Currently Browsing: Working in a Series 90 articles
More Fun with Journal Grids
Here’s a finished grid from a journal in May this year. I worked in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Journal (7.75 x 9.75 inches, soft cover). I pre-painted the grid squares using Nichiban masking tape and Montana markers. The spaces on the recto page were brushstrokes of acrylic color. Sean was glued down […]
Warm-Up for the Zoo
Before you head out to sketch I think there are things you need to do—like pack your kit, especially if you haven’t been out for a bit. So many students tell me they forgot to check their kit and ended up on site without a key tool or supply! Warming up before you even get […]
Another Reason to Sketch and Paint the Same Subject Multiple Times
Continuing my thoughts from Friday’s post I wanted to add another reason why it is a good idea to sketch and paint the same subject multiple times—the fun of trying different media out and seeing how the use of different media changes your interpretation. On this page spread I first sketched a a watercolor portrait […]
Painting Multiple Portraits of the Same Person (Or Other Subject)
People ask me all the time why I paint the same people (or dogs, birds, rocks) over and over. I find that it’s interesting. And challenging. A way to take another look. A way to learn something more about the subject and get it down on paper while developing some way to do that with […]
Making Time for the Steps that Support Your Goals
I have been pushing to spend a little more time on opaque paintings, but I don’t have the available time to do large paintings. To satisfy the urge to work opaquely, and to continue working on stylization, I’ve been focusing on smaller paintings like this three-portrait grid (ruled with pink Uni Posca Marker and filled […]
Do It Again
Anyone reading my blog knows how important I think practice is. Too often people make a drawing or painting, get halfway (or more) through, and give up. I hear from students who’ve done this. Typically they don’t draw after such a session for several days or more. The better action is to have another […]
Looking at the Sennelier Ink Brush Pen
Note: I’ve just placed the sketches in order, in the gallery below. The order is important if you want to follow along with the experiment. I was working with photos of fair goers from @earthsworld. Early in April I saw an ad for the Sennelier Ink Brush Pen. They look like the Pentel ColorBrush. They […]
Another Green Sheet
When I’m testing a pen or a paper (or in this case both) I like to work with them for several days. So the day after that green lady from my previous post, I sketched this woman—again a fair goer from @earthsworld. My thoughts on this face were a bit different. I added a bit […]
How Things Line Up
When you post on Instagram your images shuffle over and your whole grid of images, all the way back to your first post shuffle over. Rows change contents. I know there are folks who really plan the organization of their posts so that there is some type of cohesive whole going on. But since my […]
What I Did in the Pandemic: Pepper Sketches Of Course!
I’ve been trying to get my digital files organized, and I came across this post from 2020 during the pandemic. I don’t know why I had this large landscape book, and Akademie Watercolor Journal from Hahnemühle. This is their student line of paper. The book is nicely bound, the paper is OK, but […]