Pen and ink technique series #1: When and how to use hatching

Pen and ink technique series #1: When and how to use hatching

by | Apr 1, 2025 | Pen and Ink

I’ll be working through a series on pen and ink techniques in 2025 – starting today with the simplicity of hatching, and a couple ways to use it. Be sure to let me know which technique you’d like to see employed next (see my older technique video later in this post)

Today’s project is the cover of my Phenology book…with my new little pen holder – just look at crabbie’s strong claws! ha…

 

Tutorial: When and how to use hatching

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

SUPPLIES

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

Dip Pen

  1. J Herbin Belle Epoque pen set
  2. Cheaper dip Pen
  3. Nikko G nibs 

Fountain pen

  1. TWSBI Eco fountain pen 

Tool

  1. Staedtler Mars Compass with universal adaptor BLICK  AMZ 

The big idea

I sketched out the idea loosely – a dark eyed junco sitting in a lilac bush, and in the background is a series of lilac branches showing how it blooms out. It was very complex so I knew I’d need to handle the pen and ink work carefully so it wouldn’t become a confusing cacophony.

Varying value

Two things helped me achieve value changes. One was line weights; using the thin Nikko nib for background/lighter images, contrasting it with the heavier line from the medium fountain pen nib. The second was the hatching techniques themselves, creating darker areas using more lines to fill in the darker portions in the bird and toward the front of the drawing.

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The phenology book

Since I’ll be demonstrating at a show this coming weekend, I wanted to be able to take the March wheel with me since it was created with the markers I’ll be demonstrating. But just carrying a wheel by itself wouldn’t really help explain just WHAT a phenology wheel is – and I’d love to get more people doing them – so I thought completing the book so people could see more examples would help.

The pen and ink drawing techniques video…

This video has been getting more views over the last year than any of my videos at all – I expect it’ll be my most-watched very soon. That’s what’s inspiring this series! If there are techniques seen here that you’d like to see me address in a drawing, let me know which you vote for!

Crabbie is so proud

He looks so heroic, doesn’t he? Or maybe he’s ready to kill the bird, for those who have a darker view of the world….

Finishing touches: Shiny balloons in colored pencil

Finishing touches: Shiny balloons in colored pencil

by | Mar 29, 2025 | Colored Pencils

Are you a “fusser” like me? You see something in a sketchbook from weeks, months, or even years ago, and you can’t resist just adding a little somethin’ somethin’? 

 

I don’t always do that, because there’s so much art to get to, I can’t just revisit everything. But this drawing of balloons was done to use for my birthday sale – and it needed, well, help. (Scroll down to see what it looked like before the fix!) (And head over to https://art-classes.com to get a discount using coupon code BDAY10  at checkout!)

 

 

You might not think that needs help, but let’s see what a slight bit of contrast can do to amp it up!

Tutorial: Finishing touches: Shiny balloons in colored pencil

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

SUPPLIES

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

Pencils

  1. Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils BLICK   AMZ   JACKSONS 

Paper

  1. Legion Stonehenge 7×7 pad BLICK   AMZ   JACKSONS 

Before and after

Does a few minutes of fussing make a difference? I kinda think so!

Planning for Hex Art Class

Some classes take far more time than others – and this one in particular took a LOT! I went through my sketchbooks from over the years while I was recovering, made lots of notes about techniques to explore. Then went through a reference site – Pexels – and picked out 42 images that would show all those techniques. Then had to arrange them in color order (ish)….then got the images categorized into groups that made sense as well as an order that would build on each other. Add to that the fussing around with color matching between Polychromos and Prismacolor – and I’m pooped even without finishing video edits yet!

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The classes

Both are on sale so don’t need the coupon code – but if you’d like a class thats NOT on sale – or if you’d like a printable, use code BDAY10 for 10% off through March 31! (Good on adult classes not on sale.)

Lessons for the colored pencil classwill become available April 1, God-willing-and-the-creek-don’t rise!

Tap on an image to get to the course page to shop:

How do YOU finish off an image?

What’s your favorite trick? Let’s collect a list and maybe I’ll put together a video with more ideas!

Gain confidence in your watercolor sketching

Gain confidence in your watercolor sketching

by | Mar 25, 2025 | Watercolor

Have you ever pondered whether you’ll ever improve at watercolor?

