Master Penman

Today I got to meet Jake Weidmann (artist and Master Penman) and see his work at the Ohio Pen Show. His craftsmanship is amazing. Watch this (Youtube) video for glimpses of it.

I love his rendition of C. S. Lewis & the Untamed Lion.
* * * * * * *
Creators of the Apple Pencil and the ProCreate app consulted with Weidmann during their development, and made modifications based on his input. You may have seen his drawings in an Apple store, during a promotion.

Further viewing: Goulet Guest: Brian Goulet, of Goulet Pens, interviews Weidmann at the DC Pen Show, 2017.

“The Light Which Fills the World”

Frederick Mathewes-Green recently linked a PBS introduction to the landscapes of Orthodox photographer Christopher Burkett. He painstakingly develops photographs using Cibachrome, a film no longer made by the manufacturer.* He purchased ten years’ worth of film, when the end of production was announced, in 2012.

Burkett shares more of his story in The Tapestry of Creation.

“I’m working within a very limited box, in terms of technical possibilities. It’s a form of discipline, but there’s a strength and depth that’s possible within that discipline that doesn’t happen any other way.”  Christopher Burkett

*Watching Burkett process film brought back memories of watching my father in the darkroom, so many Sunday afternoons.

Bockingford 300 gsm Not watercolor paper

Today I folded six quarter sheets of Bockingford 140 lb/300 gsm Not (cold pressed) watercolor paper in half (with the grain), and sewed them into two signatures (matching surfaces across spreads) —another experiment for #30x30DirectWatercolor2018. (Turned left so spine faced into the wind, here.)

A few years ago in Sketchbook Skool, Brenda Swenson mentioned including Bockingford paper in her handmade sketchbooks. I ordered the paper when it was also recommended (along with Saunders Waterford) by Bob Davies, in an Art Tutor class.

 I had ordered book binding supplies from Paper & Ink Arts, during Roz Stendahl's online By Design class, but didn’t have the time to focus on it then. I have been reading about Tina Koyama's sketchbook binding techniques for a few years, and hoped I would eventually get around to trying them.

Anne-Laure Jacquart's recent Youtube demos were the tipping point; her clear instruction brought the attempt within reach.

Palette play

Altoids mini-palettes

Triad experiements

Many in the urban sketching community—led by Marc Taro Holmes— have temporarily put away their pens, preparing for thirty days of “direct” watercolor sketching during the month of June.

I thought about joining in, but wanted more direction—since I won't be traveling to an exotic locale for inspiration, as many do.

I recently purchased Nita Leland's updated classic, Exploring Color Workshop, and want to work on her exercises.

I picked up a few packs of Altoids (Smalls)*, filled them with her examples of “harmonious palettes” of primaries, and attached them to a small enamel butcher's tray. Several colors do double duty, appearing in two triads.

*Cathy Johnson has a Youtube tutorial on creating primary palettes which includes the use of Altoids tins.

Sketch Bag

Brenda Swenson has been one of my favorite watercolor instructors, ever since I found her through Sketchbook Skool’s online Seeing class. She also teaches on the west coast, in North Carolina (at Cheap Joe’s),  and in Europe.

In the video above, Brenda introduces her sketching supplies, which include a canvas rigger bag from Harbor Freight Tools. I bought a bag like hers, when I started a Strathmore Mixed Media sketchbook that didn’t fit into my purse. It turned out to be so convenient for rotating different sketching materials through, and finding them on the spur of the moment, that I’ve stuck with it since. I’m on my third one, and have even given one (packed with basic sketching gear) as a gift. They are sturdy, but the heavy canvas becomes difficult to clean after a few years.
(I see Amazon also offers them, but charges almost twice as much as our local Harbor Freight.)

Further reading: Brenda’s blog
Video: Finding my creative voice

Review, refresh

I first viewed Danny Gregory’s video, The Art of Breakfast, a few years ago. It was instrumental in motivating me to take up the practice of keeping an illustrated journal.  Every so often, I review it— to refresh my memory, pare the discipline back to its essentials: the page, the line, the wash, this moment, this place.

