Currently Browsing: Why Draw? 172 articles

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Drawing on Scraps of Paper

I love to draw on scraps of paper.  As a bookbinder I have a ton of paper scraps leftover after any binding session. There are trimmings of course, but typically because of the way I want my handbound books sized, I fold and tear away bits from the main paper sheets before I start making […]

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Take a Breath When Reaching for a Likeness

I think the importance of immediate feedback, or a later (1 to 7 day) fresh eye appraisal is always important when sketching a portrait. I think it’s important too to take a breath when reaching for a likeness on paper or canvas. What do I mean by that? I mean it’s important to take a […]

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Try, Try Again

I watch the British Police drama “Vera.” (In the US you can see it on PBS, but awhile back I started watching it on Britbox and think the episodes come in a bit earlier.)  I watch it because I’m totally in love with Brenda Blethyn. She’s so amazing. But as I’ve already discussed on my […]

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Sometimes Leftover Paint Colors Give You Zombies

New readers to the blog might not realize at first that a lot of what I post is a sort of cautionary tale. I’m trying to get across that sketching and painting needs to be fun, if you’re going to continue. And by showing you some of the missteps I make I hope to help […]

Detail of the painting so you can see the brush pen sketch lines and the thickness of the watercolor I was using in an opaque manner.

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 […]

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In Context—Sketching Through Pain

  Be sure to note the date—it’s last April! I’m doing just fine today and keeping up with all my physical therapy maintenance exercises. This is a couple sketches of Nic Sampson, an actor on “The Brokenwood Mysteries.” Click on this link to read my recent review of the series. (Hint, I’m a fan.) I […]

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Snow Pile By Any Means Necessary

The weather is turning warm again, getting back into the 20s (Fahrenheit). I’ve been able to sketch a couple snow piles this winter, but I think it wasn’t until almost the end of December that I got one!  Before the weather gets too warm and we want to think only of other things, I thought […]

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The Journal as Workbook

Below is a video which explains my view of the journal, and how I use my journal in my daily practice. Students in my “Drawing Practice: Drawing Live Subjects in Public” class asked me to share it publicly when I shut down my on-line teaching platform at the end of last year. They wanted to […]

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Journal Practice Hiccups?

  I always tell people any day is a great day to start a journal practice. Start.  But I know that many people think it important to have a milestone day like the first of the year for a starting point. If it gets them to start then I’m all for that. As a new […]

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Getting Something Down on the Page

This is a sketch from 2020. I was four months out from the second cataract surgery and I think I’d already had one secondary operation to zap some cloudiness. (But it didn’t resolve any of the double vision issues.) I was frustrated early one morning, unable to sleep. I scribbled. It felt great to get […]

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