Currently Browsing: Note taking 11 articles
Don’t Be Afraid of Messy Studies—What Are You Learning?
Too many of my students in the past have obsessed about perfection in their studies. They worry about their studies being messy, partially complete, and in every other way weak and unconvincing. They are worrying about the wrong thing. The purpose of a study is to try out an idea or approach. To give a […]
Art Supply Gifts That Derail Your Practice
It happens a lot, according to my students’s stories. A friend or family member gives them a fabulous art supply gift—all the watercolor tubes in the Daniel Smith line; all the gouache from Holbein; all the color pencils in the Primacolor Premier line. And the artist recipient hits overwhelm. Having an abundance of new options […]
Fun with Grids and Studies: Or Things to Do with Leftover Paint
You always have time to make tiny sketches. Don’t forget that! Even the tiniest of sketches allows you to work on your observational, paint mixing, and shape comprehension skills. And in my case, fascination with hair and beard styles. Background Events I’m doing the last bit of journal index catch up I had hanging over […]
Studies: When You Don’t Have Paper with You
I admit that there are rare occasions when I leave the house without my journal. And without a decent camera even. (My iPhone may be capable of photographic excellence, but I’ve not been able to eek any out of it for either macro shots or bringing distant objects closer!) This page spread is the result […]
In Context: Taking Time to Note Your Color Mixes
Even when you’re rushing to get a quick portrait study done, you’ve got time to test some color mixes and note them down for future reference. That’s what’s happening on this page spread (as well as some notes about life). I love Azure Cobalt Blue from Schmincke but it doesn’t give the dark values I […]
In Context: Thoughts on Visual Note Taking
Visual note taking. We all notice things that matter to us. How much we develop those elements in our drawings…it depends on so many factors. The point is to keep noticing. Page spread in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed media journal on which I pre-collaged a piece of grey Strathmore charcoal paper that had been […]
Using the Journal for Capturing Notes
The journal can capture notes to ourselves, notes we want to remember to mention to others, notes that prompt us to do our real work, notes that remind us to be present, notes… Get them down. Don’t worry about how beautiful they look—of course go take a calligraphy class and learn to write beautifully, and […]
What I’m Thinking When I Make a Quick Study
Often I want to sketch something because something caught my eye, but I don’t have the time to really get down what caught my eye. I don’t have the time I need to blend and build up paint, or I don’t have the time needed to carefully hatch something. When that happens I make a […]
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 […]
In Context: The Trouble with Double Vision
Page spread in an 8 inch square, hand-bound journal made with the OLD Gutenberg paper (which is not the same as the currently available Gutenberg paper which I do not recommend for visual journaling). The text on the page explains everything, oh, with one “writo” as I like to call them. In the second paragraph […]