I really like this drawing because it has something I have a hard time capturing in a sketch: the feeling of a slow, lazy day. Done on a lazy Sunday morning in Oakland, before the neighborhood woke up and got busy.
These next two pieces have a very different feel. The persimmon combines some of my favorite stuff to play with in my studio: printmaking and collage. And of course, color and texture.
And above, some experimental drawings made in charcoal, pastel, ink and acrylic in a session exploring light and darkness.
Everything about persimmons , their color, textures, leaves, and shapes lends itself to experiments: in color mixtures, different media, and printmaking.
Here are some of this year’s experiments, in no particular order. I enjoyed mixing random triads to capture the colors of these persimmon. And I layered in collage, printing and some painting into some of these piece.
I’m not in Mumbai for atleast another month, but I’m in an India state of mind already. It love drawing street life and people and I love that everything is over the top. No piece of fabric is left un-patterned and every color of the rainbow is visible in a crowd of people.
This lady in a boldly patterned sari sells vegetables in the market. Sketched on toned paper with ink and colored pencil.
This man stands in front of a old electronics store in Chor Bazaar (literally, The Thief’s Market)
It’s not always clear , even to me, what I’m doing or getting at. But it is always exciting to experiment. Here are some things that happened over the weekend.
I’m teaching two local in-person workshops in February and March 2026. If you want to refresh your basics, and step them up a level, these might be for you!
WORKSHOP 1: Sketch Your World: Learn Sketchbooking in a Day
This is a repeat of November’s sold-out, beginner-friendly workshop in Emeryville, California, in partnership with Draw Together Studio.You can pair this workshop with Workshop 2 (listing below) for an in-depth, 2-day experience.
Learn the building blocks of sketchbooking, including quick sketching techniques, composition, and storytelling. We will work in watercolor and pen & ink, and create sketchbook spreads to capture our day. The techniques you learn will enable you to sketch from life, both indoors and outdoors.
Date and Time:Saturday, Feb 28th, 2026 from 10 am to 4:00 pm with a break for lunch. Location: 5621 Lowell Street, Emeryville, CA 94608 Sign Up NOW
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WORKSHOP 2: Sketchbooking: Beyond the Basics
This is a beginner+ sketchbooking workshop in Emeryville, California, in partnership with Draw Together Studio. It’s best to register for the workshop in conjunction with the one above , because this one builds on the “Bascics” workshop. But if you consider yourself “Beginner+” then feel free to register directly for this one.
In this workshop, we will learn to sketch urban scenes that capture depth and distance and dive deeper into understanding watercolor. The techniques you learn will enable you to sketch complex urban scenes and mix beautiful colors that create cohesive sketches. You can pair it up with Workshop 1 (listing above) for an in-depth, 2-day experience, or if you feel confident that you understand the basics covered in Workshop 1, you can sign up directly for this workshop.
Date and Time:Sunday, March 1st, 2026 from 10 am to 4:00 pm with a break for lunch. Location: 5621 Lowell Street, Emeryville, CA 94608 Sign Up NOW ======================================
I am sure there will be “Persimmons on my desk” sketches in a while, but for now, here are some sketches I made sitting by the tree in artist Gay Kraeger’s magical home in the Santa Cruz mountains.
These two pieces are both in a toned paper sketchbook, but it took adding in the striking pink to the sketch (on the right) before the sketch spoke of the wonderful colors on the persimmon tree leaves.
Here are more sketches of those leaves.
And this last one is of the redwood trees nearby, done in some really fun mixed media that you can see in the image.
This very narrow, horizontal view is what I could see from my seat of the pass at a busy breakfast place, where orders arrived and were swiftly prepared by the kitchen.
And this vertical sketch is a floor full of cabinet doors, taken off their hinges so they can be painted.
Both are done on toned paper (same color, just shot in very different light). I’m currently using a toned paper sketchbook as my main book because it forces me to think of relative values, and simplifying and bracketing values, and I’m learning a lot. Sometimes, I miss the ability to paint in bright colors, but for the most part, I’m enjoying the more muted look this paper has.
Sometimes, I visit my daughter in Davis and ride the train back home. Usually, the train is almost empty, and I can pick the most comfy seat with the best views to draw a page like this.
So I expected another ride like that when I boarded the train on Sunday morning. To my absolute delight, this was a standing-room-only party train:! It seemed like everyone except me was a football fan, and they were all headed to the 49ers game.
So, of course, I drew them, asked rookie questions about American Football, asked them the names of players they wore the jerseys of, and admitted that the only 49ers player I’d ever heard of was Steve Young.
If I’m drawing and curious, and asking questions, people are willing to share a lot. They’re also forgiving when I (inadvertently, I was only vaguely aware this was a loaded question) ask whether the team is still the “San Francisco 49ers” if they’re based out of Santa Clara…
I love drawing like this: in the thick of things, not from a distance. Asking questions and finding out super interesting stuff. I learned a lot that day, not only from facts that were shared with me but also from witnessing the camaraderie of a train full of fans. I also now know most of the lyrics to this song that played on repeat on the train: Bang Bang Niner Gang
I love textures and layering. They add an element of storytelling to the simplest of images. So, turning my charcoal sketches (from an online drawing session run by drawing is free )into monoprints is really fun. These are small pieces: the charcoal drawings are done in minutes on 5×8-inch pieces of paper,
I transfer the charcoal drawings to a gelli plate, roll on a layer of acrylic paint, and transfer the piece back to paper. Just this bit brings in unexpected inconsistencies and marks. But I can keep going, sometimes layering on multiple prints, and adding color, drawing, and collage on top. It’s a no-rules, no endpoint kinda process. Here are three recent monoprints.
Here are three little pieces. On the left is the original sketch, on the right is the monoprint version. The monoprints don’t all work out, but there’s always a surprise element to what I get when I lift the print off the plate.
The “Sketching Together” group on my Substack is one of the few places in which I work from photographs. I have come to love this group of people who get together every month, either live on Zoom or using a recording, to create a problem-solving sketch.
Every month, we all sketch from the same reference photo, but we look at different challenges. Because I am primarily an on-location sketcher, the challenges I choose for these online sessions inform my live sketching.
Below are sketches from the last 5 months, addressing various challenges, including crowded spaces, repeated forms, sloping paths, and fields of color. We each create our own unique solutions ot the challenges in sketches made over roughly a half hour, and share our solutions on a private board online, so we can all learn from the myriad approaches taken to similar problems.
I’ve come to love these sessions, and I especially love poring over the sketches posted online, because there are always so many great ideas tucked into these quick sketches.
Join me sometime? Just join in at the paid member tier on my website and join the community!
Sketch Away: Travels with my sketchbook 
