Currently Browsing: Productivity 162 articles
In Context: Mixed Media Chickens
Sometimes it’s late and you want to get one more sketch in. I find this especially true when I’m trying to take a looser approach. Past bedtime—too tired to be fussy about details and accuracy—it’s a great time for one more sketch. But if something isn’t keeping you up I suggest you get to bed […]
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 […]
Planners—It’s Already Time to Plan for Next Year’s Planner
For a decade I used a certain planner which was the right size—and well the right everything else: layout and paper quality. When that company stopped making planners (or datebooks) a friend told me her search led her to Hemlock & Oak and she thought I might like them too. So I checked them out. […]
Art Supply Gifts That Derail Your Practice
It happens a lot, according to my students’s stories. A friend or family member gives them a fabulous art supply gift—all the watercolor tubes in the Daniel Smith line; all the gouache from Holbein; all the color pencils in the Primacolor Premier line. And the artist recipient hits overwhelm. Having an abundance of new options […]
Book Arts Pocket, Some Dogs, and Some Beans
Make your journal work for you by utilizing your book arts skills and make a pocket! Sometimes there are scraps lying on the drawing table and I sketch on those scraps. (And yes, tape scraps together to make bigger scraps if necessary [bottom right].) These dog sketches on scraps of Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media […]
Finishing Projects and a Little Bit about International Fake Journal Month
After decades of teaching art and creativity classes the many disguises of the internal critic never surprise me. But one aspect of the internal critic makes me the most sad—the way he pretends to be your buddy and fills you full of ungrounded expectations (for skill level and time to execute); and jollies you along […]
What Happened with the Excess Stamp Ink from Yesterday’s Post?
Yesterday I showed you what you could do in 15 minutes with some rubber-stamp ink to prepare some background textures in your journal. You’ll remember there was a scrap of watercolor paper I also painted with the leftover ink. (See the bottom right of the above photo.) Here’s a bit of pattern/texture making fun you […]
Quick, Colorful Background Textures for Your Journal Pages
Lately I’ve been discussing keeping your creative flow going even if you only have 15 minutes a day. And I’ve mentioned pre-painting backgrounds. Today I’m walking you through the use of pigmented rubber stamp ink—but you can also use liquid acrylics or acrylic inks. Remember—if you are not going to use wet media on your […]
What Makes an Artist an Artist?
Recently we had a power-outage in our area. (Dick later told me it involved 51 houses near us.) It’s never great when you have a power outage. The first thing that happens in our house is alarms go off. This is even more stressful now that I have permanent tinnitus. I have to run around […]
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 […]