Currently Browsing: Portraits 504 articles
Dig Out Some Old Art Supplies
Even with the best laid plans sometimes things happen. I like to tape sketching sessions to use when explaining things to my Patreon subscribers. But last month while preparing pieces for this month’s playing with color theme I more than once forgot to turn the camera back on after taking a break to get something, […]
Working Opaquely with Watercolor
Today’s sketch isn’t an example of leaving something out (details on the shirt and jacket) to balance something else. I simply wanted to only paint the face, beard, and background. I thought about painting the shirt and jacket but I liked the lines that were showing through. (Sometimes you simply fall in love with your […]
Sometimes Leaving Something Out Emphasizes It
I know I like to get fussy. I know I like to go into detail when I am sketching. I especially love sketching beards and hair. I remember in February when I was watching “Murdoch” and I made this sketch—I was struck by this actor’s incredible hair. I can also remember how, as I sketched, […]
In Context: Remembering a Quiet Time, Just Last November
In today’s “In-Context” post you can read about the events of the day on the two featured page spreads. (Click on them and they will enlarge.) As Thanksgiving approached, the first in 40 years which we didn’t have Dick’s folks with us (his father passed away in 2019), we were trying to discover our new […]
Notice Everything When You Get the Chance…
Everyone knows I love drawing people who have interesting ears. Everyone’s ears are so different. There are different types of ears, and different ways they attach on the head. So many variations. And all contribute to our recognition of the person. But what I love most is ears that stick out a bit from the […]
A Short Video about My Favorite Brush Pens
I love using the Pentel brush pens with the squeezy bodies, and of course the Pentel Pocket Brush pen. You can read more about them and see them in some different packaging in this linked blog post. Today I’m posting short video I made for my Patreon—RozInterim subscribers. (The video appears at the base of […]
Working with Ink Washes on Toned Paper
Over the last couple weeks the students in my on line class drawing practice class have been working with values—learning to see value shapes, to judge and compare one value to another. Understanding values, the relative lightness and darkness from one area of a subject to another, and the ability to translate those values to […]
Finding An Art Buddy Might Be Detrimental to Your Drawing Practice
Yes, I said it. I called out one of the elephants in the room. Finding a sketching/art buddy to go sketching with might just turn out to be detrimental to your drawing practice. This is difficult for people to digest, especially during the pandemic when most are craving more contact with people. […]
In Context: Last Year I Watched a Lot of Cooking Shows
This is Paul—a contestant on the Great British Baking Show Holiday Edition, season not noted down. Yep, the woman who takes notes on everything relaxed her standards last year. Didn’t seem to be any point, I was watching so many cooking shows. I couldn’t get out because I couldn’t drive (post-cataract vision effects). I […]
In Context: Life Before Covid-19
A week ago, a couple weeks ago(?) Covid-19 took out the grand finale of Ink Master 2020. In the grand scheme of things, and with so many lives lost, it’s a small thing. But still a disappointment for the three finalists who won’t get to battle it out and find out who is “Ink Master.” […]