Currently Browsing: pens 35 articles
In Context: More Brush Pen Talk—Hair
You can click on the image to read the text note on the spread for this “In Context” post. More brush pen hair for the week. The bonus of stubble. When you are sketching with a brush pen life is really pretty great. (And you can cope better with all the times you aren’t sketching […]
Kuretake Ai Liner Brush—Sepia Brush Pen
I’ve reviewed the original Kuretake Ai Liner brush with black pigmented ink before on my blog. Recently I saw there is now a sepia version. Who doesn’t like sketching in sepia ink now and then? I ordered up a sepia Kuretake Ai Liner pen from JetPens. (They run around $7.50 and I typically buy enough […]
Quick, Colorful Background Textures for Your Journal Pages
Lately I’ve been discussing keeping your creative flow going even if you only have 15 minutes a day. And I’ve mentioned pre-painting backgrounds. Today I’m walking you through the use of pigmented rubber stamp ink—but you can also use liquid acrylics or acrylic inks. Remember—if you are not going to use wet media on your […]
Guest Artist in My Journal
I had week off from blogging last week while I tried to balance physical therapy and reactions to various events, personal and national. In the latter category I was touched by the very sad death of Rob and Michelle Reiner. If you make a list of my favorite 30 films of all time almost all […]
In Context: Notes, Notes, Notes, Yes More on Notes
Here is an “in context” post showing notes, notes, notes. Make some notes this week! They help you understand your process, progress, and your life. (I was working in an 8-inch square book I bound with the OLD version of Winsor & Newton watercolor paper—90 lb. Hot Press. This paper was changed around 2017 and […]
Have You Done Your Warm Up Sketches Today?
I hear from a lot of frustrated students. “My drawings don’t work.” “I messed up the page.” And permutations of those thoughts. The best remedy for this situation is always to make more sketches and “ruin” more pages! Things to try: Start you sketching session with quick sketches on loose paper. (Don’t throw them away. […]
Thumbnails: Playing with the Page
Today is another pre-painted page with a thumbnail grid. The grid is only two spreads wide, but it’s also on one of those painting waste paper scraps. I chose to put it on this page because I had pre-painted the head and tail of the book and the colors on the scrap worked with those […]
One More Look at the Kuretake Ai Liner Ultra Fine Brush Pen
We have been looking at what the Kuretake Ai Liner Ultra Fine Brush Pen (KAL) can do. Here’s a portrait of Matty from “The Great British Baking Show.” (Season 11 Episode 9) This was done with the KAL on Strathmore 500 series Mixed Media paper. This paper has as a slight tooth so fully saturated […]
Repairing Our Creative Capacities
Everyone has ups and downs, blips in the continuum of their creative efforts (or any of their efforts in life for that matter). It’s important to remember that we have the capacity to repair our creativity by being tenaciously devoted to our practice. We need to be intentional, regular, and playful, but not sloppy and […]
The Dynamics of Hair
I’m also interested in the dynamics of hair not just as in beards, but in hairstyles. This brings me back all the time to the 1960s. (I collect old school yearbooks.) Here’s a page spread from a book I bound using the now defunct Zerkall Nideggen— toned paper with a wavy laid pattern and delightful […]