Yesterday, 12 intrepid sketchers from the Watercolor Minimalist class at Wet Paint descended on Como Conservatory determined to learn some tips and tricks for sketching on location in a short amount of time and with minimal stuff. It was a gorgeous day, there were beautiful subjects all around us, restrooms and cafe nearby, and not…
I’m welcoming some new watercolor painters to the medium, so there have been some requests for information about caring for watercolor brushes. (Even if you know all this, you might want to skip down to item 9. In the third paragraph, there are two links to videos about how brushes are made. The first is…
When I’m laying a wash, I want to focus my attention on creating color mingles, wet-in-wet effects and edges that are just the right degree of softness. So many things that will only happen if the timing is just right! I want design and drawing and color all worked out ahead of time, so I don’t…
This must be one of the questions I get asked the most often! I used to mat and frame my watercolors. From time to time someone would ask if I could frame them without glass. I knew of some watercolorists who were painting on canvas or boards that were specially prepared to be absorbent enough…
Who is that mysterious woman peering out of the headline of this week’s post? Read to the end to find out—she has a little magical treat for you! In this week’s post, I invite you to try your hand at cartooning. Wait! Keep reading! I promise anyone can do this kind of cartooning! This activity…
I keep finding myself telling followers of this blog about these fun little how-to videos I’m making for my beginning watercolor classes. Three in particular—on brush-drawing—just seem perfect for journallers. Brush drawing is a great way to try to see and capture the essence of something—both how it looks and how it feels. In a brush…
The moon is full this coming Monday night and it looks like we might have clear skies here in the Twin Cities area. One of the things I love to do in my art and in my journaling is celebrate the natural world—changing seasons, dramatic weather, the plants and animals I live among. And the full…
As I was returning home from a reception Monday night, there was a spectacular light show from some large thunderstorms to the north. The storms were far enough away that the thunder wasn’t audible, and I couldn’t see ground strikes. Instead, the massive clouds were illuminated from within by flickering lightning. Overhead, the sky was…
Oh, my! This was a hard post to write! I had a really hard time staying down off my soapbox on the subject of our cultural attitude towards drawing, and art-making in general. If you are one of those who thinks you “can’t draw” I hope in a later post to give you enough insight…
Finding a sketchbook or journal with paper that will accept some watercolor washes AND with a beautiful cover can be tough. But it’s easy to personalize your journal cover with colors, symbols and words that are meaningful to you. In an earlier post, I shared a few ideas for personalizing your journal cover. (If you…
The official launch of beta-testing is not until Friday, but I know some of you have your journals now and are probably eager to get started. After the first week, I’ll be sending email only once a week on Friday (I don’t want to overwhelm you with email!) But I’ll be sending a few more…
People have been asking, “what does it mean when you say something is mounted on cradled hardboard?” Click the image to see a brief description of how I mount and protect my work without a frame or glass.
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