fluid Watercolor paper before. You can get it in Easy-blocks, and in wire bound journals. It’s acid free and 140 lb. Since they introduced their new 100 […]