Currently Browsing: Portraits 339 articles
The Case for Not Finishing a Sketch
I’m the first person to encourage people to finish what they start. In fact I encourage people to push past the point where they think they have finished, because until you “break” a few sketches you don’t really know where that point of finish resides. But I also wanted to put a word in today […]
In Context: Bridge Jokes
I collect bridge jokes. Or bridge anecdotes. Why is a little more obscure and not found on this journal page spread. Background: My parents are excellent bridge players—competition level in their heyday. In their 90s they are still talking, card for card, about hands they played in 1960! I don’t enjoy playing cards with my […]
In Context: The Beginning of One of Those Emotional Entanglements…
Another Delano Ames quotation. (Hahnemühle Travel Journal.) “He gulped sentimentally.” Ah to have written that, what a perceptive way to see a dog.
In Context—Quotations from Revisited Books
The one highlight of going through my books and culling things out is that I’ve been able to re-read books out-of-sight for 20 or more years. It’s like saying hello to old friends. With Delano Ames it’s a very insightful friend.
Different Drawing Approaches for the Same Subject
Just this week I was asked by nine people how I start my drawings. I use different approaches to start my drawings depending on what pen I’m using, the paper size, and even just how I feel my eyes are doing on any given day. For a more detailed response I explain that I have […]
In Context: Ever Wonder What Happens to All Those Beard Portraits I Paint?
Here’s a quick sketch I made almost exactly a year ago. I was standing in the bedroom looking out through the next room into the studio at the wall of portraits I had hanging in the studio. The beard portraits I do in my journals for fun can’t be cut out and framed. But I […]
Coming Up in July on Patreon
During July I’ll continue my discussion of dog portraits. Subscribers can watch me sketch this ink portrait. I’ll also look at minimal line and wash approaches to sketching a white dog. I hope you’ll come and join the conversation.
As Few Strokes as Possible…
Pick up a brush pen. Get something down on the page in as few strokes as possible. Make each stroke count and enjoy the movement of the pen across the page. Repeat throughout the day as necessary. (Once an hour is great.) Have a fantastic weekend.
More Great TV News: New Episodes of “Mock the Week”
If you’ve been playing the home game of “How Many UK Television Shows Does Roz Watch Anyway?” you’ll be pleased to know that one of my favorite shows has new episodes out in the US. (BritBox) “Mock the Week” is back in a covid manifestation with perspex partitions between the comics and a Zoom audience. […]
Get Serious about Pen Health
OK you’ve read over and over on the blog that I love drawing with pens that are drying out. BUT… Someone has to get serious and march around the house and throw out all the really dried out pens. It’s time to start fresh. On the evening of this drawing if a fresh pen had […]