the fish mug

The fish is a heavy clay addition to the thick mug. A lot of mass to keep tea hot longer, and great to draw.

Pencil on lined Paper Blanks paper.

double reflections

There's a lamp and its reflection in there, and a doubled reflection of the window behind me. Turned out to be a fascinating exercise in subtlety.

Hard charcoal pencil (from Barnes & Noble, the gray ones) on Strathmore drawing paper.

a mug with personality

Whenever I want to draw but have only 5 minutes and nothing new in sight, this is one of the objects I pick.

He's one of two clay mugs that I love for his attitude.

Pen and w/c in the journal.

no expectations

William Stafford, poet, used to say that if you didn't like what came out of your daily writing practice, to lower your expectations.

That's why I like doodling in my journal. Drawing for pleasure relieves the pressure for judgment of the product. And daily practice makes a difference eventually!

Pen, w/c and colored pencil.

colorful wonkiness

Playing with paint on 2 different paper textures. The spiral is on thin, smooth journal paper. The other mug is on 140# Arches.

I'm constantly testing paint on various papers, just to experience the texture of drag and flow. I often like the results on cheap paper better, except for the ripple problem.

profile practice

Practicing that nose from all angles. At least the mug has a squared top so I don't have to practice ellipses, too.

Brush pen on prepainted Hand Book Journal

tombow mug

Just to play with colors.

Markers on Canson drawing paper.

rough texture for the mean

Playing with gesso. I shook the jar (which creates bubbles), then rolled a thin layer onto a sketchbook cover. The texture is pebbly with tiny smashed bubbles.

Perfect background for the malevolent mug! I'm liking how the w/c flows and lifts.

Working on gesso is my new experiment with mixed media.