You’re not alone! Watercolor’s one of the toughest mediums to gain confidence in using; not only are you dealing with the drawing skills needed to render the subject accurately and in perspective and proper scale, and choosing the right hues that’ll work together….but you’ve got MOVING pigments.

Once paint’s been added to the paper it’ll just keep moving til it’s dry – and sometimes it’ll dry too fast when you wanted it to stay wet. Frustrating right? 

It’s sometimes enough to make an artist give up. But I hope this post will give you ideas for a path forward that’ll build your confidence – it won’t make you a pro automatically but I promise that I’ve seen enough impact in students from this that you WILL see growth.

This post is not just about promoting the sale of a class from me…..to be honest when I created my 30 Days classes, I didn’t really think they’d ever become some of my most popular courses. 

But the real heart behind this is to help YOU gain confidence in yourself as a watercolorist, making quick sketches each day with tiny skills that will build over time.

The plan to help you

A few times a year, the artists on my Mighty Networks group called Artventure do things together. As a collective. We tackle a class together – and the 30 Days to More Confident Watercolor Sketching course is the next one we’ll tackle. 

Each day in April we’ll be painting one of the 30 lessons and sharing it – you’ll get to see how each person approached it, what they learned, what they tried. Some will be repeating the class, others will be completing lessons for the first time!

Watch the video below about MY plan – remembering I’ve perhaps been painting longer than you have, so I’ll be pushing myself to make larger paintings!

 

Tutorial: Gain confidence in your watercolor sketching

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

SUPPLIES

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

Paper

  1. Arches Bright White Rough 22×30 sheet BLICK  JACKSONS

Brushes

  1. Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin Brush (Mottler) – Flat Wash, Short Handle, Size 30 BLICK  AMZ   JACKSONS
  2. DaVinci Silverpoint Quill Brush 
  3. Da Vinci Maestro Kolinsky Sable Round 4 BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS

Daniel Smith Watercolors

  1. Paynes Blue Gray BLICK   AMZ   JACKSONS
  2. Transparent Red Oxide BLICK   AMZ   JACKSONS
  3. Sap Green BLICK  AMZ   JACKSONS
  4. Hansa Yellow Light BLICK  AMZ   JACKSONS

The course

In the class, we’ll be painting on postcards. Small paintings, quick ones – no reference photos, no deep studies, just making a quick painting to practice a particular skill. Some will be skills you’ll combine in future lessons, so I carefully built one on top of another. This painting is the 3 pots in the lesson, which is clearly different than the one in the video on this page….and in the lesson we’ll talk about sketching pots, and how to get the different effects on the pots and plants.

“2025 redux”

I’ll be adding my paintings to the lessons in class each day, and they won’t be video – but as I learn, I’ll be writing up a couple notes, sharing any references I may have found that bear some resemblance to the lesson, etc. this is just the pots and background of the first one, and the second video will be part 2. Both will be added April 1.

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About Artventure

Our community of thousands called Artventure is an alternative I run to help artists connect with each other. With the advent of terrible algorithm changes that show us more dancing videos than art posts, we needed a place to be together, talk, learn, and grow. And to see the art we care about!

You can access the community via the web, or on the Mighty Networks app on your phone or tablet. Your choice!

As far as Mighty Networks goes – think of it functioning in many ways as the “old” Facebook once did, with posts in chronological order based on comments; the newest comment bumps a post back up to the top. That’s the extent of any algorithm – it’s just users interacting that gets our feed organized! There’s searching you can do, too, to pull up keywords (hashtags not necessary). And there’s no ads. No reels. Just our posts.

During April some people will post daily. Some will start a post on Sunday and just add to it each day by editing it so they keep their entries together. Whatever way is easiest, we’re good with what you want to do!

 

If you’re NOT a painter – you can still share your work anytime! Our feed is a lovely mixed jumble of creative fun in all mediums. You’ll be able to see others sharing homework from classes, too, and they can tell you if a particular one you had your eye on is worth taking!

The community is free for you; I pay for it to provide this great place for us to gather and learn together. I host monthly office hours on Zoom called “Open Studio” in which I’ll provide art feedback, answer questions, demonstrate techniques. There are some tiny courses there as well, which help to pay for the platform – and I also have posted those “snack” courses at Art-Classes and the money from those goes to support the fees I pay for Artventure. Your help is much appreciated!

