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What Happened with the Excess Stamp Ink from Yesterday’s Post?
Yesterday I showed you what you could do in 15 minutes with some rubber-stamp ink to prepare some background textures in your journal. You’ll remember there was a scrap of watercolor paper I also painted with the leftover ink. (See the bottom right of the above photo.) Here’s a bit of pattern/texture making fun you […]
Doodling: Let Your Mind Play—Remind It of the Value of Play
I’m often doddle and draw on non-art papers—simply because I’m sitting at my desk working and all that I have immediately around me is office supplies—bond copier paper and Post-It Notes™. (You see both of those types of paper in the first image today.) I wrote earlier this month, and many other times in the […]
End-of-Year Journal Wrap Up
Blog readers know I like to do an end-of-year wrap up. I look back at my journal productivity. It helps me see an overview of my creative practice and formulate new goals and directions for the future. I also can see at a glance what is happening with my practice and how I might need […]
What Filling a Grid in Our Journals Tells Us
I’ve been sharing a bunch of journal grids lately on the blog. Let’s get right to it—filling a grid in your journal tells you at a glance what is catching your eye in the world. For me, in this grid, it’s obviously noses. Now if you look at one of your grids and you see […]
Epiphany About Journal Grids
Don’t be surprised when you start keeping a journal that it will alter your life in many ways. It will help you weed through choices personal and professional. And it will remind you what matters to you artistically and creatively—if you listen. No detailed post today because of a family emergency. But “Epiphany about Journal […]
Okay, One More Reason to Sketch and Paint the Same Subject Multiple times
This additional reason to paint the same subject over and over multiple times is so simple, I forgot to mention it last week when I was writing about this. You mess up and pick up the wrong tool! Laughter ensues. That’s what happened in this session. I’m still unpacking supplies in the studio. I wanted […]
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 […]
Collage—Just Using Up Some Bits
Here’s a collage I did last fall in a book I bound using the old Gutenberg paper. The book is about 8 inches square. I had a bunch of scraps and a doodle of a man’s head and shoulders sitting at the side of my work area. I decided to use them up to make […]
Lighting As You See It
In a week where I’ve written about creative momentum and using any space of time for your drawing habit, I wanted to remind you that simple, quick (30-minute) sketches can be so valuable if you follow through on your intention. The two direct brush portraits I did on this page spread were my end of […]
Second Wind: Drawing on a Busy Day
Drawing habits are just that, habits. And if you have made time in your life for drawing in the small spaces of life which each day contains, then you will draw in those spaces no matter what life is throwing at you. You can be tired, ill, stressed by any number of forces in the […]