Currently Browsing: Sketching 1152 articles
Sometimes You Want to Use a Fine-tipped Pen…
I love working with my various brush pens, but sometimes you have a subject that calls out for the use of a finer tipped pen. Besides that, Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media paper loves a fine-tipped pen. It’s a win-win. Explore the fine-tip pens you enjoy using today—what types of papers do they pair […]
This May on Patreon: Choices for Working Loosely
In May 2023 on Patreon I’m going to be demonstrating and discussing working loosely. What choices do you make? How do you go forward? How do you train your eye to be comfortable with looseness? You may have seen a speed video of this sketch on my Instagram account. On Patreon you can see […]
When Is It a Good Time to Sketch in Pencil?
Usually I answer the question “When is it a good time to sketch in pencil?” simply by saying “Never.” I reside in the camp of, sketch in ink, live with the odd-off strokes, the pentimento. Use it all to train your eye. But sometimes you want really smooth lines, or don’t want to risk missing […]
Another Hat
I found some more hats from the hat project in 2018. I was working in an 8 inch square hand bound journal I’d made using the OLD Gutenberg paper from Hahnemühle. (Remember I don’t recommend the new version of Gutenberg now being sold. It still binds up great, but it doesn’t work with wet […]
Sketching Fair Goers without a Fair
I spent the year sketching Fair Goers who Earth’s World had captured at Fairs and Festivals. (See #earthsworld, @earthsworld on Instagram and Flicker; Earth permits artists to use the photos as sketching reference with attribution!) Even in May I kept thinking I’d better practice just in case. No Fair for me this year, but I […]
The 2022 Great Minnesota State Fair Sketch Out Is Almost Here!
Yep, it’s that time again to sketch at the Minnesota State Fair. Artist LMNOP is hosting. A map showing the meeting place (the same outdoor food court between the Food Building and Ag-Hort Building that’s been used before) and other details are in the linked post. There will be a 9 a.m. and 3 […]
Sometimes Even A Fun-to-Draw Beard Isn’t Sufficient Inducement to Watch a TV Show
I watch a lot of TV. This has always been true. And I often sketch while watching TV. The other day, before I canceled Comcast Cable TV (because for over 6 months they had been sending technicians to fix a pixelation and no-picture random-reboot situation) I caught a brief few moments of “Mud, Sweat, and […]
Sketching Masks in Public
I carry a small square Hahnemühle Toned Watercolor Journal in my purse. It’s useful for the doctor’s office visits. I ended up sketching a thumbnail of the glasses shop across from the waiting room after all.
Sketching on Any Old Paper You Have At Hand
Sometimes we can get into our heads. We can spend time telling ourselves all the reasons we can’t take time right now and paint. As a teacher for over 30 years I think I’ve heard every excuse there is: no space to set up, don’t have the materials I want to work with; I don’t […]
Visiting Minnesota—A Drawing Student’s Question
Recently a former Sketchbook Skool Student wrote to me asking me what to see when she was in Minnesota. (Evidently she was traveling here to go up north in Wisconsin for a drawing class at one of the resorts.) Of course whenever you ask someone a question like that you are taking into account their […]