This is mostly for me, but if you read it, it’s okay too.

• You learn to draw by drawing.
• People that are better than you are just better than you because they’ve had more practice.
• Draw VERBS, not nouns. – Walt Stanchfield
• Turn everything you paint to greyscale (digitally). If it looks like a grey soup, you f*cked up.
• If you’re not sure what good values look like, look at screen stills from B/W movies, like Citizen Kane.
• You learn to draw by drawing.
• 50 bad illustrations might yield one good one. You learn to draw by drawing.
• Sometimes you gotta draw it 6 or 7 times.
• Use sharp edges for only important things, practice hierarchy and contrast. Have a focal point.
• If you’re going to give someone a jewel, don’t surround it with shiny things. – Paul Hudson
• Saturate your eyes and brain with work that is better than what you can do. Then put it all away
and start working.
• Progress, not Perfection.
• Schedule time to utterly fail. – Iain McCaig
• Take reference, it’s easier that way. Don’t make stuff up if you don’t have to. If it doesn’t exist,
figure out how to take a picture of it anyway. Use cardboard, clay, macaroni… doesn’t matter.
• Doubt can only be removed by ACTION. – Goethe
• Use the best materials you can possibly afford. You’re already fighting a battle. Don’t fight the materials.
Find pencils/brushes/paper that feel good.
• Does it work in greyscale? Does it work at postage-stamp size? Does it work reversed? Upside down?
• Do what you love, other people will love it too. – Z

More thoughts are found here.

Inktense pencil, watercolour on sketchbook paper. 11″ x 14″

Click to zoom. -Z

Charcoal on paper. Original size, 11″ x 17″.

Hour and a half long portrait from life.
If you’re interested in a similar black and white portrait, contact me.
I’d love to draw you. -Z

Oil on board. Absolutely no Photoshop. 15″ x 20″

First fully completed oil painting. 16 week Atelier session. Oils are amazing.
Gotta look at Rembrandt more. Keeping the highlights rich and thick, the darks
transparent and thin. So much to learn! -Z

A list of some of our most constantly opened/ruminated over/beloved books.
Kurt and I have a bibliomania disease. It’s quite contagious. I’d love to infect you:

Creative Illustration – Andrew Loomis
Figure Drawing for all it’s Worth – Andrew Loomis
Bridgman’s Life Drawing – George Bridgman
Famous Artist School books – all three volumes
On the Art of Drawing – Robert Fawcett
Zen in the Art of Archery – Eugen Herrigel
Light for the Artist – Ted Seth Jacobs
Alla Prima – Richard Schmid
Drawn to Life, volumes one and two – Walt Stanchfield
Master Class in Figure Drawing – Robert Beverly Hale
Force – Michael Mattesi
Mastery – George Leonard
Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The Practice and Science of Drawing – Harold Speed
Drawing lessons from the Great Masters – Robert Beverly Hale

What are your indispensable, can’t-live-without, take-to-a-desert-island, save-in-a-fire books?

HB Charcoal on Stonehenge paper, with a tiny bit of Photoshop. 10.5″ x 13.5″

3 Hour charcoal pencil Alla Prima.

Look, we’ve been very busy, we’re not dead. There’s so many wonderful things I’d love to
share with you, but I’m just not allowed to yet. Hope this watercolor movie still from
Dangerous Liasons pacifies you till then. -Z

Studies during downtime. Copying a lot of Claire Wendling, because her linework is breathtaking.
Kurt discovered this killer pencil around which my whole world revolves.
They are called Inktense pencils made by Derwent. If you love me, you will bring me some. -Z
Click to zoom.

HB Charcoal pencil on sketchbook paper.

There’s a huge bevy of illustrations I’d love to share, but I’m just not allowed to yet. In the mean time,
I’d like to celebrate 4 years of having Teetering Bulb, by sharing some of the things I have learned:

• You learn to draw by drawing – there’s no magic button, secret pass words or
snake oil you can take. It’s just all hard work.
• It takes about 3-5 years to see a tipping point.
• Doesn’t really matter at what level you are when you begin, this is all learnable information -
anyone can learn it, that’s the beautiful part. But it might take 3-5 years.
• To succeed at this is very hard, and it’ll continue to be hard, the most enjoyable thing ever,
but still very hard. If it’s easy for you, can I buy you a muffin and an hour of your time?
• You learn to draw by drawing.
• Get to know the best in the business. Write them emails, visit their studios, become their
best friend. They know stuff. They’ll give you information if you’re nice and ready to listen,
and buy them muffins.
• The 10,000 hour rule is imperative. It’s all a game of numbers. The more you practice,
the better you’ll be, the more you’ll enjoy it, the more you’ll want to practice.
It’s a self feeding loop.
• Your hand skills will almost never match your cognitive skills. Your head will always be a few
steps ahead of what you can do with your pencil. Be okay with that. Again, if you disagree,
I’ve got muffins for you.
• The eye craves hierarchy.
• The eye craves values and big shapes. The eye doesn’t like gray soups too much.
• Getting the big shapes right is more important than getting the details right.
• Love your studio. You’re gonna be there a lot.
• There’s something called FLOW. It’s a magic period where everything aligns and you know
exactly what to do next. Learn to recognize it and achieve it. Flow happens when the greatest
amount of challenge is met with the most amount of skill. The state of FLOW is the best drug
in the world.
• You learn to draw by drawing.

Please tell me what you’ve learned. -Z