{"id":46131,"date":"2026-05-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=46131"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:31:35","slug":"retro-recomendo-creative-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/retro-recomendo-creative-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Retro Recomendo: Creative Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our subscriber base has grown so much since we first started nine years ago, that most of you have missed all our earliest recommendations. The best of these are still valid and useful, so we\u2019re trying out something new \u2014 Retro Recomendo<\/strong>. Once every 6 weeks, we\u2019ll send out a throwback issue of evergreen recommendations focused on one theme from the past 9 years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn to draw from Lynda Barry<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This hand-drawn book<\/a> is the best course on art and drawing I\u2019ve seen. The cartoonist Lynda Barry has been teaching non-artists to draw, and she has somehow magically captured her class into this book called Making Comics. This guidance is particularly aimed at people who think they can\u2019t draw. It will teach you how to draw, more importantly how to see, and even more importantly how to create with originality, by taking yourself out of the way to see what shows up. It refreshed my very concept of art. I\u2019ve already given two copies of it away. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mini sketch book<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of my daughters draws for hours a day, and she carries an Arteza 3.5×5.5\u201d Mini Sketch Book Pocket Notebook<\/a> everywhere she goes. She\u2019s tried out different brands, including Moleskines, but prefers the Arteza sketchbook for its texture and versatility. It works well with pencil, ballpoint pen, ink pen, and markers. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore the world of contemporary collage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Coll\u00e9<\/a> is a weekly email that explores the world of contemporary collage. Each issue highlights a new artist, showcasing their work and creative process. I\u2019ve always viewed collage as the most accessible art medium, yet I am consistently astounded, inspired, and humbled by the creations featured in this newsletter. Check out their archive of past issues<\/a>. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online figure drawing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I live close to the Art Director’s Guild headquarters in Los Angeles, which has weekly evening figure drawing classes. My daughter and I go there occasionally, but I recently discovered a site called\u00a0Line of Action<\/a>\u00a0that has a useful figure drawing practice system. It shows you a series of figure models posing for specified periods of time, just like a real figure drawing session. The hands-and-feet tool is especially useful (and challenging) for me. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackout poetry without torn books<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Blackout Poetry Maker<\/a> is a web app by Emma Winston that lets you make blackout poems without destroying a single page. You can pick from three sample texts or paste in your own. I used excerpts from my diary and made one I called “All the unknowns are outlined.<\/a>” \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maker tips newsletter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I continue to be impressed by Gar’s Tips & Tools<\/a>, a newsletter that we co-publish with Gareth Branwyn. Every week Gareth scours the internets and the youtubes to find practical tips for makers of all stripes. His sources range from weekend crafters to hard-core professional workshoppers, from sewing cosplay to blacksmithing to woodworking. I generally find at least one or two tips I did not know about. All in a one quick read with ready links. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recomendo – issue #515<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47588,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2323],"tags":[2324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46132,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46131\/revisions\/46132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}