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Mixed Media Experiments Continue
This dog portrait was my warm up sketch to continue my mixed media experiments. I started with a brush pen sketch from a Sktchy muse reference photo. I used leftover gouache and then the dry media you can see listed on the recto page. I then searched for another photo reference on Sktchy and did […]
Remembering My Budgerigar and the Naming of Pets
When we lived in Australia I had a budgerigar—a.k.a. budgie, a.k.a. grass parakeet. They are native to Australia and fly in great flocks over the iron-rich red desert of the interior of the continent. I thought I loved birds until I saw these in their natural habitat and then everything clicked together for me—geology, geography, […]
Finishing Projects and a Little Bit about International Fake Journal Month
After decades of teaching art and creativity classes the many disguises of the internal critic never surprise me. But one aspect of the internal critic makes me the most sad—the way he pretends to be your buddy and fills you full of ungrounded expectations (for skill level and time to execute); and jollies you along […]
Who Says I Don’t Paint Selfies?
Yep this is a selfie of me. I was showing the painting in a Zoom meeting with an art group and I realized it was me—after I realized we no longer had rule of law in the U.S. Oddly it’s one of the first color illustrations I’ve made in the first 3 months of the […]
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 […]
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 […]
What Is a Study?
What is a study? A study is a type of drawing artists make all the time before they engage in a final work. (We all define “final” or “finished” work differently.) I made this dog study in my journal this summer. It didn’t turn out the way I had intended. My mind said, “That’s OK […]
Building a Journal Grid with Collage and Sketches
Here’s a journal grid I created last fall. We’ll start with the final view, with every portion of the grid completed. You’ll be able to follow along with the building of the grid in the images which follow. I was working in a handbound book which I made using the Old Gutenberg paper (pre 2017 […]
A Sweet Dog to Wrap Up the Week
I think drawing a dog is always a good way to wrap up the week. Or the day. Even if you don’t have a dog at home (and I don’t any more) find a friend with an interesting dog, or go to the dog park, or, in a pinch, if you can’t get out, find […]
Portrait of a Black Dog
I paint a lot of black dogs. I lived with black and white dogs for 14 years. I have never liked using black paint in my watercolors and acrylics. The same is true of my color pencil work. So I always used mixed neutrals to make black. There are lots of advantages to mixing your […]