Currently Browsing: watercolor
In Context: I’m Going To Die In This House!
We all have fears. I used my journal to write about one of mine. It always helps to move the brush pen around on this paper!
Looking at Canson Heritage Watercolor Paper
This past fall I purchased a block of 140 lb. hot press Canson Heritage Watercolor paper. It is a 100 percent cotton paper with vegetable sizing. (Yep, I am not happy about the sizing, but there you have it.) Since then I’ve been working on it to complete a project. I haven’t posted sketches from […]
Testing Yarka Watercolors
Last fall I was in Wet Paint and they had some sets of Yarka Watercolors for sale. I purchased two sets. One was a standard set of colors that I bought for a young friend as a gift. The other set, “High Chroma” (HC) was for me to experiment with. They were in fun square […]
Sketching at the Dentist’s
There’s no excuse not to have a sketchbook with you at all times. I’ve made sketchbooks as small as 2 x 4 inches. They fit nicely into a pocket if you aren’t carrying a purse or bag. And now so many commercially bound books are available in small sizes, including the Hahnemühle Watercolor Book, which […]
In Context: Letting Things Go
I find that a great way to let things go, or change feelings, is to draw something that expresses how I feel. Give it a try. Let’s use our art for our own personal benefit!
Self-Assessment: 2018—Filling Journals, Using Up Paint
Some Background and The Brand of Paint I’ve Been Using Lately Yes, this painting actually has something to do with self-assessment and goal setting. First I want to say something about the materials… While I did sketch some more after painting this image yesterday (Dec. 31, 2018) this turned out to be my final […]
Focusing on Doing and Not on Naming
Several people wrote to me after my last post When Drawing Isn’t Fun. Most said that they found it helpful in starting an internal dialog with themselves about their creative practice. But one of my Urban Sketcher friends Tina Koyama wrote a very important point in her comment on that post: Grief. The grief of letting […]
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 […]
Studying Other Artists, Or Dealing with a Plateau in Artistic Development
Recently one of my Drawing Practice students mentioned that she’d been discouraged to see the “before” and “after” artwork someone had posted on Facebook. Some of the artists included showed art from childhood and adulthood. Others posted work that was only a couple of years apart, yet showed great development of representational facility. All were […]
