#my tools were pencil. eraser. fountain pen

[nival-kenival-art]

So Eliot Spencer may or may not have taken position of favourite blorbo of the month for the past 4 months or so. I decided to try drawing him since I'm currently unable to render him digitally I managed to do a pretty good job on 6"x4" sketchbook I bring everywhere. Photos taken at different stages cause I was sure each next step was gonna mess up the drawing

[maiji]

@logicheartsoul Thank you so much for the kind words ^^ And certainly - thank you for your interest and for asking! I love working with ink so I’m happy to talk about it :D

How I got into it

It's only been in the last maybe five or so years that I've actually started to pay more attention to art supplies. In the case of ink, it really started with fountain pens. Long story short, one of my professors was really into them and let me try one of his vintage pens, and I was vaguely interested. Then my best friend really got into them, and I tagged along to a fountain pen show (shoutout to Scriptus Toronto!!). From there it was a slow burn over a period of months from “this is neat” to “WOWWW OKAY I GUESS I’M REALLY INTO THIS NOW”. It was a (relatively, for me) quick entry once I discovered the online fountain pen community. These people are incredibly passionate, highly articulate, and best of all, document EVERYTHING. I found the ink reviews especially spectacular and that’s probably what hooked me the most.

A few other things that helped in the appeal factor:

I have a tendency to grip writing implements excessively hard and exert a lot of unnecessary pressure when writing or drawing with more conventional pens (ballpoints etc.) A number of people mentioned that fountain pens helped them to alleviate this because generally you don’t need/want to apply pressure when using them. I’ve found it has helped.

I've always been interested in forms that combine words and images, and this merges literary and artistic worlds in a very clear way.

I’ve been on a long personal journey of wanting to incorporate much more Chinese/Taiwanese/East Asian heritage and cultural traditions into my work. Thus, I've been gravitating towards things emphasizing brush, ink, water, elements of calligraphy and... not sure if spontaneity is the word I want, but things that help me overthink less when I draw, and get better at letting go. 

How I work with ink

My (main) tools

Fude de mannen: This is basically a fountain pen that mimics a brush for Asian calligraphy. It has a bent nib that enables you to change stroke thickness by varying your hand angle. I love this pen so much I got a second one so I could have a different colour; the washi tape helps me tell which one it is. You can see more of it in the video interview I did with PindotPress.

Brush pen: A pen that is a brush. lol. A number of companies make them; I use the Pentel Pocket Brush because it's the first one I tried and I liked it a lot. It's smooth, has great line variation, and the tip has yet to fail me. (Although the cap started falling apart, hence all the tape on my first one lol.) I currently have three: one for permanent black, one for permanent red, and one because I couldn’t resist buying a coloured version of the pen (I have Diamine Earl Grey in it right now).

Glass dip pen: These dip pens are pretty but what is super awesome is that they are super easy and fast to clean. I can quickly switch between multiple colours of bottled inks. The grooves in the nib hold ink, so you need to slightly turn the pen as you go to access all the ink. You can also get a wider stroke by slanting the pen and using the side of the glass nib. It's not that easy to control your lines, but I actually like this because it creates a lot of happy accidents. And “oops well damn" accidents, but like I said I’m trying to cultivate the whole “learn to let go" mindset.

Waterbrush: Basically a brush that carries its own water reservoir. I’ve used a few different brands but I find I like the Pentel Aquash small the best. Some people fill them with ink like a brush pen, but I’ve not really done that. (I did it once with a different brand that was harder to open/refill and I got mad.) I use it to paint with the inks.

Pencil I got for free: Unless I really am just doodling, I usually draw base pencils of some sort, even if it’s just a very rough, light sketch or a quick thumbnail on another sheet of paper. Every so often I get an inquiry asking what special kind of pencil I use, but I’m afraid they’re just normal pencils rolled with recycled newsprint. I got free samples like a million years ago and I have been using them forever. (I think I’m finally down to my last three.)

Eraser: I’ve been trying a few different ones but it takes me forever to work through an eraser. You want it to be able to pick up the lines without requiring you to scrub and take the ink too or destroying the fibres of your paper. This one actually works pretty well. If you’re really curious you can see the non-destroyed packaging here! lol

Toilet or tissue paper: Something to pick up the water. This is my "undo button” in real life when I’m painting/using the waterbrush. Also I drown everything with water so it’s very important.

Ink swatches: Every time I get a new ink I make a sample and add it here. It’s great for colour palettes and when I’m looking at other inks and trying to decide whether to get it or not (e.g., is it different from everything I already have? My definition of “different” is very generous...). I don’t actually have all these inks; some were samples from friends. I’ve found I tend to gravitate towards very complex, nuanced neutrals. (This sounds so sophisticated but when you see them all it once it's like. Oh. Apparently I like shades of grey, brown, and other hard to classify "muddy" or in-between colours lmao. But more on that in a bit.) Lately I've been getting glittery inks because they're fun and they add a magical dimension to the physical piece.

Here is my current selection of inks - on the shelf to the immediate left of my laptop and my head as I am typing this right now. The box at the bottom left is all the samples. 

My approach

In my mind, I broadly classify my approach into two categories: “dry” and “wet”.

"Dry" - ink only, no water. I have pretty unsteady hands and hate "inking" - if we think of inking as an exercise in achieving a "clean", controlled line drawing with consistent line width/stroke thickness, neatness, etc. So I love pens that support me in what I think of as controlled loss of control - wide variations in brush width and stroke character. Brush pens and fude de mannen pens are perfect for this. They have lines that offer a wide range of dynamic, organic, and textural opportunity.  My Inktober illustrations fall into this category. A few examples below, followed by links to the full set.

