Field Notes (Coffee & Tea)

For my last sketchbook I used a Field Notes memo book I had left over from the 3-pack I bought a while ago. I like their compact size, the way they feel in my hands, and their no excuses facilitation of simple sketching. It lasted me seventeen days. Here are some coffee/tea/hot chocolate cups.

 

 

 

 

 

Monster Commute Book Drive

Long time readers know I am a huge fan of Steam Crow Press. For the last few years, Daniel M. Davis has been doing a daily webcomic called Monster Commute. It started out as jokes about traffic and monsters, but has grown into something more. The time has come to collect the early strips and produce a collection- a traffic novel, as he calls it. I encourage you to pre-order your copy now.

Leaves

Just something from my current sketchbook.

October Sketchbook

Finished another sketchbook over the weekend. Originally I had intended to fill this sketchbook with Halloween stuff, but things never really go the way you plan. I thought, I can't just sit here and wait for Hallween stuff to come to me, I have to go out there and find it. Make it. And I did. But.

For this book I used a one-of-a-kind book from Bored. Someone did a painting, and they cut the painting up into 25 pieces and made 25 books from them. I have Number 13. The book looks really nice. Or, rather, looked really nice until I got to work in it. The cover went to hell, as you can see. The corners were peeling back, the paint on the cover was cracking off.

The paper inside was limiting. I tried to use a lot of my fancy schmancy artist pencils, but after a week or two I realized they were all smudging all over the place. The paper was too thin for watercolor or markers. I ended up with two choices: ball point pen, or plain old pencil.

The back half of the book is lined paper. I confess I had no interest in trying to draw over that. I could've been writing there, out of sequence, lists or something, but I tend to whine a lot.

So here are some photos of sketches from our trip to Boston.

 

 

Another Sketchbook (I've Lost Count)

Today I finished another sketchbook. I have been using a little handmade book I received as a gift. It's was almost too gorgeous to destroy with my scrawlings.

It was a real no-nonsense sketchbook. It was small so it carried easily. The cover was stiff, so it held up to abuse. It had no fancy elastic bands or pretentious back pockets.

While the paper was really nice to look at and touch, it didn't hold up to much. Most of my pens bled through. It had a sort of waxy finish so colored pencils didn't really stick, nor did a regular drawing pencil. And as you can see from the pictures below, the paper was so thin you could almost see right through every page, so I knew any amount of water(color) was out.

What this meant was that I had to get over my artistic self and just draw. I had to tell my snobby little art brat to shut the hell up and draw. Everything in this book is draw with a ballpoint pen.

I love the simplicity of drawing with a ballpoint pen. You don't have to worry about color matching, or tone, or hue. You don't have to worry about finishing your masterpiece before the subject moves. You just draw. Think about shapes, forms, the way the page is laid out. Think, maybe, a little about shading. But mostly I like drawing with a ballpoint pen because it's quick and dirty and gets the job done. It doesn't require maintenance, or fancy ink, or time to dry. It just makes lines. And thus, I have no excuse for not drawing.