Currently Browsing: Internal Critic
Just Try It: Pushing a Drawing Beyond Finished
How do we make decisions, fast decisions, when sketching out in the field? By making decisions during practice, and comparing results. Some people can hold two versions of a piece in their mind and weigh what the future work will look like. For artists just starting out there might seem to be too many possibilities. […]
2018 Drawing Practice—Drawing Live Subjects in Public
All my life, one of the most exciting, energizing, and simply fun experiences I’ve enjoyed has been while I’m sketching live animals. It doesn’t matter if I’m at home with a dog visitor (we don’t have live in models any more) or out and about in the field checking out wild turkeys or walking around […]
Letting Things Go, Even in the Pursuit of Goals: The Little Journal That Got Away
Note: This post was originally scheduled to run at the end of December 2017. Due to technical issues with the blog I’m just getting to it now. If you read my blog you’ll know that I keep track of the number of pages that I create each year. I do this because it is a […]
Why Drawing Practice Matters and What Your Line Can Tell You
Readers of my blog know that I love observing my process. I can’t help myself. Even during emergencies. I think you can learn a lot about yourself and find ways to always sketch. On November 19 I fell in a friend’s foyer. I was rushing across the foyer to my fanny pack to change my […]
When Do You Stop? When Is A Drawing Finished
I think the number one question I get from students is: “When do I know my drawing is finished?” Most people aren’t going to like the answer. You’ll know after you’ve taken a ton of sketches past the point of no return. Here’s the thing, you’re asking a question that involves choices both stylistic choices […]
Happy New Year—Make 2017 A Year of Sketching
Left: Pentel Brush Pen and light washes of gouache on a Canson watercolor board (9 x 6 inches) with Montana Marker background. Reginald D. Hunter is a comedian/entertainer. I cut one finger pulling boxes down (paper cuts!!!) and cut another picking up something sharp. Typing slowly. But that's OK because all I wanted to […]
Project Friday: Just Get Something Down on Paper
Above: Selfie made with bold Uni Posca pen (orange, the tip is about 1/4 inch wide) and a Sakura Pigment Medium Brush Pen (solid tip). The drawing is in a 9 x 12 inch Dylusions journal—which I cannot recommend for structural reasons specific to how I work. I'm sorry, but when I've worked in it […]
Cynicism, Hope, and Painting’s Life Lessons
Above: Sketch of Dick sitting in the TV room next to a bright light. Read below for details. Friday was movie night and we watched “Welcome to Happiness.” It’s a quirky film that doesn’t have super heroes, mutants, or trips into galaxies far, far away. I enjoyed almost every moment, though more than once I […]
If You Love A Paper—Draw More, Not Less—Don’t Save It for Another Day
Above: Quick pear sketches using the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (PPBP) in a handmade journal made with defunct printmaking paper that I'm totally besotted with. Slowly, inevitably, I am working my way through this journal I made in the early 2000s with the last of a now defunct printmaking paper. It is so fabulous not […]
Shift in Place: It’s Almost Time for International Fake Journal Month 2016
Today on The Official International Fake Journal Blog I've just posted about the 2016 theme: Shift in Place You can read about this year's theme at that link. April is going to be a fun month. Remember: Life's so short, why live only one?