Nov 30, 2022Art tools test: Oil PastelsOil painting sketchbook paper. — Something came through the courier and it’s full of rainbows. I’ve been interested in painting with an oil based medium. The last time I used oil pastels was in primary school and I don’t recall why I even had them in my school bag. That was decades ago. Between oil…Oil Pastel11 min readOil Pastel11 min read
Nov 29, 2022Art tools: Over the Castle WallPaint process on A3 watercolour paper. — Welcome to the other side of the wall. We’re going to take a look at a painting I created called, “Over the Castle Wall”. We’re going to go over the different tools used to complete this painting, and see how our tools of choice affect our paint process — even…Watercolor10 min readWatercolor10 min read
Nov 28, 2022Some ways to draw french kisses1. Lyrical & Self-indulgent (Craig Thompson) That’s Craig Thompson’s drawing of himself knowing, on page 571 of Blankets. Beautiful brushwork, although, a bit much. At least he drew dots for his opened eyes. 2. Voyeuristic & Suggestive (Cat S.)Drawing2 min readDrawing2 min read
Nov 28, 2022Little Wolf: Comic Book Creation ProcessDeveloping systems & a good sense of direction. — We made it. Our big comic book project is complete. I wrote the story in May 2019 and finished illustrating over a hundred inside pages in January 2020. That’s nine months. Looking forward to show the new baby to family, friends and the rest of the world. Nine months phew…Comic Books17 min readComic Books17 min read
Nov 26, 2022Secrets to maintaining a sense of playWelcome to our playground. — It’s a place of fun— it should be. But why ? is it because of the absence of work ? Pause there for a second— are you thinking what I’m thinking ? Work requires mental and physical effort in order to achieve a result, and that happens in the playground too…Drawing7 min readDrawing7 min read
Jul 7, 2019Two pitfalls to avoid as an artist & one effective approach to keep sketchingI made a step in the right direction going to the Sketch Gym. In that last post, I pointed out the principles at work with the Sketch Gym system. But what goes on in it ? how often ? and how do I even begin ? In this post, I…Mindset7 min readMindset7 min read
Jul 2, 2019A step in the right directionIn Sketch Gym, I wrote about how I managed to get my hands reconditioned to drawing on a regular basis after a long hiatus. A little background I graduated art school in 2001 and for over ten years, I set aside my drawing skills for a day job in print and web design…Drawing5 min readDrawing5 min read
Nov 7, 2018Inktober sketches2018 Inktober (or Paintober) was just like my sketch gym and paint gym — exercises in drawing something I’ve never drawn before nor would have imagined from scratch. I looked up photo references for each prompt as a starting point.Drawing8 min readDrawing8 min read
Nov 6, 2018Comic book shortcutsI picked up some shortcuts in creating my latest comic book. I had 30 pages to paint in about a month. In producing my last short story comic book, Nod & Sleep (2017), I had 30 pages to paint in one month and three days. My comic book creation process…Drawing4 min readDrawing4 min read
Nov 6, 2018Stories that age wellLess obvious tips on how to write a short story for comics that will age well with me. Telling a story is easy. Just the sort of thing built in us — story-telling animals. Much less obvious to me is how to avoid writing and illustrating a story that will make…Drawing6 min readDrawing6 min read
