Confessions of art mishaps

My 'Draw People' initiative, plus folks who inspire me

For more information about “Redhead with Swallows” and my other work, look here. Available in mini prints and other pieces. All shares and referrals are welcome! :)

Showing our mistakes so others are inspired to do art

Recently I watched Danny Gregory’s video “Why I’ve been lying to you”. You may know Gregory, the former advertising writer and manager who co-founded Sketchbook Skool with Koosje Koene in 2014.

I’m a fan of both artists. And I’ve frequently sketched, drawn or painted Gregory while watching his YouTube channel, in which he sits at a desk with a neon heart in the background.

In the video linked above, Gregory says he often shows his “best” or most accurate/ photorealistic work, because he wants to show that he is qualified to teach us drawing. I identified with this concern, as I’m sure many other artists do.

I too often post only what I think is my best work, even though (in my head) I’m trying to have fun and continue building my own unique creative style.

But by showing only his most “perfect” pieces, Gregory pointed out, he isn’t sharing what makes his work distinctively his own. I’ve heard this voiced by other artists, but it always helps for me to hear it again.

Join me in drawing and painting people

In late fall 2024, I began practicing drawing people from YouTube and occasional live figures.

I’m also paint-sketching in watercolor in the new year.

Are either of these something you’d like to improve? If so, reply and let me know or get in touch by phone or email. I’m putting together art community classes and draw together sessions and will offer some of them on an upcoming Patreon channel.

Still drawing birds and other animals!

For those who’ve asked: Yes, I continue to love drawing non-human nature and animals! And I’m available for commissions and pet portraits.

Prepping illustrated books

On Patreon, the plan is also to make and include videos of prepping illustrated books.

I was inspired recently by artist and author Amy Stewart’s recent newsletter entry, “Write Your Own Job Description”, about artist Maira Kalman. Kalman has illustrated several New Yorker covers and books including My Favorite Things. Stewart quotes Kalman here:

“The nice thing about my job is that I wake up in the morning and I go out for a walk, and I don’t know what I’m going to see, but I see wonderful things that I want to paint. So capturing those moments, that’s my job.”

[Stewart] And I thought, THIS WOMAN HAS WRITTEN HER OWN JOB DESCRIPTION!

Stewart’s illustrated books are among those that influence me too. Whose books or work stirs ideas in you?

Sketchbooks contain all sorts of work, right?

Some of the work in my sketchbook is messy or doesn’t go anywhere or contains weird paint blotches that happened when I reached across the page before it was dry.

My drawings and painting there aren’t all “good”, but that’s part of exploration and building one’s own style.

To this point, an artist whose work inspires me to be untidy is Felix Scheinberger. Do you know his sketches and books? They routinely include scratchy subjects, watercolor explosions of color, and figures who can be a little crass and palpably human. I love how his art looks.

In honor of creating messes or “mistakes” part of the time, I’m including some of my sketchbook drawings since October.

I did this after a long day at work, trying to continue a paint daily pattern. It felt nice to see the colors.

Evening paint-sketch while watching The Good Wife on streaming TV. It’s posted here because I thought of it as a bad rendition of Josh Lawrence. But now I like the watercolor tie and the way he looks.

Drawing of Sharon D. Clarke in an ad for streaming TV. It’s better if I think of it as *not a piece depicting a particular person, but it was okay for practice and an illustration.

Above is one of several Danny Gregory drawings; in this one, I failed to capture the warmth and amused look in his eyes. So I’m calling it “Disconsolate Danny Gregory.”

Supposed to be Anika Noni Rose, on The Good Wife.

Happy to have you here!

If you’d like to join any of my draw together sessions or Patreon, keep an eye on this space for updates. Or reply and let me know. Thank you for your attention.

Hope you have a good weekend!