End of March 2025

I have a few projects started now but it is had to push them over the goal line. This is one that I think I will call done for now if only for the reason of saying one  finished piece this month. It is a 12″x12” oil painting on a canvas board. I have not … Read more

End of February 2025

I have a lot of projects started but unfortunately I am falling short of my goal to get one done every month this month. Maybe I can try for two next month, we will have to wait and see. To be fair, I did lose a little bit of time this week due to some other … Read more

End of January 2025

Life still just happening here, same as always… A new piece finished, (I think), over the past few weeks. This is a largish charcoal drawing, largish for me, I know there are people who like to work big, BIG, but for someone whose work is mostly small scale and in sketch books, this is largish.  … Read more

End of December 2024, (or beginning of 2025)

Sometime in the past month, I completed my 63rd trip around the sun. While these journeys have started to feel more routine and uneventful, they’ve also taken on a deeper meaning. I’m increasingly aware of how fortunate I’ve been to have 63 of them—and I find myself thinking more often about the limited number left … Read more

December and some figure drawing

For the last 6 months or so I have been studying with Steve Huston, a favorite artist of mine, at his “Draws From Life” course. I have grown a great deal already in my confidence and my ability, (at least in my mind), to make a little better sense of gesture and structure. As well … Read more

Figure drawing

What started as a sketch recently in a sketchbook became something a little more ambitious. This is using charcoal and some Carbothello pencil. The sketch paper turned out not to be the best for the charcoal rendering, seems a little blotchy in places, but overall I think it turned out OK. I realize I avoided … Read more

Pebbles and Time

An oil painting of two small children in shallow waters edge titled "Pebbles and Time" by Artist John Huisman

Pebbles and Time is a small painting I recently completed, measuring about 14 inches wide by 10.5 inches high. I’ve been focusing on smaller projects like this one lately, aiming to complete more pieces and, in doing so, accelerate my learning and development as an artist. Working on large-scale projects can sometimes feel like a … Read more

Daily sketching practice

One thing I try to do every morning is spend some time drawing or sketching or painting something. Doesn’t really matter what. Sometimes it might be 40 minutes sometimes only 5 minutes,  but the main thing is, now matter what happens the rest of the day, I have at least done a little bit of … Read more