In my last post I commented on the strengths and weaknesses of the Monologue Basics sketchbook, and mentioned that I liked using it for practice drawings. One of the things I always feel I could use more practice in is drawing people, and I’ve hit upon an easy way to find people to draw – […]
Category: Sketches
Impressions of the Monologue Basics Sketchbook + Random Sketches
A few months ago, the Monologue company sent me a few of their sketchbooks to try, and I decided to play around with the A5 hardcover to see how it handles the materials I normally use for sketching: ink, colored pencil, watercolor pencil, and watercolor paints. It measures around 5-1/2″ x 8″, and the paper […]
Sneak Preview! Step-by-Step Watercolor Painting: Terracotta Tile Roofs
In just a few short months I’ll be going back to Italy! I can’t wait to see the Tuscan hills again and enjoy the endless delights of fresh, delicious Italian food. And the gelato…don’t even get me started on that! October 3-10, 2015, will find me teaching a week-long workshop in Sketchbook Journaling at Fattoria […]
Winter Getaway: Sun, Fun, and Painting!
Five days of sunshine, warm breezes, and gorgeous aquamarine water are enough to lift anyone’s spirit. Stepping off of a plane in Florida in January is like emerging from a long, dark, damp, cold tunnel that you thought you’d never see the end of. There were palm trees and flowers and people wearing shorts! What […]
January Sketching – Days 10 & 12
Yes, I know it’s January 22, and I’m ten days behind in the Artist’s Journal Workshop January sketch challenge. That’s the way these challenges often go for me, and I know I’m not alone in that. I’ve been so busy preparing for my upcoming classes that I haven’t been taking the time to do a […]
January Sketching – Days 5-9
I’m always at least a day behind on this January challenge, but I’ve decided not to stress over it. After all, it’s supposed to be fun, right? Well, here are five more sketches that I’ve completed… Day 5 – Draw a bridge This is an old stone railroad bridge that spans Ten-Mile Creek in Jefferson, […]
A Very Chilly Morning
It’s been absolutely frigid here for the past week, and it looks like it’s going down below zero again tonight. Our house is perched on top of a hill, so we are buffeted by winter winds all season long, and it’s really been shaking the house today! But we’ve had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. […]
January Sketching – Days 1-4
After a busy holiday season during which I took care of all the things I had to do, I thought it would be fun in the new year, to do something just because I wanted to. I didn’t have much time for sketching in December and when I don’t get a chance to draw and […]
It’s Here! Grab a Copy of “Sketchbook Journeys: Italy”
Ever since I finished my Italy travel journal, I’ve been wanting to publish it as a Blurb book, just like I did with my Ireland sketchbook back in 2011. But it’s been over a year since I put the final brushstroke on that last sketch of Pisa, and this project just kept getting pushed to […]
Fall Harvest Journal Page + Step-by-Step Border
This page from my new nature journal shows a selection of what I collected the other day when I took a walk in the woods near our house. I wanted to see how many “crops” (seeds, nuts, and berries) I could find as fall dwindles down and winter moves in. Ink & watercolor, two-page spread […]
