Currently Browsing: Drawing Practice 59 articles
Short Painting Sessions Yield Impactful Results
Don’t let your internal critic, or your busy schedule tell you there’s no time to paint. Pick up a brush and soften some dark-valued watercolor (which can be diluted for lighter values) and make a quick sketch. Focus on the shadow shapes you see, don’t think about anything else. Even if your end result isn’t […]
Warm-up Sketches and Studies
I don’t think people spend enough time doing warm-ups and studies. I think part of the hold up is that people listen to their internal critics and buy into the “it’s got to be perfect” baloney. But part of the hesitation in doing more studies and warm-up sketches grows also out of a worry over […]
Simple Things to Sketch
There are a lot of simple things around your home to sketch. What you choose will reflect on what you’re interested in. Shapes, colors, values, negative space. Subjects around us keep us practicing for other subjects we’ve yet to meet. Enjoy exploring your home for simple subjects which yield greater understanding of all those skills […]
In Context—Painting Rocks
All my students are groaning right now as they read the title of this post: “In Context—Painting Rocks.” Don’t worry, I’m not going to go on about Ruskin, today. I just wanted to post this rock portrait because April marked a return to painting in color for me, after a long bout of pen and […]
Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Experiments
Because of my recent International Fake Journal Month Journal I’ve been experimenting with Caran d’Ache Neocolor II—water-soluble wax crayons. I am using them without water activation. These Neocolor II experiments come after I haven’t used them for years (they were packed away for a good period of time during the move, but even before that […]
Kuretake Ai Liner Brush—Sepia Brush Pen
I’ve reviewed the original Kuretake Ai Liner brush with black pigmented ink before on my blog. Recently I saw there is now a sepia version. Who doesn’t like sketching in sepia ink now and then? I ordered up a sepia Kuretake Ai Liner pen from JetPens. (They run around $7.50 and I typically buy enough […]
What Makes an Artist an Artist?
Recently we had a power-outage in our area. (Dick later told me it involved 51 houses near us.) It’s never great when you have a power outage. The first thing that happens in our house is alarms go off. This is even more stressful now that I have permanent tinnitus. I have to run around […]
Go with the Line—And Finish
When you draw directly with ink every mark you make is permanent (or is it? More on that in a moment). If you don’t nail the line positioning, length, and weight (thickness and thinness determined by pressure) it’s decision time—what do you do? I’ve seen a lot of students figuratively and literally throw up their […]
In Context: My Life with Dried Out Pens
I am surrounded by dried out pens. I love that. Here’s a page that pretty much captures my day. Remember: If you don’t have “time to paint,” you’ve still got time for a sketch and some ink wash! (Brush pen and ink wash in a hand-bound journal made with the now defunct Nideggen. An Earth’s […]
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 […]