Inktober 2017 - fude de mannen

Inktober 2018 - brush pen

"Wet" - Basically I blob water around. Depending on when I do it (before, with/during, after the application of the ink), you can get different results. The water causes the ink to bleed, semi-watercolour-like, and can be used for shading, environmental effects etc. For obvious reasons, this works best with non-waterproof inks (which the vast majority of fountain pen inks are), but you can do this even with waterproof inks. Just let the ink hit water before it has a chance to soak into the paper and you can get cool effects :D. And you can also do it with other pens too, not just fountain pen inks. Examples:

Tiles of Toronto urban sketch series

Raizen and Hokushin doodles

Arikoto from Ooku

As you might imagine, this is really great for on-the-go drawings, because you just need a pen (or a couple of pens) and a waterbrush.

The “wet” approach is also where the very complex inks that look "boring" (greys, taupes etc.) are just complete magic. When the dye elements separate, other colours emerge, and you get really wonderful textural effects and rings of colour where the ink pools and dries. Diamine Earl Grey is a colour I've mentioned several times that I LOOOVE because it separates into blues, browns, purples, even pinkish tones. It's a gorgeous ink. You can see some examples and closeups here.

Another colour that does this really powerfully is Sailor Rikyucha. It’s a dark tea brown-green that separates very easily into pale blue-greens and more and has amazing tonal and textural qualities. The Tendril Wreath illustration here really shows this.

For the most part I look at things I like and then experiment to figure out what happens. After working with the same tools for a while, you get a sense of how the different elements might react and respond naturally.  The Genjimonogatari series employs both dry and wet extensively and is an example of the experimenting and playing I’m doing - I keep finding new aspects to the inks I thought I knew, and making “interesting” mistakes. And trying to fix them as I go with varying levels of success, haha. But I’m always learning!

One more thing about this hobby

I feel compelled to finish with some talk about the pure aesthetic appeal, or the MULTIPLE LEVELS OF FUN I get out of these inks. Not just the colour, not just how the ink behaves, but... the name of the ink as well! Some inks do this more effectively than others. Similar to how the presentation of a dish is part of the experience, the name of an ink adds so much to my enjoyment of it. My least favourite ink names are [standard adjective]+[standard colour name]. My favourite ones are really convoluted with literary and poetic references, I just love them hahaha. Asian fountain pen inks I find tend to do this especially well - partly because of how much you can pack into how few syllables, I suppose. It makes me sad that a lot of sites don’t include the original names, often referencing them with just a number, though I understand it is difficult to translate. But I learn a lot with these names as a starting point! For example, Zhenjing, which I mentioned recently in the Kurama “Light” illustration, took a bit of back and forth with my parents to look up the source and then to interpret the complex line of poetry. It was a fun and fascinating exercise. 

A great name can’t save an ink I don’t like, but a good name elevates an ink I do like even more, and it can be really inspiring for making stuff. For example, take Pen BBS Mirrorflower Watermoon. I adore the colour of this ink - it's a very subtle grey-pale green with silver flakes. I used it heavily in the Hokushin fanart “Northern Deity” (you can see it here with photos of the sparkly).

The name is actually highly recognizable if you're familiar with classic East Asian literature/poetry. I read it out loud to my parents with no context other than "this is the name of one of my favourite ink colours" while they were eating dinner and they both said at the same time, "I know this! DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER!" lmao. It's a very Buddhist idiom or phrase referring to the illusory nature of things, likening it to the reflection of a flower in a mirror or the reflection of the moon in water.

I hope this was interesting and helpful! ^^

[lucybellwood]

I had a couple questions about the tools I took with me on my trip to Iceland, so I figured it'd be nice to do a quick visual guide to what I carry when I'm in the field making art! Read on under the cut if you want some more thoughts on choosing your tools and The Quest for the Magic Pencil.

There's a lot of bluster around asking artists about their tools. On the one hand, newer artists can become needlessly hung up on shortcuts, prying into artists' toolkits to try and find the Magic Paintbrush that will grant them the power they desire. (Bad news: it doesn't exist.) On the other hand, asking about people's tools is a GREAT way to discover new materials and techniques.

When I think about tools I picked up because artists I admire used them (Windsor and Newton Series 7 No. 2 Sable Brushes, Pentel Pocketbrush, etc.) I realize that they were neat to learn from, but ultimately didn't stick around. When I found something that really worked for my tendencies and preferences (Kuretake's felt-tip brush pen, for example) it felt right. However, like choosing a college major or a life path, that rightness is generally only attainable after a LOT of experimentation! You've gotta try stuff to figure out what works and what doesn't. There's just no other way.

So: here's what (currently) lives in my bag. My logic for choosing these tools is often dictated by where I'm going and what I'm doing. I like traveling small and light, so all of this fits into my tiny daypack and gives me the flexibility to do most everything I want in the field. I need pens that won't explode and leak on airplanes, because I'm often flying places (the Pilot fountain pen is unfortunately guilty of this 9 times out of 10 and often gets left behind or segregated in a plastic bag as a result). I need ink that's waterproof because I'm generally painting over it with wash or watercolor. I need a setup that won't knock over easily if I'm perched on a rock drawing in my lap (my FAVORITE thing about waterbrushes is how contained they are—no more knocking over rinse cups!). And I need enough wash or cartridges or what-have-you to last me however long I'll be away from the art supply store.

Most of these items are available from JetPens, but don't limit yourself. They have a great selection (and free shipping over $25) so it pays to try a bunch of different brush pens, pencils, and erasers. If you're looking to build your own kit, think about the places you like going to draw and the conditions you'll be up against. Tailor the tools to the job!

That’s it from me. Happy sketching!

[kazibug]

Art Snacks Review: July Box

So as many of you have heard me squeaking and squawking, I received my first Art Snacks box! Let’s see what goodies we had for the month of July. Click the Read More cut to keep going. It is very image heavy and a bit long c:

As you can see, I am an impatient asshole and opened the box immediately before I even got inside. I then proceeded to poke through it, play with the products, and forgot to finish this review until July was basically over. Anyway, here’s a look at the treats!

