Currently Browsing: Why Draw? 162 articles
Post-Project Let Down: What To Do About It
“Post-project let down.” What is it? How do you deal with it? I’ve got a few things to say about this today as the year winds down because journal keepers often experience a form of post-project let down at the end of a year. If you feel you might be prone […]
In Context: Playing with Paint
Sometimes at the end of the day I just ant to sketch and move some paint around. The detail from today’s image shows the thickness of the pink paint I mixed. I remember with happiness pushing that paint around. I used Schmincke Pan Watercolors to pull out the colors. I used a bit of Schmincke […]
In Context—Richard’s Elbow
The sketch today and its caption pretty much explain everything. A couple weeks ago Dick had pain in his elbow and it was very swollen. I of course thought Lyme Disease since he’d been walking in a field a couple days before and ticks are still active up her. That turns out not […]
What Am I Going to Get Up To Now? Trouble?
We’re months out from my cataract surgeries. At last month’s eye doctor visit we learned more. I’ll write a detailed post about what’s going on soon. I won’t kid you, it has been a frustrating time. Not a day has gone by since January 30 (when they pulled off the first eye patch) when […]
The Piecemeal Portrait Tutorial That Wasn’t
To keep myself drawing while I’m working out what my post-cataract eyesight will be I’ve been videotaping my sketching sessions. I find that the resultant videos allow me to look again at my process and ask myself questions about the progress I’m making with my eyesight. It also takes the focus off of whether or […]
Sketching in Family Situations: Creating New Family Contracts
If you desire to sketch at family gatherings and visits but it seems impossible this post is for you. If you already have sketching integrated into your life I suggest you stop reading and go sketch. Recently a blog reader wrote the following to me I love your posts and your portraits! How do you […]
A Little Bit of Bright Color in a Portrait
You already know how I feel about the paper in the Arteza Watercolor Book—pretty ambivalent at best; but there is nothing like a bit of bright color to make you smile. And if you are working loosely with a flat brush, you might just start giggling because you’re having so much fun. Get out your […]
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 […]
Focusing on Doing and Not on Naming
Several people wrote to me after my last post When Drawing Isn’t Fun. Most said that they found it helpful in starting an internal dialog with themselves about their creative practice. But one of my Urban Sketcher friends Tina Koyama wrote a very important point in her comment on that post: Grief. The grief of letting […]