Category Archives: Seeing and looking

Perspective difficulties? Try planting fence posts!

If you’re struggling with getting the perspective right when you’re drawing buildings, take it from me, you’re not alone. I’ve been drawing buildings in urban scenes and country scenes for decades, and my success in achieving credible perspective has been … Continue reading

Posted in Beauty, Look at That! book, Pencil sketching, Seeing and looking, sketching, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity) | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Posted in Beauty, Book #2: Double Take, Musings on Life, My Story, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

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

Posted in Book #2: Double Take, Look at That! book, Pen & Ink, Pencil sketching, Seeing and looking, Sketching tools, Tip Jar, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The latest finished sketchbook

I just finished a sketchbook that I began back on June 15th, 2019. An educational ending to a long process! The paper in this sketchbook is one of my favorites, the same as what was in the big square sketchbook … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Musings on Life, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Tip Jar, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

In praise of weird-shaped containers

Sometimes all you need is a weird-shaped target area to overcome perceived obstacles. Notice I said, “perceived.” Most of time, what’s keeping us from writing, from sketching, from taking up guitar, or even harmonica is the crazy notion that we … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Watercolor | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Another sketchbook completed, and what I learned

I just finished another sketchbook, six months of Sundays, literally. And because I can’t simply leave it at that, I had to go one step further and try to figure out: 1- how to shoot a one-handed video in a … Continue reading

Posted in Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Sketchbooks, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity), Watercolor, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Introducing the new, larger Look at That! Art Pouches!

I just finished producing my latest batch of fourteen “Look at That” Art Pouches that are, wait for it, big enough to hold your cell phone! Yes, I caved! Back story: I invented these pouches a few years ago, to … Continue reading

Posted in 2- Bolts: Sketching Tools, Look-at-That! Pouches, photography, Seeing and looking, Sketching tools | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What a year it has been.

A year ago yesterday I published the Kindle version of my book, Look at That! Discover the Joy of Seeing by Sketching. Two days later, a year ago tomorrow, the paperback version became available. In the last 12 months, 3,353 … Continue reading

Posted in Look at That! book, Seeing and looking, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Art Therapy: A Misunderstanding

Let’s begin to address all that is wrong in our human world. Play with this idea for a few minutes — a step-by-step guide. Think about the 5 senses of Sight, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch. Pick one to be your … Continue reading

Posted in 3- Magic: Art Epiphanies, Musings on Life, Pen & Ink, Seeing and looking, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Learning how to slog, again

If this post sounds familiar, that’s good! It was originally published on July 15th, 2021 and soon after, I got cold feet. I mean, really cold feet. Cold enough for me to sign up for an eight-week online art course … Continue reading

Posted in Book #2, Look at That! book, Musings on Life, My Story, Seeing and looking, Tip Jar, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments