Gang Members as Models

Gang members may look intimidating, but if you catch them in public places, they make great models.

Two Young Gang Members, published in The Artist's Guide to Sketching

This idea applies to goths, bikers, punkers, ravers, metalheads & bodybuilders.
In my experience they’re keenly aware of the effect their appearance has on ordinary, mundane people. They know it’s a costume, either temporary or permanent (as in the case of body modifications).

More on Substack   

Carmel Event March 15

Join me in Carmel, CA on Saturday, March 15 from 12:00-2:00 for a presentation and book signing.

I'll be talking about my friendship with Tom Kinkade and how it led to the book "The Artist's Guide to Sketching."

This will be the only public event in the Bay Area for this book (the other events are at art schools and animation studios), and the first time I've done an event at a Thomas Kinkade gallery, which should be an interesting experience for all of us.

Meanwhile in the Shipping Department

The new edition of The Artist's Guide to Sketching releases today, and I want to thank everyone for your enthusiasm and kind words.

We offered copies for sale in our little web store (sorry, USA only) and so many of you wanted signed copies that we had to enlist the help of the whole family to help us pack and ship.

We have already sent out over 800 copies, and many of you have received them, or you will soon.

If you ordered a copy and haven't gotten it yet, here's the update—we're almost caught up and hope to have every order that we receive by today in the mail by the end of this weekend. 

So please hang in there; it will be worth the wait.

WAMC Radio Interview

Northeast Public Radio's Joe Donahue wanted to know this about sketching:

"Do you do it to relax?"
"What do you see that catches your eye?"
"When does a sketch become a painting?"
"How long can you focus on a subject?"
"What do you consider your main work these days?

This is why authors love to be interviewed by Joe Donahue.
He asks questions you can’t prepare for, which makes you think about your topic in a new way.
Link to Interview

Hopping Freight Trains

 New post about riding the rails.

Sargent Wanted his Models to Talk to Him

John S. Sargent, like most portrait artists of his time, insisted that models moved and spoke while they posed, unlike the contemporary practice of having subjects hold dead still. More here. 

Sketch Carpet

Nathalia says: "I wish you could have captured a quick, cheap digital image of all of the drawing you made and SOLD. Just to have a record. Ya know?"

Hi, Nathalia, this is the closest we've got: a photo of some of the sketches we did around 1980-1981. Most of them ended up on the cutting room floor. We probably had three sketches for every one that made it in the book, and many that have never been seen.

We had no way to sell them at the time, and I'm glad we didn't because it allowed us to rescan them for a much better printing of the new book compared to the first edition.

Sketching Book Reviewed

I’m grateful to Zoungy Kligge for the insightful review of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching by me and Thomas Kinkade.

Zoungy’s coverage includes side by sides of how the art looked in the 1982 edition compared to the way it looks in the new expanded and remastered edition. Here’s a link to his full review on Substack.

Las Vegas After a Fire by Thomas Kinkade, watercolor

If you are waiting for a pre-ordered copy, thanks for your patience. We’re working our way through a huge stack, signing each copy and including a few extra goodies in every shipment. You should receive a notification soon that yours is on the way, too.

Meanwhile here’s what folks are saying about the new edition:

“Every urban sketcher should own a copy of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching. In fact, if I could only have one drawing book on my shelf, it would be this one. It’s packed with that many insights about drawing on location, about everything from perspective to people sketching to nature and animals. But for me, the most brilliant section is about learning to capture motion by training your eye to freeze a gesture so you can record it in your sketchbook.”
—Shari Blaukopf, co-founder of Urban Sketchers Montreal and author of The Urban Sketching Handbook: Working with Color

“This is a marvelous book, filled with the kind of wisdom you’ll never find in a classroom or library. Two artists paid their dues and learned valuable lessons on their cross-country sketching safari. They’ve passed those lessons on to us in a classic book, now expanded and remastered. Their practical pointers about drawing materials and techniques are important, but equally important is the inspiration we get from the story of the two travelers hopping freight trains and sleeping on rooftops, earning their way by the sheer love of drawing. Profusely illustrated, beautifully written.”
—David Apatoff, Art Critic, The Saturday Evening Post

Get your signed copy of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching

What Should Art Schools Teach?

R. Ives Gammell, one of the keepers of the academic flames, makes an interesting point about art teaching:

“A painter’s training does not consist primarily in instruction as to the handling of his materials. Such knowledge is extremely important, of course, but it is not the main thing. The essential purpose of a painter’s training should be to equip him with the means of solving any problem suggested to him by his creative impulse.” 

Do you agree? What should art schools teach, and what should they not teach? Let me know in the comments.

On Substack; Gammell on Art Teaching

Chasing a Glitter Path

New YouTube video covers:

1. Pathways of light reflected on water, 

2. Hotspot priming 

3. Contre-jour lighting.

4. The poetic traditions of glitter paths and moonpaths.