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The Hocoro Fude Dip Pen From Sailor
A student wrote to me a few weeks back about a recently released dip pen—the Hocoro Fude Dip Pen from Sailor. I have fude pens from Sailor already. I use Platinum Carbon Black ink in them. It’s a pigmented black ink that will not clog fountain pens. I have had great success with it in […]
What I Did During The Pandemic: Episode One—The Perfect Brownie
UPDATE 7.15.23: I made an important additional comment about pan types to use, in the pan section. Also see under Step 5 in the recipe. At the end of that step I talk about toothpicks. Just me trying to be thorough. Like everyone else I did a lot of the same things I always did […]
Blick’s White Sulphite Drawing Paper
The other day a friend stopped over with some of Blick’s White Sulphite Drawing Paper. She was going to do some gel printing on it, but she thought I might enjoy testing it. I did. I videotaped my first drawing session using this paper. You can hear my opinions about the paper and learn other […]
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, […]
Sometimes You Want to Use a Fine-tipped Pen…
I love working with my various brush pens, but sometimes you have a subject that calls out for the use of a finer tipped pen. Besides that, Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media paper loves a fine-tipped pen. It’s a win-win. Explore the fine-tip pens you enjoy using today—what types of papers do they pair […]
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 […]
Direct Brush Painting with a Liner Brush
I admit it. I love experimenting. I had a new paint from Schmincke—Ocean Grey. I had a wonderful face reference from Sktchy. And I had a LINER BRUSH! Note: There are liner brushes and rigger brushes. They are and aren’t interchangeable. Both are long-tipped. If you want a long brush to apply paint it might […]
A Colorful Portrait: I Love Lavender!
Here’s a portrait from 2021 that I haven’t posted. I can’t remember what the blog topic I wanted to address with it was. I look at it now and totally fall in love with the hair and the beard again. I love how it seems to be moving up and around of its own accord. […]