Composition

I’m working on improving my composition skills. I’m taking a class and the instructor suggested Andrew Loomis’ book “Creative Illustration”. I read this years ago and am re-reading it. There’s so much useful information crammed in its pages! Anyway, I thought I’d share a few other resources I’ve found...

Book Recommendation

As the name suggests, “The Painters Handbook: Revised and Expanded” by Mark David Gottsegen is a reference for painting. I think it’s excellent. I’ve had for years. I mainly use it for information relating to oil painting and studio/materials safety but it also covers other paints and other useful...

Values First, then Color

I’ve been reading a book recommended to me by Susan Cook, Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing by Margaret Livingstone (a neurophysiologist). In it she addresses many characteristics of human vision and how they relate to art in a very palatable way. Recently, one section really caught my...

DIY Ink Filled Brush-Pen and Lightfast Test

I enjoy using the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen but I wanted to have an ink brush that I could sketch with in a color other than black. I wanted to put ink in a Niji Waterbrush to make my own. What I wasn’t sure about was how much I...

Head Study in Oil – Trying Out Colors

In an effort to see for myself what different colors and paints do and decide what I like, I’ve been experimenting. For this head study I tried Rembrandt Sepia, Gamblin Flake White Replacement, and Gamblin Chromatic Black. This combination also gave me a chance to concentrate on values (more...

Online Drawing Practice Resource

Nothing beats drawing from life, but let’s say you live out in the middle of nowhere and are sick of drawing yourself and your surroundings. Or maybe you need something during the week, between that weekend drawing co-op you like to attend. Perhaps you’ve tried the good ‘ol internet...