A few of my bristle brushes have splayed out so I experimented on how to reshape them. On most bristle brushes, the hairs have a slight natural curve to them. But with use they get out of shape. In “Painter’s Handbook: Revised and Expanded” by Mark David Gottsegen, he...
Mar112017
Reshaping Brushes
Feb242017
Book Review: “Hawthorne on Painting”
I read art books in the hope that I’ll learn something new, or find a new-to-me way of looking at an old tool or idea. I seek out information in an effort to grow as an artist and try to be a more effective instructor. I consider a book...
Feb42017
New Art on Dura-Lar Part 2
Drawing on the polyester film was like running my hands across a length of satin fabric. This was the first time I’ve used it. For the most part I was able to build up fairly rich values, and erase back to a pretty clean surface. However I did manage...
Jan272017
New Art on Dura-Lar
For my most recent project I’ve been drawing on Dura-Lar. It was suggested by another artist who has had excellent results with the stuff. I’m using the .005 matte film. Like with the vellum I used for previous projects, I drew my lines on one side and am building...
Jan122017
Lesson Plans – Organizing Thoughts
I run a color theory class at The Atelier. I’ve been wanting to create a Color 2 class for a while so I created some lessons and took myself though them to see if the takeaway for each one met my expectations of if I needed to make adjustments....
Dec292016
DIY Sculpture Stand
I want to sculpt more but I didn’t really have a good spot to do it. Based on the sculpture stands I’ve seen I created my own. I wanted something with adjustable height, fairly lightweight, easy to move, stable, and something I could make myself. I can’t weld but...
Dec212016
Book Review – “A Technique for Producing Ideas”, by James Webb Young
In continuing to follow my curiosity about creativity, I read “A Technique for Producing Ideas” by James Webb Young, published by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2003. It’s a very thin book but he gets to the point rather quickly: how to create ideas. His thoughts on the process of creating seems...
Dec142016
Water Elemental Reference
I couldn’t find reference for the low angle view of the coral and other underwater objects. Flexible thinking was required. I asked myself, what else do I have access to that would have an approximate shape and structure of the things I wanted to draw? Oyster mushrooms! I lit...
Dec72016
Cloud Gazing
Letting my mind, and eyes, wander while looking at random textures or patterns is something I really enjoy doing. Growing up, my bedroom had both textured walls and ceiling so I had all sorts of creatures and scenes to look at. James Gurney did a great post on this...
Nov302016
Getting Organized
Slowly but surely I’ve been getting my work space more organized. Recently I made a file organizer for various projects and tasks. I wanted to use some of the supplies I already had around the house so opted to sew my own (plus I enjoy making things so this...