*unphotographed: Fireball candy that I gave to husband because I don’t like the taste of my tongue incinerating. I dislike ‘spicy’ cinnamon.

I’m a cheapass so of course the first thing I was drawn to was the coupon. Always need places to get supplies! Especially if it means I don’t have to leave my home so I can continue to avoid the burning apocalypse of the outside world.

By that I mean it’s hot out.

THIS SHIT

IS THE COOLEST THING

I HAVE EVER FUCKING SEEN

AND YOU CAN FLIP IT AND MAKE THE CORNERS POINTY

MONEY WELL SPENT JUST FOR THIS. This is the Derwent 2-in-1 Eraser/Sharpener and I’m infuriated that I didn’t find something like this sooner. The barrel inside rotates for easy shaving dumping – no awkward side shaking necessary. Honestly, I’m notorious for losing pretty much every single pencil sharpener I’ve ever had, but I keep track of erasers fairly well. I guess it’s because so many things – pencil wise at least – are mechanical now, so they don’t require manual sharpening. Huge bonus for colored pencils though. Speaking of:

So this actually isn’t a brand I’ve heard of because everything around me is “LOL PRISMACOLOR.” These are ‘Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle Pencils’ in Permanent Blue and Light Cadmium Red. (It’s orange. They gave me complimentary colors *SWEATS*) This was fun for me to get not just to branch out but because according to the ‘menu’ in the art snacks box, they are water soluble. Aka: watercolor pencils!  

They have really good pigment on their own and they go down smooth! Some pencils kind of give you that gritty-scratchy feel as your using them? Not these babies. They also blend well on their own – I used a cotton swab for this. Now for the water. Same process – bit of water with a cotton swap and stro-

HOLY SHIT

HOLY SHIT

SERIOUSLY THOUGH. Okay so I haven’t actually used watercolor pencils, so truth be told I had no idea what to expect from this. The intensity of that color though is absolutely crazy and I adore it. 

ONTO PENS

It isn’t written in English so it must be good. What we have here is a ‘Pentel Duopoint Flex Double-Ended Brush.’ That’s a really long way of saying it’s a two-sided brush pen. Now, brush pens and I don’t usually get along well. Any traditional utensil that gives variance in width based on pressure just hasn’t worked out for me, and that’s likely my fault. Brush pens, fountain pens, etc. I’m that person that has seven different individual pens with different widths for inking because I haven’t mastered just one.

A sticky note probably wasn’t the best paper choice, HOWEVER, THIS SHIT IS AWESOME. Again, I’m terrible with these things, but the fine point can get very thin, and the bold side is very fluid. I unfortunately would probably use the bold end for blocking in larger chunks of black, but the small end I could definitely see myself actually inking with on the appropriate paper. The ink is water based, so it will bleed some if you get it wet. I failed miserably at trying to make an ink wash with it, but I think the entire purpose of those is to use an ink well and not pens, so that was just me being lame :)   

The final box component is the Derwent HB Graphic Drawing Pencil. It’s almost as if we were destined to use that pencil sharpener.

I’m not a huge pencil snob so this didn’t have a massive impact on me. For those that may not have had to do graphite projects in school, pencils are graded by Hardness and Blackness. 8H is crazy hard, you’d use it to get light sketches down without worrying too much about pressure, or to shade the ‘whites’ in a piece. 9B is very soft and very dark. It’s like charcoal except graphite. Shiny charcoal. HB is right smack in the middle. It’s a couple grades harder than your standard #2 pencil (2B!)

All in all it does a good job. It’s smooth graphite, and it erases easily enough without much left behind. Blends well too! If you do a lot of pencil drawings I could see these being a good tool to add to your collection. Unfortunately with the type of work I do, this guy probably won’t see a lot of use.

And here we have a cutie that I put together for my Art Snacks Challenge! I tried to show that the pencils work well both wet and dry, so you can mix and match with their ‘wetness’ and even use it together in the same piece. It’s a simple piece, but I think it shows the products well.

The total value of this box came out higher than what the monthly cost for the box is, so we came out on top! I’m very pleased with what I received, and am happy to have a few new tools to use when I work away from the computer!

[doodlewash]

Today I present a Daniel Smith Titanium White and Mars Black watercolor ground review.  So many puns came to mind for this supply.  I’ll try to keep them to a minimum.  If you are not familiar with watercolor ground, it is basically an absorbent primer that allows one to use watercolor, or acrylic paint/ink, on a variety of surfaces and/or build up texture on surfaces.  We start with the main feature, and then a couple little tidbits at the end.

So let’s hit the ground running….

The directions on the jar say:

“An excellent ground for watercolor on all surfaces.  Absorbent surfaces: Canvas, Paper, Plaster, Hardboard.  Non-Absorbent surfaces: glass, plastic, metal- for best results these will need to be abraded before application of the ground.  Thick, brushable and heavily pigmented.  Allow 24-72 hours to cure before applying watercolor or acrylics.  Can be thinned up to 10% with water.  Wash brushes immediately after use.”

Ground from this brand also comes in Transparent and Iridescent Gold, but I don’t have those.  These are the 4 oz jars.  The Titanium White is also sold by the pint.  The white is thicker than the black.  I’ve had the white for longer, so it could be due to age.  It happens to the best of us.  The black has a smoother consistency before drying, the white reminds me of buttercream frosting.  The 4 oz sized containers are going for around $11-$12 on Amazon.  Looks like it can be found for less expensive prices elsewhere.

I know what the directions said, but I’m often fond of looking past such direction.  So I applied these to cardboard, along with Canson XL Mixed Media Sketchbook, a Leda Art Supply Sketch Book, and a small and cheap canvas board.  A ½ inch flat brush was used for application- as evenly as possible. They say 24-72 hours to cure, but I’m in Arizona, nothing takes that long to dry here.  I gave it about 12 hours on the Canson paper. I probably would have waited longer if I had applied it thicker, was building up the ground for shapes, or layering effects.  I want to point out that curing denotes something different than ordinary drying (although I’m not sure what), so my semi cavalier treatment of the product might not be suitable in all locations.  A friend on Instagram shared that in her experience, if the white ground didn’t cure for at least 24 hours, it made the paint look chalky. Another friend uses the ground on top of Altoids tins to paint on and pretty up her palettes.

I had some reason for buying the Mars Black, but don’t exactly recall.  Probably for space painting, as in- “Space the Final Frontier,” so that’s what I’m going with here.  And woo-hoo, now there’s an excuse to use that white watercolor that we’re told not to use!  Or use those pastel colors that contain the white pigment in the mix, which professional brands Daniel Smith and Holbein both carry.   Aren’t we told to never mix white in with other colors?  And why is it included in every palette set when no one uses it, or is instructed not to- taking up space where a more usable color could have been?!  I’m pointing these contradictions out because it’s one other reason I’m not compelled to always listen to, or follow directions or rules.  My supply reviews have a more adventurous creative flavor, than purist views.  What’s not acceptable or popular today, might be tomorrow.  So really- just do what moves you, that’s all that matters.   I love those pastel colors and have a few from Holbein.

Now after saying all that and experimenting, I’m coming right to it- I  don’t like the black ground. Everything I used on it looked terrible.  I’m showing these as examples of what NOT to do- cardboard for one, which might seem pretty obvious, but I gave it a go anyway.  And to further illustrate that, the black ground looks like bad 1970s velvet paintings. Velvet Elvis should leave the building.

This video shows a close up of Luminescent and Primatek Lines from Daniel Smith used on the Mars Black.

Below- the Mars Black ground painted in a Canson XL Mixed Media Sketchbook. The top row are Luminescent and Primatek Lines from Daniel Smith, pastel watercolors from Holbein, and a few Finetec watercolors. White FW Acrylic Ink was used to make stars, and gaseous clouds in the nebula.  I became so displeased with the results that I quit part way through my experiments.

Australian artist Cindy Lane has some amazing galaxies that she paints on black pastel matte using various luminous colors from the Daniel Smith line. Folks on Instagram might be familiar with her artistry.  Click either link to see her IG account.

On to these disasters- the cardboard.  The black one is especially terrible- I used white and pastel watercolors from Holbein, Finetec watercolor, and then Gelly Roll pen to try and help it some. Egads! White watercolor acted the strangest of all, it was difficult to control in some spots, and looks like a toothpaste stain.

General observations before I get into showing more examples. Lifting paint from the surface is easy to do.  Using a pointy tipped fountain pen will scrape through the surface, pens didn’t do that well, I tried a Pigma Micron and Gelly Roll.  Pencil worked fine, but I didn’t try to sketch a bunch or erase. The texture of the black ground surface reminds me of pastel matte. The white seems to be a little bit more paper like, but like painting on unsized paper. Images lack definition, aliveness, luminosity and depth, everything looks a little dull.  In some cases, getting detail was not easy. Anyone that is better with dry brush techniques, might have better luck using ground. This was a frustrating review to do samples for.  To queue the song I was hearing in my head when I thought about presenting these- click here.

Titanium White ground in a Leda Art Supply sketchbook.  This sketchbook has thin paper, and doesn’t accept watercolor without deteriorating some, at least the way I use watercolor. I thought it would be a good place to try ground. Most of the watercolors used were Daniel Smith Primatek and they looked the best out of anything, and this is the best example I have.  Even the gold ring came out sad and dull.

I applied the ground using a brush and a credit card, and also a more uneven application. It sat for months before I painted on it, so it was plenty cured. Close-up to show texture, which worked great for the rock formations.

Lastly, the white ground on a canvas panel, painted with Liquitex Muted Collection and Transparent Collection acrylic inks, which behave much like watercolor. It cured for the proper amount of time before use.  This was also a exercise in frustration.  The painting on the left is the ground covered canvas panel.  The one on the right are the same paints used on an Ampersand Aquabord, included for comparison.  Again, tough to get detail or definition, or depth on the ground surface, and I attempted to put in detail. Blasé.  No transparent luminosity like there is on the Aquabord.

All I can do in these reviews is present from personal experience, and anything personal comes with bias- pretty much anything anyone ever shares comes from that place- eye of the beholder and such. Some people might like how the black ground looks. These products might work fantastically for others because of their personal preference and/or skill.  I didn’t find a lot of examples out there. Here are a couple of links to artists that used ground, whose paintings look good.

Artist Stephanie Law uses watercolor ground in a lot of her paintings to achieve different textures, and layering effects.

This lady on Wet Canvas has a partial example on canvas.

And now that we are all feeling grounded (if this didn’t work, try “Earthing”), here are some Daniel Smith watercolor swatches on regular ‘ol Canson XL paper.  I can’t remember what I was going for here, but they are nice to look at.  I figured I would pop them in because I don’t know one person into watercolor that doesn’t like looking at swatches.  These were personal notes of a sort, so there is sure to be scrawl and misspellings and the swatches were done at random.  Other actual reviews on Daniel Smith watercolors can be found here– Part I, and here– Part II which covers the Primatek and Luminous lines.

Explorers’ Sketchbooks– I asked for this book for my birthday (thanks mom & dad).  It’s a beast of a book, textbook sized, and features the sketchbooks from 70 explorers. One modern explorer in there is Wade Davis– Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society. If you are into outdoors, nature sketching, exploring, travel sketching, looking at handwriting, old documents, history, anthropology, archaeology, it might be interesting to you. If available, it’s a good one to check out from a library.

In closing, I’m sharing a quote from the brilliant Austin Kleon.  Today, I resonate with this all the way.

“Try this: Next time you come across someone’s work and you’re not sure exactly how they do it, don’t ask them how it’s done. Don’t go after the “right answer” like some eager honors student. Look closer. Listen harder. Then use your imagination and experiment with the tools you have. Your bad approximation will lead to something of your own.”

