Full Bloom Club · Since 2019

The Artist’s Diary

Artistic Inspiration for a Life in Bloom

Geometric patterns to draw ruled in ink on a drafting board with a compass and steel straightedge at night Drawing Ideas
No. 173the day I found a better pattern on the floor than on my page

Fill a Page Before Your Tea Goes Cold: 65 Geometric Patterns to Draw With a Pen and a Ruler (+ Free Grid Sheet)

In 1704 a French engineer stopped at a château on his way along a canal and copied the floor.

In 1704 a man counted the ways two floor tiles can sit together. He got 64. You need one ruler and one diagonal line.

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How to draw trees: a pen and ink oak study clipped to a board, the real oak out of focus behind it Drawing Tips & Tricks
No. 172the day I drew the empty bits first and everything else turned up on its own

How to Draw Trees in Pen and Ink: 21 Trees, Bark to Foliage, and the White Gaps That Make Them Read (+ Free Foliage Sheet)

Those holes are most of how to draw trees.Hardly anyone says that part out loud.So you are not drawing leaves tonight.

A canopy is not a surface. It is a shape with holes in it, and the holes go in first. 21 trees in pen and ink, bark to foliage.

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Art deco drawing in progress on a night drafting board, compass open on the centre mark Drawing Ideas
No. 171the night the compass did the measuring for me

75 Art Deco Drawing Motifs That Look Straight Out of 1925, Built From a Ruler and 1 Circle (+ Free Motif Sheet)

There is almost never a freehand line in an art deco drawing.

The hard edges of 1920s design were cut out of metal, not drawn by hand. Which is why a straight edge beats a steady hand every time.

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Lino print ideas for beginners: 10 freshly pulled lino prints pegged on a drying line above a bench with the carved block still inked Drawing Ideas
No. 170the day the backwards bit finally made sense

Lino Print Ideas for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide & 109 Designs Bold Enough to Carve on Your First Try

Sybil Andrews cut Golgotha out of a sheet of lino in 1931 and the V&A still has it.

Lino does not reward a careful line. It rewards a decision. 109 designs bold enough to survive the first cut, and one sheet to start from tonight.

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A thick sketchbook filled with winter drawing ideas in pen, open on wool with loose finished pages beside it Drawing Ideas
No. 169the day I moved my chair 3 feet and blamed a book for it

The Winter Drawing Ideas That Fill a Sketchbook by March: 53 Cozy Subjects in Pen (+ Free Winter Prompt Card)

I am at the kitchen window with a pen, hunting winter drawing ideas, and the garden is flat grey nothing.Then something on the glass moves.

A printmaker lost 188 sketchbooks in one afternoon and walked straight back out for 102 days. Winter hands over its shapes: here are 53 of them, in pen.

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Christmas window painting ideas: a lit sash window painted with a fir, a star and a stag, seen from the snowy street Drawing Ideas
No. 168the night I painted snow on the inside of the window while it snowed on the outside

These 93 Christmas Window Painting Ideas Start on Paper and Finish on the Glass (+ Free Template Sheet)

A cold window is the only tracing table in the house that comes with a view.

In 1900 the man who wrote Oz published a snowstorm recipe: cotton wool, mica and 4 pounds of goose-down. Fake frost was the product. 93 to trace.

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Christmas card drawing ideas pegged across a workroom wall at night, one card still unfinished on the bench Drawing Ideas
No. 167the night I wrote the addresses first, which is the only reason any of them got sent

Draw Your Own Christmas Cards in 1 Evening: 39 Christmas Card Drawing Ideas for Adults (+ 3 Free Templates)

A drawn one carries its picture through to the other side, in the dents the pen left.

13 people who drew for a living, 1 evening, and 39 cards that will not look like anybody else’s.

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Wood burning patterns for beginners: a stag head split into burned fill textures Drawing Ideas
No. 166the evening the cat claimed the warmest offcut

Wood Burning Patterns for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide & 95 Traceable Designs (+ Free Printable Transfer Sheet)

Heat travels along the grain of a piece of wood up to 2.75 times faster than it travels across it.

The hardest part of wood burning is not the burner. It is owning a line worth transferring — 95 designs, sorted by what tonight actually needs.

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Hatching and cross hatching practice chart under raking lamplight, a pen resting on the squares Drawing Tips & Tricks
No. 165the night I stopped pressing harder and let the layers do it

Shade Anything With a Pen: Hatching and Cross Hatching Techniques in 19 Practice Drills (+ Free Value Chart)

This is the exact problem hatching and cross hatching is built to solve.

A shadow that will not go dark is a counting problem, not a pressure problem. 19 drills that fix it, and a free value chart.

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One scribble surrounded by 16 torn paper squares, each holding a drawing found inside a tangle Drawing Ideas
No. 164the night a fox turned up in my shopping list

The Intuitive Drawing Exercises That Start With a Scribble: 63 Ideas for Evenings With No Plan

A scribble is the only mark on earth that cannot be done wrong.

A tangle of lines is not a failed drawing. It is the only thing a blank page cannot give you: something for the eye to argue with.

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