My fav…raw umber
Next to lead white, raw umber is my most-used color. Because it’s fast drying, it’s ideal for every use case, whether I’m making a quick sketch or preparing the underpainting on a large painting. Additionally, its high transparency means it can produce the widest range of tones. Raw umber has always been on my palette,
Design process
I’ve been drawing a lot lately. I made this small study while preparing a large (for me) new painting for my Amusement Park series. I’d planned to make an oil sketch but decided to heighten the lead drawing with white chalk and call it finished. So, it’s a lead drawing on a toned canvas, 20″
Activity spurts
During a recent activity spurt, I put the drawings on 7 new paintings and 4 large drawings. This photo shows two of the paintings. The drawing on the smaller canvas, “Painted Pony,” is done and ready for me to start painting. The larger canvas is 54″ x 42″ and the drawing will take longer. I
Drawing is always the solution
The question is, “How do I fix my stuck painting?” The answer is always drawing. When one of my paintings stalls, drawing is the cure. My most successful paintings started with studies where I clarified the ideas that inspired the painting. I get in trouble when I cut corners to save time. This study is
Drawing study
I finished this large study for a painting I plan. Studies like this help me clarify my thoughts. When making a study, I almost always filter out elements–hardly ever add new ones. That’s what happened this time too. You probably can’t tell from this photo but I’ve removed several background figures as I worked on
New drawing
Normally I don’t write about new drawings; we make drawings all the time. This drawing is unusually large for a pencil drawing, 30″ x 40″. It’s also notable for being on hot-pressed watercolor paper. I wrote recently about how happy I am with my roll of Arches watercolor paper. Girl with a Bunny Purse is
Good paper for large drawings
Arches make good paper. My roll of hot-pressed watercolor paper is very good for large-format drawing too. My roll of 356gsm is 51 inches wide by 10 yards long. My 30″ x 40″ drawing like the one in the photo barely puts a dent in my paper roll. For smaller drawings, I stick to the
New drawing
Normally, a new drawing isn’t important enough for me to write about, but the drawing I completed today is noteworthy for its large size–30″ x 36.” “Three Sisters” is from a large roll of Canson paper. This paper is new to me and I tried different mediums some of which, charcoal for example, are ill-suited