TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip – June 3, 2025


To make your bright areas more intense make your darks darker. I did the painting on the left first, it really did not look too bad. The Sunset at Otter Crest was quite dramatic so I wanted it to “pop”. I darkened the rocks and even the distant, dark, part of the ocean, as well…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip – May 27, 2025


Add people to your sketches. Including people in your sketches adds interest and perspective, and it turns it into a story – it is quite simple and they don’t have to be portraits. Check this sketch I did of a road we walked often near our home in France. The first is without a person,…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse Creativity by its very nature means you are trying something different, and since we all suffer to some degree a fear of being criticized too often we choose what is safe. This is what stops people from trying to sketch, and keeps us from expanding. So be brave this…

This week in Oregon


We are enjoying the rhythm of living in The Pearl. When we were still in La Thebauderie we often talked about baking bread, cooking new things, and cooking old favorites when we returned to the US. I am baking bread, the only bread we buy is a baguette; Safeway actually has a pretty good rustic…