The uniqueness and beauty of your personal artistic expression is just that- uniquely yours, right now, this very day.  May it continue to deepen, grow and transform, as you do.

Thank’s for taking the time to read this review, it’s for you.  Supply reviews happen when I have a supply to review, and always on a Saturday.

Join us for World Watercolor Group!  It’s a group for everyone who enjoys watercolor. It is a very active group. There’s also the #WorldWatercolorGroup tag to use when sharing your work on social media.  More info in the link above, or click here.

DOODLEWASH REVIEW: Daniel Smith Watercolor Grounds Today I present a Daniel Smith Titanium White and Mars Black watercolor ground review.  So many puns came to mind for this supply. 

[believermag]

"Think of a pencil being more like a cup of coffee rather than a pen.”

An Interview with Joey Cofone of Baron Fig

As far as pencils are concerned, I’m a late adapter. I made the switch from a fountain pen (how pretentious, I know) after finishing an essay by Mary Norris on her quest for the ideal No. 1 pencil (contrary to the cabal of No. 2 makers at Ticonderoga, they do exist, and are nigh impossible to find). It shows how deep pencil-freak culture goes that if you’re too occupied to maintain your pencil-point, you have the option of mailing your dulled graphite to David Rees, author of How to Sharpen Your Pencil, to be professionally sharpened. But is there anything more to be said about pencils? Can the pencil be re-conceptualized?

For minimalist pencil-designed Joey Cofone, the answer is an all-caps yes to both questions. Cofone has taken 1st place in the 2013 AIGA CMD-X competition, while Print Magazine named him one of 15 designers under 30 to watch.

The thing to understand first off about Cofone is that he likes simplicity a lot. The co-founder of Baron Fig, a New York-based maker of notebooks, Cofone has recently delved into reinventing the pencil. Or revolutionizing it. At the very least, he’s produced a damn fine instrument to write with and to hold.

The fittingly named Archer has a design that’s extremely clean-lined, forsaking the ferrule and even the eraser in pursuit of lightweight practicality. It’s also incredibly aromatic.

—Michael Peck​

BLVR: What got you into paper and notebooks?

JOEY COFONE: Several years ago, back at the School of Visual Arts here in New York City, I had realization that changed my life. Walking through the design department and taking a look at my fellow classmates’ tools, I noticed something: each of us was using two tools—a laptop and a notebook—to design. The laptops were all the same, MacBooks, but the notebooks were all different brands, sizes, paper types, and so on. I was intrigued. Why was there ubiquity with one tool but no loyalty to the other?

I went home and checked out my own bookshelf, and lo’ and behold all of my notebooks were different. There was this unspoken search for the right notebook that was going on all around me. Eventually my Co-founder Adam Kornfield joined the mix, and together we talked to thinkers all over the world, asking them one question: What do you like in a sketchbook or notebook?

Out of the five hundred plus cold-emails, we received a whopping 80% response rate. It turns out others were on the same search as us—and they had a lot to say. We used all that feedback to design the first community-inspired notebook, the Confidant, and put it on Kickstarter. At the end of thirty days we sold almost ten thousand notebooks and raised over $150k. That was just over two years ago.

BLVR: How did the name Baron Fig come about?

JC: I had this hankering for the word “Baron.” No idea why, such is life. I took the word to my co-founder Adam and our friend Scott, and told them that it needed a second word. Scott immediately, without hesitation, said “Fig.” Adam and I were confused—what does it mean?—even Scott didn’t know why he said it. Somehow it stuck, but I wasn’t happy with it. How could a company about thinking, about infusing meaning into creativity, not have a name with meaning itself?

For the next few weeks I wrote down hundreds and hundreds of possible names, but none stuck like Baron Fig. Finally, pretty much at wit’s end, I decided to look up the origins of baron and fig. Baron was a symbol of Apollo and Fig was a symbol of Dionysus—brothers that represent order and chaos. The name essentially symbolizes balance, of having the discipline to work hard but also the impulse to play, which is the essence of the creative mindset.

BLVR: What prompted the leap into pencil-making?​ Were there specific models that influenced the design of the Archer?

JC: I’m a minimalist designer. Hell, I’m a minimalist exister, if there is such a word. I like everything simple, fluid, clear. Clutter and excess drive me nuts. Even when I was a kid, I always wanted things to be just right. I used to go around the house and organize each room as if they were showrooms on display. Lamps squared with the edges of tables, stove tools arranged from longest to shortest, you name it and I was all over it. 

The Archer pencil was sort of a minimalist dream come true. I’ve always wanted to design a pencil—they’re like little creative wands—and it took our team over a year to hone in on the right production quality. In the meantime I designed dozens of versions before landing on the Archer you see today, each iteration a little more refined and simpler than the ones before it.

BLVR: Minimalism is definitely a noticeable trait, and it seems like the Archer is something of an ultimate statement of this simplicity. How does one go about re-conceptualizing the pencil?

JC: I don’t know how other designers do it, but I keep iterating until things feel right. Sometimes it’s quick, sometimes it takes 82 versions like the Confidant notebook’s packaging. My goal is to isolate and preserve the best elements, improve the weak ones, and look to my inner self’s gut response to see if the new outcome pleases or not. Rinse and repeat. My old teacher and designer James Victore has a good line about this: “In the particular lies the universal.” Solve your problem—and delight yourself—and you’ll do the same for others.

BLVR: The Archer, besides its other greatnesses, smells so good I have to pause what I’m doing and take a hit. How much wood did you have to test/sniff to make the best choice?

JC: I hear you. We try to take our hits when no one is looking. Sometimes you can find Adam near the stock shelves face-deep in a box of them. It’s definitely an issue.

BLVR: You mentioned earlier this idea of ubiquitous loyalty when it comes to laptops, etc. Pencils are sort of marked by promiscuity—once you’re done with one, you just pluck another from the box. So how do you hope to gain that kind of loyalty with the Archer?

