Joshua Boulet is a comic book artist, illustrator and sketcher originally from Texas whose work I just discovered a few months ago. I was particularly captivated by his self-published, 130-page book, Draw Occupy Wall Street, a graphic memoir he inked while living…
Sketched July 18, 2013 It’s like a miniature Seafair air show. At speeds ranging from 30 to 50 mph, little radio-controlled floatplanes loop and twist over Lake Washington. They are piloted by about a dozen hobbyists standing on the Ferdinand…
The number of amazing scenic locations along the Pacific coast between Seattle and San Francisco is too many to count. How do you even start planning a road trip? For our week-long vacation, my wife, Michelle, and I decided to…
I often check out art instruction books from my neighborhood library. But I never spend enough time with any one in particular before they are due back. Keys to Drawing, however, has me hooked from the start. I’m enjoying it so…
The late Robert Weaver is known for his journalistic approach to illustration. The artwork he published in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Life and Esquire was based on sketches he drew on the field. This week I especially thought of…
I recently discovered the existence of an institute dedicated to reportage drawing: The Melton Prior Institute. It is named after Melton Prior, an English artist who worked for the London Illustrated News back in the days before photography, when newspapers relied on artists to…
Urban sketching is mostly a hobby, but it can also benefit many people in their professional occupations. In his new book, Freehand Drawing and Discovery ($65, Wiley & Sons), urban designer and educator Jim Richards gives urban sketching his stamp of approval…
The way I see it, being an urban sketcher isn’t merely about drawing cities, big or small, urban or rural, with a pen or with your fingers on an digital tablet. It’s about drawing places that can be put on…
Urban sketching enthusiasts relish the opportunity to draw a new city while on vacation or on a business trip. Mike Daikubara, an industrial designer based in Boston, took up the hobby in 2000 and is no exception. But he also…
Seattleites who normally plan mid-winter trips to Palm Springs or Hawaii may have a hard time understanding why I went to Duluth, Minn., of all places, just a week ago. (That’s one of the reasons there’s no Sketcher column in…
The New York Times includes contributions from artists in its Opinion pages, a practice I wish many newspapers followed. These contributions are called “Op-Art” and consist of artwork that stands by itself, unlike the usual spot illustrations used to accompany…