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Feeling More At Home
I recently wrapped up my 10-week summer drawing course, and I’ll admit to cutting class on one day near the end. It was the day I did those summer landscape vignettes. I was enjoying my morning art...
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The Height of the Ridiculous
“I wrote some lines, once on a time, in wondrous merry mood…” So begins one of my favorite poems. I learned “The Height of the Ridiculous” as a child, and I’ve always loved it. It was written by Oliver...
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Fair Game — And a Bottle of Gamvar
Over and over, I hear the same thing. When it comes to drawing, anything is fair game. Even the simplest and most ordinary objects can become works of art, or, well, at least subjects for works of art....
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5 Tonal Studies
Pick up any art instruction book or go to any art class and sooner or later — probably sooner — you’re going to come face to face with tonal studies. Even my self-taught class curriculum always...
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Then and Now
It’s always fun to time-hop a bit and look back at other times and places in our lives. For me, this is especially true when it comes to art. From the time I first began learning to draw — June 9, 2015...
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Look, Hold, Draw
What is the process of drawing? Seriously, I want you to stop and think about it for a minute or two. If you were to describe drawing, what would you say? I’d never really given any thought to this...
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We All Make Mistakes
I’m going to guess that when you look at my drawing exercise today, you won’t have a clue what it is. Am I right? I’ve deliberately darkened it a bit so the lines show more clearly. This was done using...
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White on White
I’ll admit to being very apprehensive about this drawing exercise. I figured it would be quite a challenge. In my new spirit of “just do what you can”, I shrugged off my worries, set up my scene — two...
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What Makes an Onion an Onion?
Today’s drawing assignment was both interesting and thought-provoking. What I mean is that not only was the drawing exercise one I was excited to try, it was also one that sparked a lot of questions...
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Where to Begin?
It’s been said that the beginning is “a very good place to start,” and true enough, it is. But only if we know where or how to find it. In drawing, figuring out where to begin is one of the most...
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How to Pet a Cat
First, let me say this. Despite the title, yes, this is actually a post about art. Before I can get to the art, however, I want to share a few thoughts and tell you a little more about our “rescue...
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Is It Any Wonder I’m Confused?
I’m just wrapping up my morning drawing session, and I’m leaving the lesson on a discouraging note. I don’t like it when that happens. I much prefer closing my sketchbook and walking away from the...
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Trust Yourself
I recently signed up for another free online class from Michael’s. This one was on “Watercolor Herbs”. Being a lover of all things herbal and having discovered how much fun watercolor can be when I...
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Observational Fatigue
There’s a slight chance — if you’ve been reading recent posts on this blog — you might be able to take a wild guess about what this drawing is supposed to be. A slight chance, yes, but it’s doubtful,...
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A Pride of Lions
Drawing animals has always been difficult for me. When I first began learning to draw — back in 2015 — I bemoaned the fact that I could not draw wolves. I tried dogs and the results weren’t much...
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A Page of Scribbles
Scribbling is fun, I’ll say that. I’m learning, too, that scribbling is an important part of art, far more important, in fact, than I once thought. A good definition for scribbling is this: A scribble...
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Disoriented Dreams
Throughout much of my adult life, I’ve had a recurring dream. I see myself at an airport, and I’m trying to board a plane, but I’m being sent hither and yon, never quite getting accurate directions to...
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The 5-Minute Burn
Got your phone? You probably have it in your hand, right? And it probably has a “timer” feature included with its clock. So, grab a pencil and paper, set a timer for 5 minutes, and go! Burn, baby,...
View ArticleA Shopping List for Learning
I like lists. Some people do, others don’t, and I’m one of those people who is always making one list or another. It’s just how my mind works. I would never think of going to a grocery store without a...
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Tonal Bars
A few days ago I picked up Keys to Drawing — my current favorite “how to draw” book — and turned to a drawing exercise. It involved making what Bert Dodson, the author, calls a “tonal bar”. If that...
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