JC: Think of a pencil being more like a cup of coffee rather than a pen. We all find our favorite coffee and stick to it. Sure, the cups run out, but there’s always another one waiting—and you know it’s going to be just as good as the ones that come before it. Quality, reliability—they’re both extremely important in designing a consumable, especially a tool that helps us do our work or hobby.

BLVR: For pencil nerds like myself, how does the Archer differ, and improve upon, something like the Palomino Blackwing?

JC: I get asked this a lot. We put major emphasis on community feedback, and design accordingly. Since we launched Baron Fig we’ve tweaked and redesigned every product directly based on the ideas that come our way from our customers. When we say “Designed by the community,” we mean it. As far as the Archer goes, they’ve been a requested product since day one. Each Archer is extremely high quality, better than anything available at their price point of $15 per pack. And, if I do say so myself, sexier than any pencil, period.

BLVR: It’s definitely a sexy pencil.

JC: Thank you.

BLVR: Pencils, packaging—it’s so minimalist it’s sans-serif, without a stray line in sight, the Phillip Glass of writing implements (I could go on). But I do find myself a little thrown off by the lack of an eraser. Was there a debate to excise the eraser?

JC: Well said. Since launching the Archer I’ve been asked this question often—"Why did you remove the eraser? What’s your thinking?“—as if I’ve committed an atrocity. There’s a disconnect, though, between how people say they feel about erasers versus how people actually feel about them. When’s the last time you used an eraser on a pencil and thought to yourself, "Damn, this eraser is great”? I don’t think it happens. They’re pretty much crap, every one seems to leave marks on the page, gets dirty and blemished, and in the end delivers an underwhelming experience.

So I nixed it. Boom, goodbye eraser at the end. With that out of the way now we can actually deliver a quality eraser on the side, one that doesn’t mark up your page and isn’t limited to the lifespan of the pencil itself.

BLVR: What do you see the Archer going into the world to achieve?

JC: Everything. Imagery and language are some of the oldest and most glorious technologies known to man. Technology? What? Yes, technology. But I’m digressing—what do I hope for the Archer to achieve? For these pencils to be the vehicles of communication, of images and words, that affect the world. Ideas are powerful, writing instruments are the means by which they’re communicated. On our site, at the top of the Squire pen page, it explains that a writing instrument “…grants the power to move entire nations, to touch people’s hearts and souls—to make something from nothing.” And I mean every word of that.

Michael Peck is the author of The Last Orchard in America. His work has appeared in Tin House, LA Review of Books, Pank and elsewhere. He lives in Oregon City, where he deals in rare books.

[agosnesrerose]

How Your Simple Drawings Can Be Part of Something Big

In many of my drawing classes and activities, I’ve noticed that the concept of drawing can be daunting once you became an adult—especially if you are not in the habit of doing it regularly.

Somehow when growing up, many of us lose the simple joy and nonjudgemental approach of drawing we had as kids. For me, I easily find beauty in all kinds of drawings, and I like the fact it is always very personal—as personal as handwriting. It is that love of the drawing media and the willingness to be inclusive of all artists, beginners to advanced, that inspired Sophie Babeanu and me to set up The Big Picture Art Project.

You can read more about the Big Picture Art Project and upload your drawing here.

Participating in the Big Picture Art Project

In The Big Picture, participants from across the globe simply upload square-sized drawings and share a little bit about their personal stories. These drawings are meant to illustrate a little slice of the participant’s life—a snapshot of his or her life story, whether a moment from the past or present.

Once submitted, the drawings will become part of a mosaic panoramic picture of the Vancouver rainforest, which can read like a book or be searched like an online map.

When it comes to what type of drawing to include, possibilities are endless. If interested in the collective art project, you can use a marker, fine liner, ink, dipping pen, fountain pen, pretty much any tool to make a black drawing on a white background. You can draw from life or from a photo reference. The choice is yours. And, in case the endless array of awesome possibilities aren’t enough to inspire you to take part, read on for a few easy drawing techniques to get you started.

Line Contour Drawing

In a simple line contour drawing, you are just focusing on the outlines of the object you are drawing, meaning you can keep everything very minimalist and simple. And, if you are more of a novice drawer, you can start with graphite and then go over your drawing with ink. Once the ink has time to dry, you can always erase your pencil lines!

Here are two examples of contour drawings. The first drawing is of a man who was sitting on a plane I was on; as you can see, I kept this one very simple. The second picture is of the view from my hotel when I was on a trip to Las Vegas—which I barely survived.

Simple contour drawing of man on a plane, Sandrine Pelissier

Contour drawing of hotel view, Sandrine Pelissier

Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing is when you draw something without looking at your paper. This may seem counter-intuitive, but this technique often yields interesting results. And, if for nothing else, is a great exercise to let loose, have some fun and break the ice before launching into a new drawing. Of course, don’t expect accuracy or likeness with this technique! (But isn’t that part of the fun?)

Blind contour drawing, a girl and a dog, Sandrine Pelissier

Cross Contour Drawing

Cross contour drawing means drawing the outlines of your subject and then adding lines across the subject to describe the volumes. Here are two hand drawing examples that were made following this technique. Notice how the lines help illustrate a sense of three-dimensionality to the drawings.

Cross contour hand drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

Cross contour hand drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

Adding a Touch of Color

For the Big Picture, you can add a few pops of color in your drawing. In these two examples, I used Inktense markers to add a touch of color to contour drawings.

The first drawing is of rooftops in Paris, with brick chimneys colored red. The second image is a drawing I made from a reference picture pulled from one of my videos, showing off the materials used with pops of bright color.

Rooftops in paris, red chimneys, Sandrine Pelissier

Art supplies with added color from photo references, Sandrine Pelissier

Line-hatching

You can add simple parallel lines to your contour drawing to represent different shades of gray, values, depth or color.

