Currently Browsing: Montana Markers 57 articles
Playing with Markers in Backgrounds
There are a gazillion ways to use wide tipped makers for backgrounds on your artwork. Typically you see me put backgrounds on some of my portraits AFTER I’ve drawn the portrait. I like cutting around the figure with the wide tip. It’s just fun. You can’t really see the edge of the portrait all the […]
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! […]
Cerulean Blue Chromium—Does it Stay or Does It Go?
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that my friends like to talk to me about pigments. A couple years ago my friend Paul started talking to me about Cerulean Blue Chromium (CBC). In the Daniel Smith line it’s PB36. There is no standard usage of paint names in the industry so in a different line a different […]
Ink Only? Paint It? Or Let It Go?
Everyday we make choices in our journals. The simplest for me is stop at ink only? Paint over the ink (opaquely or transparently)? Or leave the texture alone all together? We get to make a different, individual decision every time we turn a page in our journal. Long ago I was more strict in my […]
Vintage Hair—Mixed Media and Palette Organization
Today it’s a photo step-by-step and not a video as I paint a mixed media portrait with a vintage hair style. Since I’m not teaching currently I sometimes turn the drawing table camera on for my own benefit to look at how I progressed through stages. But sometimes I simply take photos at various stopping […]
In Context: Thoughts on Visual Note Taking
Visual note taking. We all notice things that matter to us. How much we develop those elements in our drawings…it depends on so many factors. The point is to keep noticing. Page spread in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed media journal on which I pre-collaged a piece of grey Strathmore charcoal paper that had been […]
More Fun with Journal Grids
Here’s a finished grid from a journal in May this year. I worked in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Journal (7.75 x 9.75 inches, soft cover). I pre-painted the grid squares using Nichiban masking tape and Montana markers. The spaces on the recto page were brushstrokes of acrylic color. Sean was glued down […]
In Context: Strathmore Museum Board Journal Spread
Sometimes I don’t write on my journal pages, sometimes I make a little note into a more pronounced caption. What was the “thing” that first attracted my eye to the subject? Sometimes the note or caption is there to remind me of what I was attempting to do, or reminding me of what I’d hoped […]
Thumbnails: Working Out Ideas for a Series
Sometimes thumbnail sketches come after you’ve made a painting or a sketch. The sketch you just completed sparks ideas for a series, or thoughts on page composition, or in today’s example—what to do with ears if you want a certain scale of portrait on the page. So what you see today is a painting that […]
Setting Little “Problems” for Yourself when Sketching
Maybe you like to problem solve? Maybe you enjoy challenges? A healthy drawing practice gives you daily opportunity to set problems for yourself and increase your skills. Every one who knows me knows that I like to pre-paint my pages and add collage elements, and do all manner of “weird” stuff on my pages before […]