Currently Browsing: the Drawing Life 34 articles
In Context—Painting Rocks
All my students are groaning right now as they read the title of this post: “In Context—Painting Rocks.” Don’t worry, I’m not going to go on about Ruskin, today. I just wanted to post this rock portrait because April marked a return to painting in color for me, after a long bout of pen and […]
What Makes an Artist an Artist?
Recently we had a power-outage in our area. (Dick later told me it involved 51 houses near us.) It’s never great when you have a power outage. The first thing that happens in our house is alarms go off. This is even more stressful now that I have permanent tinnitus. I have to run around […]
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: Thoughts on Visual Note Taking
Visual note taking. We all notice things that matter to us. How much we develop those elements in our drawings…it depends on so many factors. The point is to keep noticing. Page spread in a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed media journal on which I pre-collaged a piece of grey Strathmore charcoal paper that had been […]
A Sweet Dog to Wrap Up the Week
I think drawing a dog is always a good way to wrap up the week. Or the day. Even if you don’t have a dog at home (and I don’t any more) find a friend with an interesting dog, or go to the dog park, or, in a pinch, if you can’t get out, find […]
Folio Paper—Another Paper Gone?
Today I was going to write a reminder about what a lovely paper Folio is. I went to Legion Paper and see it is no longer available. It was a versatile printmaking paper sold in 22 x 30 inch sheets at a very affordable price—which, together with the fact that it folded well with the […]
Creative Ideas Stick with Us and It May Take a Lot of Thumbnails to Work Them Through
Creative ideas stick with us over time. Sometimes it’s just days or weeks. Sometimes it’s months, years, and decades. The time something sticks with you is not necessarily a clue that you’re on to something worth pursuing. But it is an indication that your attention is still engaged. It makes sense to recognize these themes […]
Studies Don’t Have to Be Accurate to Be Useful
I used to listen to my students go on and on about not wanting to make studies from the great art masters because they couldn’t come close to what those masters created. Well duh. We simply don’t have those skills. But we need to remember that studies, even quick, seemingly sloppy or non-accurate studies are […]
Second Wind: Drawing on a Busy Day
Drawing habits are just that, habits. And if you have made time in your life for drawing in the small spaces of life which each day contains, then you will draw in those spaces no matter what life is throwing at you. You can be tired, ill, stressed by any number of forces in the […]
A Short Video Review: Books about Working on Paper
Today’s image is obviously an example of how I work on paper. Again, I’m adding an image to keep things festive. But what today’s post is really about is the short video review I did of two books: The Work of Art, by Adam Moss and, The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, by […]