Currently Browsing: Experiments
The Daily Potato: A Look at a Daily Drawing Project
At the end of September 2018 Jennifer Okano brightened everyone’s day by posting this wonderfully dimensional sketch of a sweet potato in a group I host for past students. She wrote: This month my focus has been on contours. Outside, inside, cross. Picking the oddest Japanese sweet potatoes at the market has given me a […]
Looking at Canson Heritage Watercolor Paper
This past fall I purchased a block of 140 lb. hot press Canson Heritage Watercolor paper. It is a 100 percent cotton paper with vegetable sizing. (Yep, I am not happy about the sizing, but there you have it.) Since then I’ve been working on it to complete a project. I haven’t posted sketches from […]
Project Friday: Working Quickly in a Series of Sketches
There is always a lot of paper around the studio. Recently when I was putting away the camera equipment I “found” a large copier paper-sized box full of packets of 9 x 12 inch toned papers. There are light colors and dark colors. Some of it is smooth, some is textured. I purchased these packets […]
Testing Elements through Doodling
One of the best times to test design elements is when you are warming up. Take a couple moments to make a decorative frame around your warm up sketch. Use more than one approach. Don’t worry about cohesiveness—it’s a warm up sketch. Consider the following: • Make a long enough or large enough area of […]
Self-Assessment: 2018—Filling Journals, Using Up Paint
Some Background and The Brand of Paint I’ve Been Using Lately Yes, this painting actually has something to do with self-assessment and goal setting. First I want to say something about the materials… While I did sketch some more after painting this image yesterday (Dec. 31, 2018) this turned out to be my final […]
In Context: Sometimes Stories Pop into Your Head…
Sometimes something about your source inspiration suggests a story. This can be a pose that a model strikes for you, or a person you see out in public having a conversation you can’t overhear, or a photo inspiration like the type you find on Sktchy. It can even happen when you draw a selfie. Whenever […]
Greens, Grays, and Canson Heritage Watercolor Paper
Tuesday I met up with a couple artist friends for lunch and afterwards we trekked across the street to Wet Paint, each with some art supply on our list. For me I was picking up some white gouache to test. Funny how that goes, I ended up sorting my paints when I got home and […]
Looking Back at InkTober 2018
I frequently work for days and weeks at a time in ink only. I have an early, childhood love of dip pens and inky fingers. I love working with the brush pen directly, and taking chances with bold brush lines. This year I was also getting ready to go to a sketching conference and wanted […]
The Blackwing Notebook
Sometimes I simply can’t help myself when I find lined notebook paper. A few months ago I was in Wet Paint and they had small notebooks by Blackwing (the company that makes the pencils with the rectangular erasers—I use the soft lead version to do my daily sudoku). The notebook is about 3.5 x 5.5 […]
Still More about Scribbling
This is part three of a three-part series on some scribbling portraits I’ve been working on. Check Monday’s and Wednesday’s posts from this week for the others. After a few sketches it seemed obvious to me that I needed to try a female subject. I find it difficult to sketch women. Wait, not difficult, simply […]