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Warm-up Sketches and Studies
I don’t think people spend enough time doing warm-ups and studies. I think part of the hold up is that people listen to their internal critics and buy into the “it’s got to be perfect” baloney. But part of the hesitation in doing more studies and warm-up sketches grows also out of a worry over […]
Mixed Media View of the Backyard: Expanding Your Visual Vocabulary
It’s always a great idea to take a moment and look out the window. Our neighbors at the back of our yard have a lush growth of ferns at this time of the year. I turned the page in my journal and sketched on this pre-painted background—the verso page background was in the same vein […]
Mixed Media Experiments Continue
This dog portrait was my warm up sketch to continue my mixed media experiments. I started with a brush pen sketch from a Sktchy muse reference photo. I used leftover gouache and then the dry media you can see listed on the recto page. I then searched for another photo reference on Sktchy and did […]
Sketching with Neocolor II Water-soluble Wax Pastels—Doodle of a Chicken
Today’s post is all contained in the video below. In this video I discuss how to transfer a drawing using graphite transfer paper; build up a color sketch from my transferred doodle using Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels; discuss different ways I use this art material; and provide a lightfastness chart. I’ve come back to […]
Improving Your Eye: Working through Corrections
I write a lot about working directly in ink and embracing the wonkiness that results. I encourage my students to work in ink and embrace the wonkiness—but that doesn’t mean we stop training our eye, and stop refining our work. I’ve seen hundreds of students who believe the only way to improve is to start […]
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 […]
Beard Alert—Death by Lightning
OK, if you’ve been reading my blog for even 10 minutes you’ll know I enjoy sketching men with beards. And I enjoy sketching faces when I watch TV. So it’s no surprise that I loved every moment of “Death by Lightning.” It didn’t hurt one bit that along with beards aplenty to draw there was […]
Go with the Line—And Finish
When you draw directly with ink every mark you make is permanent (or is it? More on that in a moment). If you don’t nail the line positioning, length, and weight (thickness and thinness determined by pressure) it’s decision time—what do you do? I’ve seen a lot of students figuratively and literally throw up their […]
Color Chart Fun
The best way to learn your pigments is to put them to real-world tests painting subjects you might actually paint. Your mind has to work out how to adjust color temperature and value on the fly. You get to use up leftover paint that you already had out on your palette. Creating a color range […]
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 […]