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DRAWING PEOPLE IN INK - Deciding How Much Detail is Enough

Add caption How do you know when a sketch or painting is finished? Well, that is the age-old question that has plagued many of the even seasoned artists and the answer really lies with the artist itself. These portrait sketches are good examples of portraying age, through eyes and hairline rather than exaggerated wrinkles. Sometimes less is more.

Sketching Expressive Faces in Ink

Capturing the essence of a person without overloading on detail is one of the advantages of working with ink within a time limit. As Bob Ross used to say "there are no such things as mistakes, just happy accidents". That is what makes it art instead of a being a copy of a photograph. Here are some 20-minute portrait sketches that I use to capture the mood and moment. Don't look for perfection, look for a reaction from your audience.  Using a quick watercolor washed background this crabby old lady has a little more character than just a using a plain white background. It doesn't have to be perfect or refined to add a little zip.     This dude with a crazy-eyed expression is far from perfect and even with the corrections made along the way it is hard to tell what was an intentional mark and what was not. Don't be intimidated by ink, be confident in your strokes and embrace your mistakes. 

Art Therapy - Assembling your journaling supplies and finding time for yourself

A rt has always played a major part in my life. Whether it be grabbing a sheet of printer paper and pen, some charcoal and wood or if I am really lucky I can find time for a brush and canvas, I have always used art both as a therapy and as a gauge of my mental health. I feel it is very important to find 1 hour a day to focus on your personal well being. I don't consider it selfish or negative. Our lives get so crazy and easily become of control that I find it an essential part of my emotional health and I am very lucky to have someone in my life that recognizes that.   I find 20 minutes hour a day of uninterrupted time when I take lunch. I drive down to the river, and either grab my running shoes and zip around a quick 2.5km trail or I crank up the stereo and grab my travel sketch bag. I take this kit everywhere. It contains the essentials for my style of sketching which is not really fancy, is easy to transport and knows how to get the job done. I emphasize my style as this has

Waterpen Sketches

Hi everyone, What a long last 6 months. It has been pretty hectic around here with travels and family and I havent had alot of time to do anything as far as market pieces. So to get back in the swing of things I pulled out my pens and waterbrush and sketched a few 10min studies. The first 2 are done on watercolor paper and the dog was done in my moleskin. A few months ago I purchased a couple of sakura waterbrushes and when combined with both a watersoluable ink pen and a permenant ink pen most of the work for me. Hope you enjoy. :)