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Try It

A collection of 11 posts

Sketching from photo inspo

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Sketching from photo inspo

Last month we looked at reference photos: abstracting them, taking them, and finding them. Today I wanted to show you how the photos I used as examples have made their way into my representational sketchbook practice. These sketches are one of my favorite ways to consider the world and slow

Reference photo resources

Reference photo resources

This month we're talking reference photos: how to use them and how to take them. Besides taking out own, there are tons of reference images available online either free for use or available in large sets for a small fee. It's important to not rely on

Something new - oil pastels, pt 2: Techniques

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Something new - oil pastels, pt 2: Techniques

Welcome to part 2 of our series on getting to know a medium that is new to you. If you missed it, part 1 is here, where I introduced my process of trying oil pastels as a total newbie, and how I go about selecting, researching and becoming acquainted with

Collaborative decisions: commissions

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Collaborative decisions: commissions

This time last year I was writing to you about painting the burnt out forests of the mountain ranges near me, and I'm back at it painting the mountains again this winter. After camping with a friend in the southern Cascades earlier this year, she asked if she

note-to-self zine

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note-to-self zine

In our live class last weekend we made two types of zines, and I want to show you one of them. I didn't have a name for it last week, but now that I've sat with mine on my desk for a week I've

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Color notes

I learned to mix colors by trying to match little swatches to things around me: leaves, rocks, shirts, book covers. It's a calm and meditative practice built on noticing, which is a core ability for both mixing color and living a life. So, here's something to

Ways to use a journal

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Ways to use a journal

I wrote to you earlier this month about how using a notebook helps me as an artist. In this post I'm going share a few ways I've learned to use it as a tool for processing and cultivating creative ideas. Bullet Journal Method Ever since I

Try It: Water Control

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Try It: Water Control

So much of water control is a hand feel, a sense that develops with lots of experience, where we know how much we can ask of our paint and when to sit back and trust it to do its thing. Here are four swatching exercises I'd recommend to

Surprising myself: Painting the forest after the fire

Surprising myself: Painting the forest after the fire

Mixing your media

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Mixing your media

Swatching 2.0: Layers

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Swatching 2.0: Layers

Here's something to try. It's like swatching in layers, but flows differently across the page.