Currently Browsing: Drawing From Life 156 articles
Trying Out Dagger Brushes (Part Two of I haven’t a Clue How Many Posts)
Now and then I get a desire to test something new. Sometimes I hear about a new product, or a friend mentions something to me. Sometimes I go to the store and see something and wonder what it would be like to use that tool or medium. Other times, like recently, I unpack brushes that […]
What I Did in the Pandemic: Pepper Sketches Of Course!
I’ve been trying to get my digital files organized, and I came across this post from 2020 during the pandemic. I don’t know why I had this large landscape book, and Akademie Watercolor Journal from Hahnemühle. This is their student line of paper. The book is nicely bound, the paper is OK, but […]
Snow Piles, We’ve Seen the Last of Them, for Now
Sometimes projects sneak up on us. Sometimes projects are simply the manifestation of a habit. Sometimes it’s fun to catch up on scanning your journal pages and seeing the massive amounts of snow you’ve just dealt with. (Actually I wasn’t doing much dealing with it—Dick was the one creating 7-foot tall snow piles on either […]
In Context—Use Every Moment to Sketch
In December there were a lot of appointments and a good deal of rushing about. And I’d decided to fill a Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Soft covered journal (7.75 x 9.75 inch) in about 10 days. Of course. So it was important to use every moment to sketch. You can read about this moment […]
Take a Breath When Reaching for a Likeness
I think the importance of immediate feedback, or a later (1 to 7 day) fresh eye appraisal is always important when sketching a portrait. I think it’s important too to take a breath when reaching for a likeness on paper or canvas. What do I mean by that? I mean it’s important to take a […]
Sketching Masks in Public
I carry a small square Hahnemühle Toned Watercolor Journal in my purse. It’s useful for the doctor’s office visits. I ended up sketching a thumbnail of the glasses shop across from the waiting room after all.
Not a Landscape Painter
I’m not a landscape painter, but something about the new season hosta and the fresh wood chips pulled me to sketch a little plant life. One of my friends had told me that she envied me my hosta. (Deer eat hers.) I have to say it really does look very healthy.
Visiting Minnesota—A Drawing Student’s Question
Recently a former Sketchbook Skool Student wrote to me asking me what to see when she was in Minnesota. (Evidently she was traveling here to go up north in Wisconsin for a drawing class at one of the resorts.) Of course whenever you ask someone a question like that you are taking into account their […]
Snow Pile By Any Means Necessary
The weather is turning warm again, getting back into the 20s (Fahrenheit). I’ve been able to sketch a couple snow piles this winter, but I think it wasn’t until almost the end of December that I got one! Before the weather gets too warm and we want to think only of other things, I thought […]
The Journal as Workbook
Below is a video which explains my view of the journal, and how I use my journal in my daily practice. Students in my “Drawing Practice: Drawing Live Subjects in Public” class asked me to share it publicly when I shut down my on-line teaching platform at the end of last year. They wanted to […]