Our Open Studio is coming up in a few days – you can find out the time by going to the Events tab in Artventure. (It’s Friday evening Pacific time if that helps you get a quick idea, but the event page will tell you what time it’ll be in your own time zone.) It’s the day after my birthday….and by then I should be fully 100% in getting back into the studio, so let’s make it a party!

Will you join us?

I hope you’ll come and paint your way through April – let’s cheer each other on as we grow!

The Healing Power of Art (Sketchbook, part 2)

The Healing Power of Art (Sketchbook, part 2)

by | Mar 22, 2025 | Gouache, Watercolor

In part 1, I talked about the healing through a prompt book – and pencil sketches in graphite.  (Read that post here.) There’s a good discussion of thoughts along the process, and I hope you’ll give that a look as well as this post.

But here I want to talk through the sketches created during my healing process, but in watercolor and gouache. The graphite book was much better for days when I was braindead and just wanted to be given a prompt and draw it; but other days I was doing a deep dive study in art history, and it was a different experience for different kinds of days.

If you don’t paint, you might try this in pencil, markers, anything at all that you like to use; the process is truly the same, it’s a matter of giving yourself time to really learn about an artist through history, and seeing what elements of their work you might be able to incorporate in your own work. 

Watch the rather long video below – and then read on for more tips on what I learned.

Tutorial: The Healing Power of Art (Sketchbook, part 2)

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

SUPPLIES

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

Sketchbook

  1. Sennelier handmade watercolor sketchbook 

Medium

  1. Daniel Smith watercolors and gouache paints

Enjoy some video study time

Pick an artist you might like to learn more about – someone famous helps, as there’s plenty of resources on more famous artists. Any genre is fine! 

On YouTube, search for the artist’s full name; hopefully there’ll be a documentary covering their life, and for some artists I’ve found several! Take your time watching through them, or as I did I listened through once, getting their life story in order, then watched it so I could focus more on the art. Maybe it was because my brain was fuzzy, but I found some of the videos I watched 

If you don’t know who to start with, a great place to start is the Perspectives channel, anything by Waldemar Januszczak – his playlist is here. He’s a great presenter, entertaining and very smart. Then after watching a few, your home page will start populating other channels and videos in time, and the more you get into this, the deeper you’ll get into more great content.

Take notes. You might not want to paint right away but if you see a particular painting you might want to look up, writing it down will help. And if they mention another artist who they’re influenced by or studied under, that might be someone to look for next. Sometimes I just open another tab and type that thing into the search bar so it sits there waiting when I finish the video. 

Note: There are some that are clearly made with AI (stilted scripts and narration) but I find their info is mostly accurate but some details can be wrong. 

Choose an artist & artwork

The artist can be anyone, any genre, any medium – whether your medium or not! I found that I learned plenty from those whose work I wasn’t at all interested in previously, or art that I liked at all!

What do you like in their work? Composition? Color? Brushstrokes? What could you emulate in your medium, your subject matter, your style? Even if it’s just something to try once, it’s worth a little effort.

Search for photos of their work – but use the word “original”, and their full name. That’ll help Google to not bring up every COPY of that artwork; my recommendation is to select images from galleries, museums, or auction houses, as they’re incentivized to have pictures posted that are closest to what the artworks. Beware of anything selling “prints” as lots of those sites bump up the color to make it bright to draw attention to their version. Also beware if it’s on an individual artist’s website, it may well be their COPY of it. And if it’s on Amazon or Temu? Skip those entirely.

Create a thumbnail copy in your sketchbook. Don’t go for perfection, just for something that will remind you of the elements you studied. Make written notes as well, so you recall what you were aiming for. 

You can do a bunch from one artist as I did, or do a study on a bunch of artists’ paintings of one subject to compare. Whatever floats YOUR boat!

 

Try a simple piece

If you have a day when you think you’re feeling better, and can get into your studio, try putting color on paper. Don’t set giant expectations for yourself; just set a goal of Color On Paper.

Pick something from your sketchbook that has an element that makes you happy. I had looked through my thumbnails and came across Van Gogh’s sunflowers, and decided on one that would keep me thinking about our friends in Ukraine. (It’s their national flower). 

I chose a medium I haven’t used in eons that would truly be messy. I was having depth of field issues and knew tiny detailed work was no good that day but a big chunky pastel seemed like it could work. I put color on paper, and found it vaguely looked like a very messy sunflower. And that was enough for me. 

