-
Recent Posts
- Playful Art Liberates! August 15, 2026
- Lower the (Paper) Bar and Bring on the Fun July 14, 2026
- Painting: Is it a Noun or a Verb? May 18, 2026
- My visit with Erik Koeppel May 2, 2026
- Art History: Is it about the Artist or about the Art? April 9, 2026
- You Won’t Know Until You Try February 8, 2026
- When you Know Better, but don’t DO Better January 28, 2026
- The Gentleman Farmer from Newark: Part 2 December 8, 2025
- The Secret is to Make Practice Effortless November 8, 2025
- An Inch Made All the Difference October 31, 2025
Categories
-
Join 425 other subscribers
Tags
- aging
- architecture
- art
- artist
- artist's memoir
- art kit
- art supplies
- art tool kit
- Beginnings
- Being Present
- Book #2
- books
- brickwork
- color mixing
- Community
- Constant Learning
- Creative Habit
- Creativity
- Double Take
- drawing
- drawing habit
- Eyesight
- fountain pen
- Freedom
- habit
- Habits
- Innate Health
- Inside-Out Understanding
- Inspiration
- Integrity
- kieep it simple
- learning from masters
- life
- life-long learning
- lifelong learning
- Look at That!
- Looking
- mark-making
- meditation
- Memoir
- mental-health
- Mentors
- observation
- painting
- pen and ink
- pencil sketch
- Perseverance
- perseverence
- photography
- plein air
- plein air kit
- practice
- reflection
- rule of thirds
- seeing
- seeing meditation
- self-publishing
- simplicity
- Sketchbook
- sketching
- sketching with others
- storytelling
- Three Principles
- time management
- tint brush
- urban sketching
- Watercolor
- watercolor-painting
- Watercolor chemistry
- watercolor paint
- watercolors
- winter sketching
- wisdom
- Writing
- Writing Habit
Category Archives: Watercolor
A modern-day sacred scroll: Your CVS receipt!
The café tables are back on the patio at my favorite downtown haunt, and I’m once again luxuriating in a cup of coffee-someone-else-made as well as a uniquely New England hermit bar. My shoulder bag is loaded with all the … Continue reading
“The chatter is what’s the matter . . .”
Don’t you agree? The chatter in our head is often the only thing holding us back from happily giving sketching a try, or anything else for that matter. That sweet little brain of ours is trying so hard to keep … Continue reading
Never plagiarize: copy instead!
According to the dictionary, plagiarism is “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.” We can all agree that plagiarism is a very bad idea; even if you don’t get caught, you’re … Continue reading
T, O, ST, G? What does it all mean?
A careful reader of my new book wrote to me this week with the following question: “I just bought Look At That! and the Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketcher Pocket Box you recommended. On the page where you talk about … Continue reading
Short and sweet is never a bad idea, for drawings or blog posts!
Good morning and Merry Christmas! If you’re finding you have a spare bit of time after the morning chaos is finished and while your Christmas dinner is cooking, here’s an idea. Think of an artist whose mark-making you really admire. … Continue reading
Posted in 3- Magic: Art Epiphanies, Pen & Ink, Watercolor
Tagged Creative Habit, learning from masters, Look at That!, mark-making
2 Comments
Braving the Cold with Patrick
Yesterday I had every intention of switching over to “online Sunday Sketching with Patrick” for the rest of the winter. I had sent him a text saying that since it was below freezing and there was a nice coating of … Continue reading
“Look at That!”…but where do I start?
Well my dear friends, I have launched my wonderful book on Amazon, and I couldn’t be more pleased. eBook: I struggled with three separate versions of the ebook, each one with its own drawbacks, and finally settled on one I … Continue reading
Posted in 1- Nuts: Graphic Styles, 2- Bolts: Sketching Tools, Look at That! book, Look-at-That! Pouches, Pen & Ink, Pencil sketching, Sketchbooks, Sketching tools, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor, Writing
Tagged Beginnings, Community, Creative Habit, drawing habit, Looking, Perseverance, seeing, seeing meditation, Sketchbook, Watercolor, Writing
8 Comments
Today’s the day! “Look at That!”
My book is finally a reality! I am so proud to announce that a book that began its life as a twinkle of a notion of an alternative sort of art class three years ago, has turned into a lighthearted, … Continue reading
Posted in 1- Nuts: Graphic Styles, Cartoons, Look at That! book, Look-at-That! Pouches, Pen & Ink, Sketchbooks, Sketching tools, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor, Writing
Tagged Creative Habit, drawing habit, Inspiration, Looking, meditation, pen and ink, seeing, Sketchbook, sketching, Watercolor
9 Comments
Sundays with Patrick
It’s time to tell you about a weekly outdoor adventure I have enjoyed since the end of May. At 1pm every Sunday, sketchbook, art kit, and camp stool in hand, I meet up with my good friend Patrick and we … Continue reading
“Look at that!” said the soon-to-be author.
I’m writing a book. Yes, I’m as surprised as you are. I see now why, for the past two months, I have written so many blog posts about staying grounded, finding equanimity with outside distractions, and not letting your lists … Continue reading