Currently Browsing: Portraits
In Context: Sometimes Stories Pop into Your Head…
Sometimes something about your source inspiration suggests a story. This can be a pose that a model strikes for you, or a person you see out in public having a conversation you can’t overhear, or a photo inspiration like the type you find on Sktchy. It can even happen when you draw a selfie. Whenever […]
Looking Back at InkTober 2018
I frequently work for days and weeks at a time in ink only. I have an early, childhood love of dip pens and inky fingers. I love working with the brush pen directly, and taking chances with bold brush lines. This year I was also getting ready to go to a sketching conference and wanted […]
In Context: Traveling
Wonder how much of a Paul Rudd fan I am? I keep this lip sync battle on my desktop. I recommend you blow it up full screen and watch it any time you’re tired, waiting on hold, pissed off at a client, stumped by InDesign’s bizarre (compared to Quark’s) tools and tricks, or just need […]
The Blackwing Notebook
Sometimes I simply can’t help myself when I find lined notebook paper. A few months ago I was in Wet Paint and they had small notebooks by Blackwing (the company that makes the pencils with the rectangular erasers—I use the soft lead version to do my daily sudoku). The notebook is about 3.5 x 5.5 […]
The Truth Matters; Freedom of the Press Matters; Vote Today
Today, nothing matters more than getting out to vote. By November 3, 2018 there were literally 6,420 reasons to vote against President Trump. That was the current tally of misstatements Trump had made in the 649 days of his presidency. Misstatements which have been misogenistic, racist, and simply insulting to caring, compassionate, and responsible humans. […]
Housekeeping: I’ve Had to Clear Out Subscribers Whose Emails Bounce
Today I received a note from the plug-in company that sends out my blog emails—those notes you get from me now and then about non-blog topics (I haven’t had time to write many of those this year); and the newsletter which comes every time I post (typically 3 times a week). They’ve told me that […]
In Context—Fixing A Face
When you sketch directly in pen the lines aren’t always put down exactly where you wanted. But because it’s ink, at some point you decide not to correct your lines and create muddiness, but instead you simply finish the sketch and accept the loss of likeness. This isn’t a tragedy, it’s just part of the […]
More Scribbling
When I use an approach that appeals to me or interests me in some way I want to try it again to see if I can apply it to different subjects. After I sketched the image shown in Monday’s post I spent several days making experiments. I scribbled with all sorts of pens, with all […]
Playing with Lines, Scribbling…
As the caption states, I was trying something new when I drew this. I used a couple different pens and then added watercolor washes. But when I was working with the pens I didn’t try to consider my lines carefully and keep them to a minimum—I scribbled. It was great fun. And I felt that […]
Picking a Pen to Suit Your Paper
I write about picking your art tools and media to suit your paper (canvas, etc.) a lot on the blog. Lately I’ve been working in one of the journals I bound in #2017BigBind that I made with the OLD Gutenberg paper. (This is the Gutenberg paper made before 2017, before the cancelation of the paper […]