TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


Learn to enjoy your pencil. “I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing.” Vincent Van Gogh “I love the quality of a pencil, it helps me get to the core of a thing.” Andrew Wyeth For me it is a Blackwing pencil, there is pleasure in just putting marks on paper with no…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


Self-taught does not mean unlearned. People learn in different ways. For me, classrooms are a struggle. I would like to think I am just smart and brilliant, most likely it is that I am impatient. Then there is my ego and insecurity, which kept me from art workshops because I did not feel I was…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


There is no magic pencil – or pen, or marker, or brush – art is a process of repeated iterations. My name is theTravelsketcher and I am a Niffler when it comes to shiny new art stuff. Unpacking my art things from storage and from France makes it clear that I have more unused, or…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


A pencil is good for more than just laying out a sketch, with ink it works well for shade. I use a Blackwing and a 5mm 4B in a lead holder.

What a week in Portland and the world


Eight days ago we drove from Seattle to Portland, the last leg of our journey from France to the US. Portland will be our home now. What a change for us, it was almost 38 years ago that I moved from my hometown of Portland to Seattle for a job, married Tricia, and settled in…