The first drawing is of a hotel lobby, and the second one is my dog, Java, sleeping on the couch. The third one is another example of a quick drawing I made while on a plane.

Drawing of hotel lobby, line-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Drawing of dog, Java, using line-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Drawing of inside a plane, using line-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Cross-hatching

Cross-hatching is similar to line hatching except you make the hatching lines cross one other to get different values and shades of gray. Below you will see an example of cross-hatching used on a drawing of a plant (the first image is zoomed in so you can see it more).

Cross-hatching, detail, Sandrine Pelissier

Drawing of plant, cross-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Scrumbling

Try scribbling with different degrees of intensity on the areas you want to shade, in a process called scrumbling, for another interesting shading technique.

If you are using this technique on a difficult subject, such as a portrait, you can use tracing paper or translucent YUPO paper to work on your scribbles while still being able to see your reference picture underneath. Additionally, you can start with a simple contour drawing and add the scrumbling afterward.

Portrait with scrumbling, Sandrine Pelissier

Portrait with scrumbling, Sandrine Pelissier

Mixing Ink Washes and Lines

Another technique I really enjoy using is mixing ink washes and fine lines, which is shown in the two images below. I usually start with big loose washes, adding details and definition with lines.

Simple drawing using ink washes and lines, detail, Sandrine Pelissier

Simple drawing using ink washes and lines, Sandrine Pelissier

Patterns

Enhance your basic line drawings by adding patterns. This is a time-consuming process, but you can create different shades of gray by using patterns that are more or less dark, which helps create more visual interest in your drawings. Below are drawings of a cross section of a tree and a reclining figure.

Cross section of a tree, drawing patterns, Sandrine Pelissier

Reclining figure, drawing patterns, Sandrine Pelissier

Digital Drawings

You can find tons of free mobile apps as well as websites that let you create digital drawings. One convenient advantage of making a digital drawing is that you don’t have to worry about scanning or uploading a picture of your drawing, because it is already in a digital file when you’re finished. Plus, digital drawings can just be a lot of fun to create!

Digital drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

Digital drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

  I hope these easy drawing techniques will help inspire you to start drawing, and hopefully encourage you to join in the fun by participating in something big. We can’t wait to see what drawings you will upload on The Big Picture!

Check out the video below for even more information on The Big Picture Art Project.

~Sandrine Pelissier

The post How Your Simple Drawings Can Be Part of Something Big appeared first on Artist's Network.

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[mredwinsmith]

How Your Simple Drawings Can Be Part of Something Big

In many of my drawing classes and activities, I’ve noticed that the concept of drawing can be daunting once you became an adult—especially if you are not in the habit of doing it regularly.

Somehow when growing up, many of us lose the simple joy and nonjudgemental approach of drawing we had as kids. For me, I easily find beauty in all kinds of drawings, and I like the fact it is always very personal—as personal as handwriting. It is that love of the drawing media and the willingness to be inclusive of all artists, beginners to advanced, that inspired Sophie Babeanu and me to set up The Big Picture Art Project.

You can read more about the Big Picture Art Project and upload your drawing here.

Participating in the Big Picture Art Project

In The Big Picture, participants from across the globe simply upload square-sized drawings and share a little bit about their personal stories. These drawings are meant to illustrate a little slice of the participant’s life—a snapshot of his or her life story, whether a moment from the past or present.

Once submitted, the drawings will become part of a mosaic panoramic picture of the Vancouver rainforest, which can read like a book or be searched like an online map.

When it comes to what type of drawing to include, possibilities are endless. If interested in the collective art project, you can use a marker, fine liner, ink, dipping pen, fountain pen, pretty much any tool to make a black drawing on a white background. You can draw from life or from a photo reference. The choice is yours. And, in case the endless array of awesome possibilities aren’t enough to inspire you to take part, read on for a few easy drawing techniques to get you started.

Line Contour Drawing

In a simple line contour drawing, you are just focusing on the outlines of the object you are drawing, meaning you can keep everything very minimalist and simple. And, if you are more of a novice drawer, you can start with graphite and then go over your drawing with ink. Once the ink has time to dry, you can always erase your pencil lines!

Here are two examples of contour drawings. The first drawing is of a man who was sitting on a plane I was on; as you can see, I kept this one very simple. The second picture is of the view from my hotel when I was on a trip to Las Vegas—which I barely survived.

Simple contour drawing of man on a plane, Sandrine Pelissier

Contour drawing of hotel view, Sandrine Pelissier

Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing is when you draw something without looking at your paper. This may seem counter-intuitive, but this technique often yields interesting results. And, if for nothing else, is a great exercise to let loose, have some fun and break the ice before launching into a new drawing. Of course, don’t expect accuracy or likeness with this technique! (But isn’t that part of the fun?)

Blind contour drawing, a girl and a dog, Sandrine Pelissier

Cross Contour Drawing

Cross contour drawing means drawing the outlines of your subject and then adding lines across the subject to describe the volumes. Here are two hand drawing examples that were made following this technique. Notice how the lines help illustrate a sense of three-dimensionality to the drawings.

Cross contour hand drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

Cross contour hand drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

Adding a Touch of Color

For the Big Picture, you can add a few pops of color in your drawing. In these two examples, I used Inktense markers to add a touch of color to contour drawings.

The first drawing is of rooftops in Paris, with brick chimneys colored red. The second image is a drawing I made from a reference picture pulled from one of my videos, showing off the materials used with pops of bright color.

Rooftops in paris, red chimneys, Sandrine Pelissier

Art supplies with added color from photo references, Sandrine Pelissier

Line-hatching

You can add simple parallel lines to your contour drawing to represent different shades of gray, values, depth or color.

The first drawing is of a hotel lobby, and the second one is my dog, Java, sleeping on the couch. The third one is another example of a quick drawing I made while on a plane.