But I remembered the outlines idea. I considered using an orange as Van Gogh did in one painting, but a charcoal pencil was the thing that was handy, so I used it instead. I let my lines become loose and wonky, no stress. And heck, I was tickled with the result of my little drawing! I also got to find out this handmade paper is stinky for pastels, so there’s that little learning too. LOL.

 

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Pay attention to your core

Each time you create something, anything – a tiny sketch, a doodle on a sticky note, whatever it is – pay attention to how you’re feeling. Not just health issues, but does creating something make you feel different inside? Don’t judge your feelings on the basis of the quality of what you’ve made. It’s about how the act of creating may have changed you, your perspective, the amount of hope you feel.

When you do make something that tickles your fancy, celebrate it. You don’t have to share it – but tell yourself good things! Remind your mind and heart that you’re making progress. That you are more than capable of taking good steps. You’re not entirely a mess just because your human shell isn’t cooperating.

If you’re a journaler, write down what you’re thinking, how you’re feeling. Later your notes can help you see how far you’ve come.

Let the journey change you

Rather than ending up at the other end of a time in the wilderness with the feeling that “whew, now that’s over!” what would it be like to think, “Wow, I really grew from that!”

It may be just a small perspective change, but it might make you grateful for the season, which may also help you become a better cheerleader for others going through a rough time. Share your experience of healing so that you can provide hope when you tell people of your own experience.

The Healing Power of Art (Sketchbook, part 1)

The Healing Power of Art (Sketchbook, part 1)

by | Mar 18, 2025 | Fine Art & Sketching

Many of my readers know life’s not been ‘normal’ of late; I’ve had some medical procedures that were called for years ago and finally was able to get all that done over the last 6 weeks or so. Nothing life-threatening, just so no one gets too concerned – but the process of healing meant I wasn’t able to spend time in my studio. I won’t get into the medical details of the surgeries etc, but – I do want to say THANK YOU to all those praying for me during this time!

I fortunately had plenty of time to prepare for this season; beforehand I not only filmed what felt like a gajillion videos so my channel and blog would appear as ‘normal’ to the algorithms, wrote all my weekend newsletters, prepared social media posts. But I even cleaned the studio! I knew I’d keep walking past it and groan at the mess, or would begin to dread eventually getting back in there due to the mess. (I also do a spring cleaning on my house anytime I go on a trip, so yeah, I’m THAT kind of person!)

The one thing I missed getting done was cleaning the window above the desk – ha! In my defense it was January, and very cold. I tried cleaning the inside but yikes did I find out how ineffective and incomplete that was…but if that’s my only problem, then hey, life’s good, right? 

As I’m moving closer to getting-back-to-normal season, I decided to do something about the desk – inspired by artwork, of all things…..you might remember the earlier piece I refer to in the video, which I remembered when working on a pencil sketch. Check out the video to see the connection!

Tutorial: The Healing Power of Art (Sketchbook, part 1)

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

SUPPLIES

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

Book

  1. 301 Things to Draw Book https://amzn.to/3FzlPnB

Pencils and erasers

  1. Caran d’Ache Grafwood pencils 9B BLICK   AMZ  JACKSONS 
  2. Mont Marte Electric Eraser
  3. Faber Castell Kneaded Eraser BLICK   AMZ   JACKSONS

Revamped!

Over the last week or so I visited some local shops to see if I could “rehome” some green stems – because I’m not good at keeping plants alive. (Inside or outside!) Just remembering to water them is so hard for my poor brain; I have a sprinkler system to at least save the grass, but there’s no such thing for my indoor plants. So I went with fake greens.

I used a yellow bucket and blue ceramic pot for my new “plants” on the desk – filling in the empty space on that back corner that is too far over to be helpful for storage. (I had debated a stack of drawers over there that could have worked, but everything felt very dark because of all that blocked light!) The plants let plenty of light in and make me feel surrounded by at least a reminder of Mother Nature.

I even included a small pot on the windowsill with some floral stems in it, which makes the 360 view feel more full. And my sister’s flowers on the desk as well!

These changes make me even more excited to start getting back in the studio. And excited for some good weather to go clean that window.

 

The Healing Power of Art

That all brings me to how I’ve gotten through this season of life. I know many of my subscribers have ongoing chronic health issues – and after just this season of waiting and healing, I have fresh empathy for that situation.

