After a recent life drawing session, I was chatting with a friend about how certain principles in art are useful in so many different applications. For instance, using the full spectrum of tones is important to describe form, and without both the lightest light tones, and the darkest darks, an artwork can seem bland. In […]
Sarah Reading
January 31, 2011 by · 4 Comments
The three of us went out for a relaxing evening of coffee, reading and sketching. I love it when people are so absorbed in what they are doing that they don’t notice me sketching them. I was almost done before Sarah caught on!
Portrait of My Mom
May 5, 2010 by · 11 Comments
Drawing MethodsI was inspired way back in January by a post in Jennifer Lawson’s blog to try doing a sketch of my Mom using the upside-down method. The photo of her that I used was taken at college around 1945. In the upside down method, both the reference photo and the sketch itself is upside […]
More Backs of Heads
February 1, 2010 by · 11 Comments
I know sketches of backs of heads are not that interesting, but when you are in a crowd listening to lectures at a professional workshop, you can’t really turn around to sketch peoples faces. Oh I know, I could have sketched the speakers faces but to be honest, I wasn’t brave enough to try since […]
John Reading
December 14, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
This blog is about my journey as a botanical artist--what I am learning, what inspires me and what I am currently drawing or painting. My desire is to continually hone my skills to better express my wonder and gratitude for the beauty of the creation around me in the Pacific Northwest (USA).