Drawing of hotel lobby, line-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Drawing of dog, Java, using line-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Drawing of inside a plane, using line-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Cross-hatching

Cross-hatching is similar to line hatching except you make the hatching lines cross one other to get different values and shades of gray. Below you will see an example of cross-hatching used on a drawing of a plant (the first image is zoomed in so you can see it more).

Cross-hatching, detail, Sandrine Pelissier

Drawing of plant, cross-hatching, Sandrine Pelissier

Scrumbling

Try scribbling with different degrees of intensity on the areas you want to shade, in a process called scrumbling, for another interesting shading technique.

If you are using this technique on a difficult subject, such as a portrait, you can use tracing paper or translucent YUPO paper to work on your scribbles while still being able to see your reference picture underneath. Additionally, you can start with a simple contour drawing and add the scrumbling afterward.

Portrait with scrumbling, Sandrine Pelissier

Portrait with scrumbling, Sandrine Pelissier

Mixing Ink Washes and Lines

Another technique I really enjoy using is mixing ink washes and fine lines, which is shown in the two images below. I usually start with big loose washes, adding details and definition with lines.

Simple drawing using ink washes and lines, detail, Sandrine Pelissier

Simple drawing using ink washes and lines, Sandrine Pelissier

Patterns

Enhance your basic line drawings by adding patterns. This is a time-consuming process, but you can create different shades of gray by using patterns that are more or less dark, which helps create more visual interest in your drawings. Below are drawings of a cross section of a tree and a reclining figure.

Cross section of a tree, drawing patterns, Sandrine Pelissier

Reclining figure, drawing patterns, Sandrine Pelissier

Digital Drawings

You can find tons of free mobile apps as well as websites that let you create digital drawings. One convenient advantage of making a digital drawing is that you don’t have to worry about scanning or uploading a picture of your drawing, because it is already in a digital file when you’re finished. Plus, digital drawings can just be a lot of fun to create!

Digital drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

Digital drawing, Sandrine Pelissier

  I hope these easy drawing techniques will help inspire you to start drawing, and hopefully encourage you to join in the fun by participating in something big. We can’t wait to see what drawings you will upload on The Big Picture!

Check out the video below for even more information on The Big Picture Art Project.

~Sandrine Pelissier

The post How Your Simple Drawings Can Be Part of Something Big appeared first on Artist's Network.

from Artist's Network http://ift.tt/2qM5F2c

[easythingstodrawtutorials]

PEN VS PENCIL - Easy Things to Draw

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PEN VS PENCIL - Easy Things to Draw

PEN VS PENCIL – Easy Things to Draw

There are some major pros and cons to drawing with a pen or pencil. In the video above I’m gonna go over a few of them. This is just my opinion on how I’ve used them for the last several years.

For me my absolute favorite sketching tool is the ball point pen. I think the finished product is just so much more visible and developed. I think it looks great on Instagram and has an awesome finished permanent look to it. I used to love mechanical pencils, but they faded in my sketchbook over the years.Also, don’t forget to check another tutorial Intro to Line Art – Easy Things To Draw

Pencil

You can easily erase pencil. It’s the tool we all learn to draw with. Its easy to erase in most cases to a point, and its clean.

There are a few things I massively dislike about the pencil. When I push down to get a darker tone, its not great to get a variety of values from one pencil. You’ll need a set of pencils to get various tones down correctly. Also pencil tends to fade over the years. I noticed having a sketchbook full of pencil drawings can get very gross and smudged over time.

  The smudge tool is trash. It can be a great tool for those that use it correctly, but generally when people get it they over smudge everything to the point where people look like metal beings. It makes things look too smooth.

Pen

Pen has the obvious downfall of being permanent. A ball point pen can actually be used similar to a pencil in several ways. Since its not a fountain pen, you can lightly bring up a drawing or sketch with a ball point pen. You can gradually find the detail and make things you choose more permanent. There is a slight gradation to what you can so.

  The other things about pen is that when you sketch in pen, you start to train yourself to make less mistakes and to think through your drawing decisions. It’s a very distinct process. Drawing in pen over time can get you much better at pencil drawing for this very reason. I suggest sketching in pen immensely. Try it out and let me know if you like it. This is one of the best things you can do for you art ability.

So they both have their pros and cons. Please let me know what you think in

the comments section below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. 😀

Avoid smudging

“When shading, use an extra piece of paper underneath your hand,” advises artist Brun Croes. “This will minimize the amount your hand smudges your pencil lines. If you’re right-handed, start shading from left to right; if you’re left-handed, start at the right and move to the left.

Keep some texture

Designer Patricia Ann Lewis-MacDougall suggests keeping some texture. “Some artists might find using watercolor crayons a little on the grainy side; however I like the added life the grain gives to a sketch. You don’t have to add water over the whole image. Leave some areas untouched to add a bit of texture to your sketch.”

Take control

Take control, says illustrator Sylwia Bombal. “If you position your hand closer to the end of the pencil, you have more control and precision, but heavier strokes (darker markings). Gripping further up the pencil will give you less control and precision, but lighter strokes (lighter markings).”

Use varied lines

Use varied lines, says illustrator Rovina Cail. “Not all lines are equal. Subtle shifts in the width and darkness of your lines will create a dynamic, visually interesting drawing. Controlling the kind of mark you put down can be tricky in the beginning, but with practice you will be able to create a variety of marks that work together to make a cohesive image. Experiment with different pencil grades (from 3H to 6B) and with holding the pencil at different angles.”

Mirror with tracing paper

“A benefit of tracing paper is that you can flip it over to see how your drawing looks from the reverse angle,” advises artist Justin Gerard. “This can help reveal errors in proportion. As you work, take advantage of this in order to arrive at a more successful drawing.”

I hope these tips an thoughts were helpful. Please let me know your opinion as well. Also if you are brand new to drawing go to my FREE BEGINNERS DRAWING PROGRAM HERE.

Also, don’t forget to check another tutorial Intro to Line Art – Easy Things To Draw

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