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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 […]
Mixed Media Portrait on Toned Paper
If you’re going to play around with mixed media I encourage you to seek out toned papers. The strokes and values you achieve on the toned background make a fun departure from white paper. This sketch of an Earth’s World Fairgoer (who was wearing black lipstick) is in a hand bound journal I made with […]
Limited Palette Portrait
This weekend think about limiting your color choices so that you can maximize your color mixes. Here’s a portrait with the colors I used listed. Four pigments resulting in a lot of different mixes. When you mix with a limited palette your color mixes have a relationship to each mix that is also on your […]
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 […]
In Context: A Portrait and Some Beans…and Some Paint
You can click on the image to see an enlargement. This is an “In Context” peak into my journal. (Hand-bound journal with the now defunct Winsor & Newton Watercolor paper which had gelatin sizing. I do not recommend the current paper sold under this name.) Fill some journal pages this weekend!
Mixed Media View of the Backyard: Expanding Your Visual Vocabulary
It’s always a great idea to take a moment and look out the window. Our neighbors at the back of our yard have a lush growth of ferns at this time of the year. I turned the page in my journal and sketched on this pre-painted background—the verso page background was in the same vein […]
Mixed Media Portrait Supplies
Sometimes you work in watercolor and you pick up some color pencils too. It’s fun, why not? Especially if you spent your childhood working with color pencils. I started this portrait of a fairgoer from Earth’s World using a black grape Prismacolor pencil. (It’s not black, it’s not overly strident. I enjoy it. I also […]
Zines: Another Way to Record Your Life, Interests, and Events
What is a zine? Well “Factsheet 5” defined a zine as “A small handmade, amateur publication, done purely out of passion, rarely making a profit, or breaking even.” We’ll start there. I’ve been making zines my entire adult life. I’ve made zines about food, shoes, snow piles, dogs (of course), movies, literature, and of course […]
Journaling Tips to Get You Started
Last week I posted about making a pamphlet journal with a six-pocket cover. I promised to give you some tips on journaling. My main purpose in writing this post is to encourage adults to help any children (family, or students if they are teachers) begin a journaling habit. From the last post you’ll remember that […]
Six-Pocket Pamphlet Book for Journaling
Blog readers know I’ve been on a life-long crusade to get people to journal everyday. I think this habit of observation with visual and written documentation is a great way to stay focused in life, find gratitude, and keep your creative mind engaged. For children dealing with the upheaval of the past several months and […]