-
Recent Posts
- 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
- The Gentleman Farmer from Newark: Part 1 August 17, 2025
- Sumac, Horses, and Crickets July 13, 2025
Categories
-
Join 426 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: 2- Bolts: Sketching Tools
Part 1 of 8: The Secret of Water(color)
Right now, my favorite chapter in my new book, Look at That! – Second Edition, is Chapter 6, called “Introducing…WATER!” The key to effortless watercolor painting, surprisingly, has nothing to do with paper, or paint or brushes. Nope. The Secret … Continue reading
“Look at That! Second Edition” is almost ready!
What a roller-coaster ride it has been! This delightful book is the high point of my entire long life, and I am so proud of it. Here’s what you can expect: Stats: This Second Edition is twice the length of … Continue reading
Posted in 1- Nuts: Graphic Styles, 2- Bolts: Sketching Tools, Beauty, Cartoons, Design Basics, Look at That- Second Edition, My Story, Nuts & Bolts & Magic, Pen & Ink, Pencil sketching, Second Edition of Look at That!, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, sketching, Sketching tools, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor
Tagged art, Community, Creative Habit, Inspiration, Looking, painting, Perseverance, Sketchbook, sketching, Watercolor, Writing Habit
2 Comments
Only 16 “Look at That! ™ Art Pouches” left!
I have been busy at work since you last heard from me in January. Here are the highlights: Yesterday I uploaded images of the last of my handwoven, handsewn, designed-by-me Art Pouches. The sixteen pouches that are available now are … Continue reading
Learning to Trust Your Creative Instincts
Sometimes when I am in the middle of painting a watercolor, a voice inside nudges me to take a photo midway through. Perhaps I have hit a place of hesitation, and I want a record of what it looked like … Continue reading
Posted in photography, Seeing and looking, Sketching tools, Watercolor
Tagged Beginnings, Creative Habit, Creativity, Inspiration, Mentors, Perseverance, Watercolor
1 Comment
The Perfect Cure for Your Next Creative Stall-out
Do you ever feel like sketching, but you don’t feel like sketching? By that I mean, do you ever feel like playing with your pens and paper and watercolor toys, but you have no interest at all in finding a … Continue reading
My Ultimate Toolkit for Plein Air Watercolor Enjoyment
As promised last week, here is the story of the latest “Ultimate Plein Air Watercolor Set-up.” This time, yes, I think I’ve nailed it. Warning: If you are not a watercolor painter, or even if you are and you never … Continue reading
Playing with Watercolor Toys on a Snowy Day
Do you ever feel like playing with your watercolors, exploring all the juicy gorgeous possibilities without having to sketch a scene first? Congratulations, you’ve come to the right place. I have two active sketchbooks with distinctly separate purposes. One I … Continue reading
Posted in Sketchbooks, Watercolor
Tagged color mixing, color theory, Creative Habit, Mentors, Perseverance, Watercolor
4 Comments
Downshifting to autumn tempo
The only thing that beats my love of words and watercolor is having people to share both with. I’m sitting in my favorite cafe, Bean & Bakery in Concord NH, indulging in the most amazing pumpkin raisin muffin I’ve ever … Continue reading
A Slammed Door and an Unexpected New Confidante
On September 10th, 55 years ago, at 6:30am, the phone rang. It was Dr. Boschenstein calling to tell Mom that my sixty-one-year-old father had a stroke at 5am. My father was dead. It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning, the … Continue reading
I did a terrible job explaining viewfinders…
… but this guy does a great job. Our approaches are somewhat different, but the point is the same. He shows how to make a clear plastic viewfinder, as well as the “hole in the index card” style that I … Continue reading