Currently Browsing: The Drawing Life 162 articles
Piecemeal Portrait of a Dog
If you’ve been reading the blog for even a short while you’ll know that I enjoy making what I call “piecemeal style.” Please use the category list or the blog’s search engine to find many more examples of this. Here’s one post to get you started. If you’ve been an online student of mine in […]
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 […]
How You Can Use Visual Journaling to End Arguments
Let me begin this post by stating: this is not an April Fool’s Day prank. I’m serious about the ability of visual journaling to end arguments. First you have to keep a visual journal. Next you and whomever you’re arguing with have to have a good sense of humor and a developed ability to […]
Project Friday—Let’s Collage
In this post I’ll walk you through a recent collage I made. This isn’t something that I preplanned. It’s simply something that I worked on with the materials at hand, moving from one thought to the next. I’ve turned the step-by-step into a Project Friday because I hope you’ll get up from the computer, make […]
Stonehenge Aqua Review Part 5—A Look at the Hot Press Surface
This is part 5 of a multi-part review of Stonehenge Aqua cold press and hot press. Please see this link for the first post in the series. Hot press paper is my paper of choice, so I’m going to spend more time testing a new hot press paper than I am testing a cold press […]
Hair Cuts and Their Aftermath
Nope I didn’t have a hair cut. I still have my braids. Periodically I give CR a hair cut. He’s too frail now for me to load him into the car and take him to the female barber I found for him, and whom he grew to enjoy. Now he has me. After the hair […]
Simple Round Back Spine Class Registration Will Close February 14, 2019
Registration for “The Simple Round Back Spine” online bookbinding class is still open through February 14, 2019. Class begins on February 15, 2019 with all lessons dropping at once so that students can work at their own pace during the month. I’ll be available to answer your questions. (I recommend that students aim to make […]
In Context: The Last Selfie With My Original Eyes
I found it interesting when sketching this self portrait earlier this January that I wasn’t concerned about seeing color at all. That seems to be what everyone goes on about when they find out you’re going to have cataract surgery. I’ve been very happy with the way I see color, and the cataracts are new, […]
Sketching at the Dentist’s
There’s no excuse not to have a sketchbook with you at all times. I’ve made sketchbooks as small as 2 x 4 inches. They fit nicely into a pocket if you aren’t carrying a purse or bag. And now so many commercially bound books are available in small sizes, including the Hahnemühle Watercolor Book, which […]