All tagged Tips

Urban Sketching Tip: Don’t Color Everything

Urban Sketching Tip: Don’t Color Everything

Koosje Koene
Drawing Tips

Want to make your urban sketches more vibrant without coloring everything in? In this Draw Tip Tuesday, I show you how using less color can actually make your drawings stronger. It's all about making conscious choices: what to highlight, what to leave out, and how that tells a clearer story. I sketch two musicians in Spain and share tips on simplifying a scene, creating focus with color, and letting go of perfection. Plus, I share a little teaser about my upcoming Costa Brava workshop with The Blue Walk this September. Tune in for sketchbook inspiration!

Travel Sketching - What to Pack

Travel Sketching - What to Pack

Koosje Koene
Drawing Tips

Want to know what art supplies to pack for travel sketching? Keep your sketch kit lightweight and compact while bringing everything you need. In today’s video, I share travel sketching essentials, urban sketching tools, and packing tips to avoid overpacking. From sketchbooks and pens to watercolors and a sitting mat, I cover it all. Plus, a pro tip: skip the 'just in case' supplies!

Sketchbook Experiment: Let’s See What Happens!

Sketchbook Experiment: Let’s See What Happens!

Koosje Koene
Drawing Tips

Playing with tempera sticks today! They’re like glue sticks, but filled with colorful paint. Fun but tricky! I test out the blob method, make some surprising discoveries (did I just paint a Smurf?), and figure out what works. This week’s challenge: grab a tool you’re unsure about and just play! Love it or hate it, it's all part of the creative process.

Why Fewer Art Supplies Make You More Creative

Why Fewer Art Supplies Make You More Creative

Koosje Koene
Drawing Tips

Feeling overwhelmed by too many art supplies? Try limiting your tools! In today's Draw Tip Tuesday video, I use just three simple tools to show how constraints can spark creativity. With fewer choices, you focus on the essentials and make bolder creative decisions. See how it works, then apply what you learned by following the assignment!

Perspective and Foreshortening

Perspective and Foreshortening

Koosje Koene

Last week, while waiting for my delayed train, I saw a great opportunity to sketch. I focused on drawing people and perspective and foreshortening. It's challenging to capture in your sketchbook, but with a lot of practice and a bit of courage, you can do it!

How To Overcome A Creative Block

How To Overcome A Creative Block

Koosje Koene
Drawing Tips

The struggle between the desire to draw and the internal resistance is relentless. Doubts and insecurities block creativity, making it hard to even just start. But remember, creativity thrives in vulnerability, imperfections are stepping stones, not stumbling blocks. Embrace the joy of creating without judgment, even for just five minutes. Embrace the wonkiness!

"What Should I Draw?"

"What Should I Draw?"

Koosje Koene

Do you find yourself often with your sketchbook open, pen in hand, feeling kind of blocked because of the big question that pops up in your mind: “what should I draw?”

In my book, Life Is Better When You Draw It, I dedicated a chapter to this. My mantra is “everything is interesting when you draw it”.
It doesn’t matter what you draw; it matters that you draw.

Urban Sketching Made Simple

Urban Sketching Made Simple

Koosje Koene
Drawing Tips

In today’s video and assignment, I'd love to take you on a trip yet again. This time, we'll be using the website window-swap.com. On this website, people from all over the world are submitting videos, recorded from their windows. Let's find a window with a view to sketch. It'll feel like you're visiting someone at their home in Turkey, the UK, the US, Sweden or wherever you choose to go, and stare out of their window to draw the view.