Currently Browsing: Portraits 249 articles
Remembrance Day: I’m Away from the Computer
Today is Remembrance Day. I write about this almost every year. I think I have said what I can say. Enter “Remembrance Day” in my blog’s search engine and you’ll find those past posts. If you’ve been reading the blog carefully, or even casually, you all know this about me: I’m anti-war, I pro-soldiers, I’m […]
A Quick Portrait Sketch: Watercolor on Toned Paper
Read about the sketch in the caption. I was having a lot of fun working on this tan-toned paper from Strathmore. It’s their 400 Series Mixed Media Toned paper. At 184 lbs. it’s a great weight also for collage. In the detail you can see I’m able to get streaky strokes […]
What To Do When You Are House Bound
This post isn’t really about what to do when you are house bound. It’s really about how I spent time when I was trying to work out how to use my eyes after cataract surgery, and then later immobilized by an accident which tore all the tendons in my right ankle and foot this fall. […]
The Piecemeal Portrait Tutorial That Wasn’t
To keep myself drawing while I’m working out what my post-cataract eyesight will be I’ve been videotaping my sketching sessions. I find that the resultant videos allow me to look again at my process and ask myself questions about the progress I’m making with my eyesight. It also takes the focus off of whether or […]
Working on Canson 180
Today I look at working with watercolor on a not-wet-media paper. In May I shared with you how I started working in a Canson 180 sketchbook given to me by a friend. Because recovery from cataract surgery has been protracted I’ve been rather cooped up, unable to drive, get to life drawing, etc. One […]
Redefining the Self: Another Watercolor Portrait on Fluid 100 Hot Press Watercolor Paper
I tend to work in a series and this was item three in a series this spring that started with the image I posted in September 16th’s blog post. The second image in the series was the image in Monday’s blog post. What Do They Have in Common That Holds Them […]
Working Transparently and Opaquely with Watercolor
My eyes have still not settled down after the cataract surgeries (January 28 and March 5). There are some issues which appear to be permanent. I’ll deal with them in another post. Today I wanted to write about the drive to paint in color, the need to push paint around. If you saw the journal […]
When Your Pen Leaks Make It a Feature
Here’s a sketch from 2018 when I was doing some experiments to find my favorite toned paper for mixed media. I was testing a bunch of different chipboards. They soak up watercolor and gouache but you can use acrylic markers on them. Most I found were too expensive (when you locate them and pay postage) […]
Notes to Yourself in Your Journal
I find the practice of making even brief notes during or at the end of a sketching session help me focus where I want to go next. If something turns out too elongated I try again, often with a different pen or tool, as I did here. And I might even make a small diagram […]
How Do I Keep a Journal or a Sketchbook?
I get asked all the time “How do I keep a journal or a sketchbook?” I teach journaling classes in which students create in visual journals. I teach drawing classes that require students keep a sketchbook. Some people also ask me how journals and sketchbooks differ. The questions have so much “extra” weight. What those […]