I’ve had surgeries before, and found art got me through those as well. The kind of medical issue often has dictated what kind of art I could create in those seasons. Crutches or casts cause different problems than back issues or vision problems! And sometimes fully bedridden means even sitting up to try to create can be near impossible.

My situation in this season meant sketchbooks were my constant partner. Different types, as both my health each day and my state of interest would dictate if it would be pencil, watercolor, gouache, or marker. So I am very grateful for the ability to have all those mediums and sketchbooks at hand!

Simply the act of putting marks on paper made me feel like less of a bump on a log; there were days, even almost a week at one stage, when just sitting there and doing nothing was all I could do. Reading wasn’t possible, either, and catching up on podcasts was all I could do – so I do feel I got smarter during this time! But none of those learning-days made me feel as good as a day when I could look at a sketch or a little painting that would open up the hope in my heart that this season, too, would end.

My daily phenology wheels have been so helpful – getting me to go outside even for little walks on bad days, longer walks on good days, and then trying to create a little something when I returned home. My progress is underway- my blobby gouache skies of February (specifically planned, knowing it would be a challenge) have moved into sometimes-mushy drawings of birds for March! I’ve been identifying them primarily from sound and the Merlin app. Will I find a full 31 birds? Who knows! So far someone new has showed up every day…

Healing is not the same for everyone

Each person’s journey and health status is their own; only you know what’s right for you. I’ve done different things for different illnesses/types of surgeries, and none have followed the same patterns. Day to day everything can look different depending on energy level and even mental health status.

But I would like to suggest finding something you can create as you heal. It could be a 3″ square sketchbook where you doodle with a pencil. That might be all that’s doable. But it could be a step toward healing as you work through it; practicing something, a flower a day, could give your heart the hope you need that a season of illness can come to an end and transform into something beautiful. 

It might be crocheting or knitting that keeps you moving. You might need to find an arrangement of your surroundings that can accommodate your needs. A lap desk, tray table, side table – or just treat yourself to a fancy pencil cup that’ll get your attention and inspire you to try something. 

During some of the most dire days I had in these past 2 months, all I could do was take in the creativity of others, often just listening to podcasts about creativity, or listening to someone narrate the art they were creating. I couldn’t see well enough to sketch, I couldn’t type on a tech device. But those days I would make voice notes for myself for later…ideas I want to try, something I heard or saw that day which I want to capture later and not forget. Those days were so hard since I couldn’t create, but trying to process my creative thoughts helped.

Whether you’re in a temporary or extended season of health challenges, I encourage you to find something that’ll keep your creative mind engaged; instead of being a “waiting” season to getting back to your usual style or medium for creative expression, see if it helps to view it as an alternate season to create something entirely different. 

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Drawing book

I picked up this 301 Things to Draw book back in December, knowing this season of life was headed my way. Not only would it be something “new” that might keep me entertained, but I liked the feel of the paper inside when I was at Barnes and Noble. And was right!

(Tip: when you find sketchbooks you like, get a good idea of what the paper tooth feels like, so you’ll be able to decide if a book is sketchable!) 

 

I used a 9B pencil for my drawings and it worked out great – a kneaded eraser and electric eraser were by my side too. During this time when sitting at my desk wasn’t do-able, I hung out on the sofa with the pups, and had my 2-drawer easel with some art supplies tucked inside. It meant everything needed was right there with me, whether I used the whole thing on my lap or just had the drawers close at hand.

The Post-Apocalyptic Vehicle

When I got to prompt 34, I wasn’t at all sure what to make of it. Other prompts were very ‘normal’ and could be easily sketched, though I worked to MAKE my lazy brain try a little harder to imagine a new view of the topic.

But this one….it had me stymied. If the apocalypse already happened, what would a new vehicle run on? What would it be made of? Who’d be driving it? What purpose would it serve?

I decided on a regular vehicle – made probably of metal, with big tread-y kinds of things – not wheels per se – for navigating over the dangerous surface of the ground. The vehicle resembles perhaps a tractor, which got me to think farming….and the dinosaur driving it, who has come back from extinction, is repopulating the earth by spreading seeds and watering them!

He’s even got tunes playing for his own entertainment and that of nearby dinos…got any suggestions for a save-the-planet spotify list we could cue up for him?

 

A few more pages….

If you’d like to see more, most of these are on my Daily Sketches page – you can subscribe for free to just get one a day in your inbox.