Studio habits
Sketchbook ideas that turn into a habit
Sketchbook ideas built for repetition: forty small prompts, a ten-minute routine, ways past the blank page and how to keep going after the first week.
Works on paper, made at home
Drawing, watercolor, gouache and small prints, worked out at the kitchen table and written down plainly.
Read the notesPaper first
Every drawing, wash and print here starts with the sheet it sits on. Deckle Notes is about that whole small world: which paper takes which medium, how to keep a watercolor flat, what pencil grades really do, how to cut a block and pull a clean print without a press, and how to frame and store the results so they last.
Newest on the table
Looking at art
How printmaking changed who could own art
How did printmaking change the world of art? A short history from woodblocks and Dürer to ukiyo-e, posters and screenprints, told through who owned them.
Framing & care
Framing works on paper: mats, glazing and hinges
How to frame a drawing, watercolor or print so it lasts: acid-free mats, UV-filtering glazing, hinges and spacers, plus what to ask a framer.
Framing & care
Storing drawings and prints flat at home
How to store drawings, watercolors and prints at home so they stay flat and clean: boxes, folders, interleaving, where to keep them and what to avoid.
Printmaking
Monotypes on a gel plate: printmaking without carving
Gel plate printing explained: what a monotype is, the kit you need, ten techniques from leaf prints to ghost prints, and how to fix pale or patchy pulls.
Watercolor & gouache
Gouache vs watercolor: what actually changes on the page
Gouache vs watercolor compared at the brush: light and transparency, working order, corrections, paper, drying shifts and when to combine them.
Browse by medium
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From the Supply shelf
Artist graphite pencil set, 12 grades
Twelve grades from hard to soft in one tin, enough to learn what each grade does before buying singles.
See it on Amazon
Introductory artist gouache set
Ten tubes of artist-quality gouache, enough for a full mixing range in opaque color.
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Thin A4 LED light pad
An evenly lit panel for tracing a drawing onto good paper or checking a transfer before you ink it.
See it on Amazon
Write to the desk
Stuck on a buckled sheet or a print that came out blotchy? Send a letter. Good questions often become the next note.
Send a letter