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Rediscovering Mark Making with ArtGraf Water Soluble Graphite

Reviews   / / 5 Comments

One of the side trips we made while in Porto Portugal (during the USK Symposium ) was a visit to the Viarco ArtGraf factory. I have been using their products for a while now and they are embedding themselves into my sketching practice, so I felt it was time to tell you about both the product and factory tour. I am not affiliated in any way with this product and do not gain financially by writing about it. ArtGraf is known for their water-soluble graphite. If you have not encountered Artgraf water-soluble graphite, do try it – as it is …

Picular colour Picker

Design / Resources online3 Comments

Picular is a fast colour picker that uses Google’s image search to make the selection.  Type in a word and a colour palette is generated. I played with words such as Paris, spring, winter, summer, autumn, ice cream, lollie pop, candy, cake, beach, forrest, pebbles, sunset, flowers and feminine. I also had fun with words like joy, peace and laughter. The interface is fast and easy to use. Basically you type in a search term and hit enter. Picular then  generates a series of colour swatch tiles. For fun I typed in the word Paris. In the left had corner the RGB hex …

Travel Journal tip 2 from on the road

Travel Journal   / 4 Comments

Travel Journal tip 2 is a quick simple thing that you can do to enhance your travel journal while you are travelling. It will not  take up too much time, does not require a particular skill or needs much in the way of equipment. Ok so what is my travel journal tip 2? One of the first things I do when I land in a new city is to visit the tourist information office. Most places are only too keen to promote  their city and these services have been set up in order to sell you tours of one sort …

A visit to the British Museum Enlightenment Room

Museums Collections and Exhibitions5 Comments

Recently I had the pleasure of sketching with friends at the British Museum. It was a wonderful morning with our sketches in what is known as the Enlightenment room. The following day we returned as the exhibit had me intrigued and I wanted a quiet look at it – I am pleased I did, as the room kept me busy for 3 hours! The Enlightenment room at first glance looks very old fashioned. That is because it recreates, how collections were presented to the public during the Enlightenment. It houses a permanent exhibition of thousands of objects that demonstrate how …

The V&A and the South Kensington System for Art Studies

Design / Museums Collections and Exhibitions   / / / / / / / / / 6 Comments

Our last day in London found us re-visiting the V&A and investigating the 4th floor where it is simply described as Britain 1760-1900. In these galleries you will find an exhibit that features objects and drawings illustrating aspects of early British design education. Many students of Art and design do not realise that the process they partake in during the course of their degree stems from ideas about art education developed in the 19th century. One of those precedents is the South Kensington System which was a state run syllabus that was delivered in institutions across the UK. From the …

Three Great Art shops in London in zone one

Equipment and Supplies   / 10 Comments

When you visit London there is so much see and do that long trips on public transport in the quest of art supplies is not fun or practical. So, here are 3 art shops in London that are in zone one the very heart of the city. All 3 are situated near major attractions so you don’t have to go far out of way to add a bit of art supply shopping to your day. Please note: I am not affiliated with any of these businesses. Neither have I received any goods or financial compensation for writing the article. I …

Travel Journal tip 1 from on the road

Travel Journal   / 5 Comments

This is the start of a series of travel journal tips. The idea is that these tips are quick little things you can do while traveling that enhance your travel journal. These tips are all things I do in my own travel journal and the examples I share are real life samples of something done while traveling. Tips that are shared are real rather than polished or perfect. I figure that many people attempt to keep a travel journal and don’t because their expectations are too high. Or they want perfection which is the undoing of many creative projects. Before …

Playing in the margins with Stephan Schriber’s Gothic manuscript

Books and Book Binding / Design / Resources online   / 9 Comments

Stephan Schriber kept an interesting sketchbook, as he was a mediaeval monk living in the south-west of Germany, who produced illuminated manuscripts. Simply described, Stephan Schriber’s sketchbook – dating from 1494 – is a collection of decorations, patterns and illustrations, but if you stop and imagine how it might have been used to produce illuminated manuscripts, its role in the process becomes even more interesting. The manuscript is of course highly decorative. Often, when writers refer to ‘decoration’, they are trying to suggest that the work is not as important as a piece of Art with a capital ‘A’. ‘Decoration’ and …