Currently Browsing: Gouache 348 articles
In Context: Studies Are Also Thoughts about Color Mixing
A peek in my journal—that’s what “In Context” posts are. And typically not a lot of text in the post. Here you see a gouache painting on toned paper. This happens to be a hand-bound book I made with Annigoni Designo. It’s about 7-1/2 x 9 inches closed. (All my rulers have migrated downstairs where […]
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, […]
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 […]
Addendum: International Fake Journal Month Supplies 2026
A question about the supplies I used for my 2026 International Fake Journal Month journal in the comments section of a previous post made me realize I had not included the supply photos. They were supposed to be in a separate post before the main fake journal post! (I simply forgot to post that post! […]
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 […]
Lots of Palette Changes
I intended to simply write about this palette chart today, but in preparing this post I found lots of photos and scans of different palettes over the years. I am posting them today as a sort of virtual tour through my palettes since I’ve had the blog (2009; oops, actually going back to 2003 with […]
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 […]
Fun with Grids and Studies: Or Things to Do with Leftover Paint
You always have time to make tiny sketches. Don’t forget that! Even the tiniest of sketches allows you to work on your observational, paint mixing, and shape comprehension skills. And in my case, fascination with hair and beard styles. Background Events I’m doing the last bit of journal index catch up I had hanging over […]
The Value of Creative Exercises Lingers
It might seem that a short, creative exercise of 15 minutes can have no real impact in your daily life. But the value of a creative exercise lingers and resurfaces, enhanced by time—opening our minds to new ways of thinking and new questions to ask. This post is about those lingering effects. I’ve advocated painted […]
End-of-Year Journal Wrap Up
Blog readers know I like to do an end-of-year wrap up. I look back at my journal productivity. It helps me see an overview of my creative practice and formulate new goals and directions for the future. I also can see at a glance what is happening with my practice and how I might need […]