Currently Browsing: Pentel Brush Pens 253 articles
What I Did in the Pandemic: Zooming
During the Pandemic I did Zoom calls with friends, as you’ll learn if you read this page spread—which is full of writos; it was late, I was tired, but you can tell what I meant to write in context. For the first time in 43 years I was learning what it was like to have […]
In Context: My Life Is a Stream of Detective Shows
…often the detectives meet on the page. Update: People didn’t recognize Ray Collins as Lt. Arthur Tragg from the long-running “Perry Mason” with Raymond Burr. Yes, he has nothing to do with Poirot, that’s what I meant by my life being a stream of detective shows—meeting on the page. If you’re one of the folks […]
What I Did in the Pandemic: Sketched MORE Peppers Of Course!
Peppers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and I eat quite a lot of them. Here, two years past the sketches in my last post, I’m still sketching peppers. I’ll always sketch them. That’s because I’m always eating them. I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t have at least […]
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 […]
Blick’s White Sulphite Drawing Paper
The other day a friend stopped over with some of Blick’s White Sulphite Drawing Paper. She was going to do some gel printing on it, but she thought I might enjoy testing it. I did. I videotaped my first drawing session using this paper. You can hear my opinions about the paper and learn other […]
My Favorites Are Not Your Favorites; It’s a Good Thing
It always momentarily amazes me which paintings I post on Instagram get the most likes. Paintings I absolutely love usually gain low scores. Dogs and chickens are popular. I understand that. I offer this comment here for past students who may wonder why people are not falling in love with the painting they just posted […]
More: Tools Really Do Change the Way You Draw
This is part two of the current series on tools changing the way that you draw. Specifically pens! You can see part one here. Today I’ve putting up three sketches of musician and artist John Lurie. He has had a series on HBO about his life on a Caribbean island. It’s a show where he […]
Tools Really Do Change the Way You Draw
I’ve met students who come to my classes who are totally frustrated with their materials and tools. They keep doing the same thing with their tools, using those tools, usually because an “expert” told them they were the best tools. Unfortunately the best tool for one artist might not be the best tool for another. […]
Brush Pen Portrait Problems: Aging
I know I could tone it down, but I do have a tendency to keep my bold brush pen lines when sketching women—and it ages them. Recently a reader wrote to commission me to do a portrait of herself and her husband. Yes, I do commissions (though I’m not taking any new ones until after […]
Let the Color Palette Carry the Emotion
Sometimes the subject you want to capture requires you have bold lines, so you pick a bold brush pen. Perhaps there is an emotion in a person’s face that you want to capture? Then it’s important to let the color palette choices you make support that. Here’s a very angry woman. The bright colors of […]