If you’re in Montreal on Jan 22, maybe you’ll join us at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum to sketch their exhibition From the Lands of Asia.
Check out the USK:MTL blog for details: HERE.
Announcing: Early Registration for USK Chicago, Feb 11
The registration site is now live: https://uskchicago2017.eventbrite.com/
Basic Info:
- Early Bird Registration
Opens February 11 at 8 am CST (14:00 GMT)
Workshops pass US $415
Basic pass US $12
Like many professional artists, I’m about 20 pounds heavier than I ought to be.
I think that’s normal for anyone with a desk job. And being an artist and blogger is definitely a desk job. I probably do seven hours at the computer for every one drawing.
Oh, I have more excuses too: we were doing a lot of travel last year – that’s always detrimental to proper diet. And I did all the artwork for my recent digital-art book this summer. That was a lot of butt-in-chair-time. To make matters worse, it’s the holiday season with all the celebratory eating that entails.
To that end, I’ve recently completed a 1 week (7 day) experiment in tracking sketchwalks.
One Minute Watercolor: Equestrian Statue
Every so often, as I find the time, I’ve been working on my video editing skills. Here’s a one minute short done as a test for an all-iOS workflow. This is shot on iPhone5 and edited in iMovie on the iPad pro. I’m looking forward to bringing video to what I’m doing here on the blog.
That’s all for now – enjoy, and have a great new years! – m
Winter Watercolor : Five Tips for Sub Zero Painting
Over on USK.org they’re doing an article on winter sketching, and they’ve tapped a few northern correspondents for our top tips on winter sketching. Click on over for the full article.
Inspired by the request from our editor Suhita, I check the weather – and it’s zero centigrade today (Dec 13). which is pretty nice considering the forecast has us in for -16’C this weekend. Therefore – today it is! I grab my go-bag and head out for a quick sketch in the snow.
Good Question of the Week: Is Waterproof Ink Safe for Pens?
A student recently inquired: “Hi Marc. I went to a store in Los Angeles today to buy a recommended fountain pen with waterproof refill. The owner did everything possible to dissuade me. She said that the waterproof ink ruins a fountain pen very quickly because the ink dries in such a way that it clogs the pen. Only a dip pen, she said, should use waterproof ink. I didn’t buy it. What gives?”
What does Marc say?: “They don’t know about Platinum Carbon Black I guess :)”
Platinum Carbon Black is the ink I use for waterproof drawing. It’s fully pen safe > in my experience < I’ve used it in their name-brand Platinum Carbon Pen, a number of Noodler’s pens, and a number of Lamy pens. (Link to my drawing gear page). There are other nano-particle inks, but it’s the only one I’ve tried personally.
And then, maybe just don’t stop drawing? Don’t leave your pen in a drawer for weeks. Pen collectors might only take out their Aurora Diamante to sign checks for charity donations and real estate deals. Just draw every few days and the ink keeps flowing :)
The thing is, ask an antique car guy about taking care of a car and they’ll say; don’t drive it in the bright sun, don’t let kids in the car, for goodness sake don’t live in a place with winter!
In other words, pen collectors treasure the pens as objects. Artists want to use them into the ground, and treasure the drawings they make.
If Platinum Carbon does shorten the lifetime of then pen – I really don’t care, and I’ll never even know – I buy Lamys for around $40, and hope to lose them in an alley in Macau or a taxi cab in Havana!
Have you tried Sktchy?
Billed as the social media app for artists and muses, Sktchy, (available free from the app store) offers an unlimited supply of portrait subjects right in your pocket.
The concept is simple: People upload photos of themselves, you sketch and post, and everyone enjoys the feedback. It’s kind of a self perpetuating feel-good loop – and there’s nothing wrong with that :) Anything that motivates you to paint right?
You get a steady supply of people to draw, they get a kick out of being drawn, and eventually you have a little collection of your favorite selfie photographers and the sketchers who sketch them.
The app seems a little light on the social networking. People can (and do) leave comments on your drawings, and you’ll get feedback right away in the form of Likes (they call Wows). But that’s it really. No replies, or chat history. Also, artists can’t message models, which is probably a good idea.
There’s a noticeable self-selection-bias towards women and girls offering themselves up as muses. You’ll have to scroll for a while to find a dude. You’ll probably find a cat first. But isn’t that the same in any art gallery?
Persist for a while though, and you’ll find any type of model you can imagine.
So – if you feel like sketching someone, and don’t want to be running out to life drawing or the local cafe – download Sktchy to your iOS device.
Oot and Aboot with the Expeditionary Art Pocket Palette
The other day was Fourth Sunday, our regular get-together with USK:MTL. I went out for a second round with Maria Coryell-Martin’s Pocket Palette. (Which she graciously sent to me to try out). (Here’s the full review if you missed it).
USK sketch-outs are a social affair. You can spend more time chatting than drawing. We had a lot of new visitors because of our article in la Press. In fact, I met the person who owns the house I sketched for the piece. That was kind of fun :)
The social aspect makes for better drawings sometimes. I was more slow-and-steady than my previous night-shoot. You get a more delicate sketch by taking your time. I wasn’t keeping track but let’s say these were around 20-30 min each. They’re small, so that’s a fair while for a tiny drawing.
These are similar to the 5×7″ish miniature watercolors I did last month. But, unlike last time, they’re drawn directly with the brush (instead of over a pencil sketch). A lot of tiny point work with the #7 round sable.
This is my fall colors limited palette: Neutral Tint, Raw Umber Violet, Quinn Gold Deep, Buff Titanium and Grey of Grey. I’ve used the tiniest touch of MG Turquoise in the windows.
And – just a reminder about using Maria’s discount code EXPLORE2016 sometime before the end of December if you want to pick up an Expeditionary Art Palette of your own.
Expeditionary Art: Late Night Adventures in Montreal
Winter is coming in Montreal. That (normally) means the end of painting outdoors for awhile. But – it so happens Maria Coryell-Martin at ExpeditionaryArt.com has sent me one of her Pocket Palettes to review.
Maria is known for using her ultra-light gear on expeditions to the south pole, where the size and weight of gear in your pack are a matter of life and death. (Just ask the Franklin Expedition).
So I figured, if the pocket palette works for her, it should work on an arctic expedition of my own. I’m heading to downtown Montreal on a November night. Forecast says -3 Celsius! I want to try this thing out in the worst conditions possible. Dark, cold and tired – sketching doesn’t get more fun than that :)
About the Palette: Read more…
Being Judge and Jury: Selecting Artwork for the South Carolina Watermedia Society’s 39th Annual Exhibition
I was just recently down in South Carolina visiting the SCWS to teach a workshop, but also, to jury their 2016 members show.
This was the first time I’ve done this – being the sole juror responsible for selecting awards winners. I was flattered to be asked – but talk about pressure!
Judging another artist’s work is a delicate topic. I wouldn’t want to be casual about any decisions. That’s not respectful of the artists’ time and commitment. Read more…
Citizen Sketcher 