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Another Liner Brush Test with a Direct Brush Portrait
Here’s another direct brush painting I did with a liner brush. I used only the Princeton Select Liner P3750L-1 #1 to make this portrait. I found it difficult to write with it (though not as difficult as some of the others I’ve tested), but just in case I’ll transcribe my notes: Soft, good pigment load, […]
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 […]
Two More Liner Brush Tests
I’ve got two sketch-tests for two different liner/rigger brushes. Both were executed in a pre-Covid Handbook that’s about 5.5 x 8 inches, with 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. (These pages don’t smell of wood and chemicals the way the pandemic purchased books do.) For these two I departed from my 3-color palette of the […]
Direct Brush Painting with a Liner Brush
I admit it. I love experimenting. I had a new paint from Schmincke—Ocean Grey. I had a wonderful face reference from Sktchy. And I had a LINER BRUSH! Note: There are liner brushes and rigger brushes. They are and aren’t interchangeable. Both are long-tipped. If you want a long brush to apply paint it might […]
Three Views of Actor Michael Sheen
Actors can be mercurial, artists can change the way they want to see things just as quickly. In the span of an evening last February I tried out three ways to look at actor Michael Sheen on paper. (When I drew these sketches I was watching an episode of “Prodigal Son,” which I enjoyed and […]
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 […]
One More Thing about Tools Changing the Way We Draw
This is part three of a 3-part series on how our drawing tools change the way we draw. Part one is here. And part two was Monday and you can toggle back to it using the navigation links at the base of this post. I have focused on pens with different tips. You can expand your […]
The Simplest of Reasons
Sometimes the only reason I do sketch-related actions is because—the paint was already out, I’d run out of time, I wanted to see what would happen, I was following my nose, I wanted to push something, I just wanted to get to some sort of “finish” and go to bed. There are a million reasons […]
Let the Color Palette Carry the Emotion
Sometimes the subject you want to capture requires you have bold lines, so you pick a bold brush pen. Perhaps there is an emotion in a person’s face that you want to capture? Then it’s important to let the color palette choices you make support that. Here’s a very angry woman. The bright colors of […]
Quick Studies
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you’ve got time for a quick study. Focus on the details that matter the most to you. On somedays it might be a nose, a forehead, a hand, some shoes, or a color scheme. Often it’s little bits of light. Overtime, if you look back at your quick […]