#Today was the last school day before the autumn vacations in Berlin, and that's always a great feeling. Two weeks (or at least one...) of time for everything & everyone who is dear to you. Since we do not travel, I try to implement a small "Irish" #art project, which I have long planned, a big living room painting of my favourite landscape! I've just started with sketches of old walls, which is difficult, but also fun.
I was messing around with dip pens. When I was a teen, I got one of those Speedball sets and I used it quite a bit. I've pulled out the nibs only a handful of times in my life. The convenience of markers pens is too nice to fool with dipping ink. But this smooth paper takes those nibs like a champ. And of course the blacks will remain black while felt tips will fade even when you erase over them. But I kinda like the character of a fade, so... #nibs#art#sketching
Just published a new blog post: How I use fountain pens with colored inks for sketching.
I like fountain pens so much more for sketching than fineliners, the lines are so expressive and they're refillable (Take this, Big Pen).
I use the fountain pens with waterproof inks so I can paint over my linework - yes, that's possible, too. Fountain pens are just amazing drawing tools. <3
I used to do a lot of sketching when I was still at school (aeons ago now) and I kind of miss it. So does anyone have any good resources for (re)learning basic line drawing? Free ones preferably as funds are limited at the moment #art#drawing#creativity#sketching
I've been up drawing ballerinas for the past few hours. Guess I'm over here channeling my inner Degas (sans the sketchy stuff).
They aren't great, but I like them and am enjoying myself. I've been so focused on trying to get all this business stuff together, I haven't been doing as much art.
I've been out with my #sketchbook today. This is the garden at Canons Ashby, a National Trust place in #northamptonshire.
It was chilly sitting outside #sketching soil perhaps didn't make the most of my time there.
Mrs Mike and our daughter went round the house.
The snowdrops in the grounds were well worth seeing.
Today I finished a year-long project 🍾🎉 of painting a 1 inch (2.5cm) square for almost every day of the past year. As a novice watercolorist it was a good challenge and I’m glad I did it.
The main subject was the slice of Pacific Ocean and sky I can see from our house. If I traveled or had something otherwise interesting to me I painted something about that.
Things I learned:
Simplify! A very small canvas means pare down the details.
In the last year or two of learning to draw, I've accumulated a number of art books. Here are some particularly good ones for beginners.
Kistler, You Can Draw in 30 Days
Very friendly, exercises that don't take hours on end, and a concise list of drawing principles on pp. 2-3.
Dean, Animal Line Drawing
You can crank one of these out in a spare moment and it will look reasonable.
DeWilde, 30-Minute Drawing for Beginners
More short exercises and principles.
Howard, 101 Textures in Colored Pencil
This is more of a reference, but drawing these will get you in the habit of layering colored pencil to produce rich textures.
Bower, 101 Sketching Tips
A long list of clever tricks and observations for sketching from life.
The Sketch Encyclopedia
Some mediocre general advice followed by a HUGE catalog of things to sketch, each with four reasonable stages.