Currently Browsing: Sakura Pigma Professional Brush Pen 43 articles
Using Watercolor Flats and a Bit on Back-Runs
In this experiment on Canson Heritage Hot Press 140 lb. watercolor paper from the end of 2018 I used only a 1 inch large flat watercolor brush. I’ve written other posts about how you can use the edge of the brush to do more linear bits, like the creases in the forehead, but in the […]
In Context: Handling the Page
Sometimes our brain just clicks on an automatic timer. That happened the other day when thoughts of my last Alaskan Malamute Dottie bubbled into my mind exactly on the day 16 years after she had died. How you handle an image or text, or both, on a page or page spread is going to be […]
Using Only a Few Brush Strokes
Earlier this week I wrote about working quickly with the brush pen and all the benefits of different quick approaches. But you can also work quickly with watercolor washes. You pretty much force yourself to do this if you work with a large flat watercolor brush. (Here I used a 1.5 inch wide brush.) Why […]
In Context: Sketching Hair
It is a universally understood truth that when I see hair I go big. We can chat about this some day, but I think it’s obvious why—I spent my childhood and young adulthood focusing on birds and dogs—it’s all about the volume.
Working Quickly with the Brush Pen
One of my favorite things to do is to work directly, and quickly with a Pentel Pigmented brush pen. I’ll sit and sketch this way when I’m out and about, or when I’m at home watching TV. If Dick is at home I’ll sketch him this way (though those pesky eyebrows of his cause problems!). […]
Rewatching “Death in Paradise”
In January I started rewatching “Death in Paradise.” It’s a “murder/detective/fish-out-of-water” show that I have enjoyed since first seeing it on PBS several years ago. I don’t want to give significant details away about the whole arc of the series, but basically an English policeman, not well liked at home for being a bit fussy […]
Another Portrait on Canson Heritage Watercolor Paper
One thing I found that I really liked with Canson Heritage watercolor paper was the way a wide range of pens worked beautifully on its surface. (I was testing the hot press surface.) In this portrait I used a fountain pen filled with Platinum Carbon Black and two Sakura Pigma Professional brush pens with solid […]
In-Context: Before Cataract Surgery
Even avid readers of the blog might not recognize when this was sketched unless it had the date on it. I know exactly when it was sketched because I can still feel how my eyes felt on this day as I searched for the lines. I have found it interesting to observe my own artistic […]
Do You Stop Or Keep Pushing?
One of the things I’m asked most frequently by students is, “When do I know I’m finished with my [painting/sketch]?” I’ve heard many people give the flip response, “When you realize that you’ve gone to far, then you know you should have stopped.” It’s actually more simple and more complex than that. First, yes, if […]
Drawing Beard Stubble
Even if you don’t enjoy sketching beards as much as I do you owe it to yourself to practice some beards. Why? Because if you enjoy sketching people, some of the people you sketch will have beards. And all those beards will be different. You’re working on your visual vocabulary. The human face has a […]