P.S. I have to laugh, remembering the first time I saw PG Tips scroll through the list of materials at the end; I thought it referred to the pen nibs, rather than the tea.

Gate of the year

One of my New Year's goals was to take on a project of  #100daysofsketchingnaturethroughmywindow. I haven't made much progress so far, because it's been so cold. We've kept most of the curtains drawn, most of the time.

So yesterday I watched New York nature artist Kateri Ewing's demo of her daily watercolor sketching practice in a Hobonichi journal.  She lets a few watercolor pigments interact across the page, then looks for forms, similar to seeking shapes in cloud formations. She uses graphite to bring out her vision.

I let a few colors run together on a January page in my Leuchtturm 1917 bullet journal. I used a Pentel GraphGear 500 mechanical pencil to outline various shapes, moving toward a vignette. The paper is not meant for watercolor, but doesn’t bleed through to the other side, just wrinkles a bit.

The suggestion of a hand in the upper right corner reminded me of Minnie Louise Hoskins’ poem about the man standing at the gate of the year. I used it to begin a new sketchbook in January, a couple years ago. Last week, I heard it quoted in a Youtube documentary about the history of the British royal Christmas speeches. King George VI read it over the radio December 25, 1939.

I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’
And he replied, ‘Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.’. . . .

(Sorry this photo isn’t more clear. It was difficult to keep the graphite from reflecting as white, in a few places where it was more densely laid down.)

Green thoughts

Jill Weber, an illustrator living in rural Vermont, teaches one of my favorite Sketchbook Skool classes. She makes little books with stories from her life. I miss summer greens, in this week’s frigid weather, and thought of her garden book.

One of January’s garden tasks is to pore over nursery catalogs, planning orders for spring planting.

More: Behind the scenes with Jill Weber

Watercolor Sketching and Journaling

Last night I went to the first art league meeting of the "new year." Members shared art work and photography done over the past summer.

The last participant had been too busy to create in her customary format, but had found Gay Kraeger's Strathmore watercolor journaling classes on Youtube, and shared her own sketchbook, applying the lessons. Gay's classes are a great introduction to the practice of  keeping an illustrated journal. She also offers a class on Craftsy, which overlaps the Youtube material.

Watercolor sketching and journaling (Youtube)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Watercolor artist Cathy Johnson also did a good Youtube series for Strathmore. She offers online classes through her website and contributes to Sketchbook Skool's Seeing class.

Watercolor sketching (Youtube)
Part 1, Bonus
Part 2, Bonus
Part 3, Bonus
Part 4 , Bonus

In addition, Cathy offers tutorials on her youtube channel: Cathy Johnson.

Urban Sketchers - Columbus

Urban Sketchers recognized its Columbus chapter this past December. A November Dispatch article introduced the group:
Artists are drawn together regularly to sketch public scenes, connect

Further reading: The Art of Urban Sketching, by Gabriel Campanario.
USKSingapore 2015 handouts
Video:
Sketchbook Skool interview of Jason Das, former USK president: What Is Urban Sketching?
Nina Johansson's intro to her sketches of Gaudi's  Sagrada Familia.

Lenten Sketchbook: Paul Soupiset

Drawing Close // Documentary on Illustrator Paul Soupiset from Isenhower Productions on Vimeo.

Artist Paul Soupiset sketches, designs, and illustrates from his community in San Antonio, TX.

The mystery of art

Jonathan Jackson, The Mystery of Art: Becoming an Artist in the Image of God, Clergy-Laity Congress, Greek Orthodox Church in America,  Nashville,  2016.

Seek silence. Listen for the still, small voice. "The whole world is a sacrament."

Thirty-five glass ships

Lino Tagliapietra's glass ships circle the sun every 365 days. I sketched as they passed.

Dry watercolor pencil over wet, pastel pencil background.

Note: The Columbus Museum of Art offers free admission on Sundays.

Kileville, again

Sometimes you just need to get out to the country and breathe. Looking north over spring fields, across 161, the path Tecumseh blazed and an old Pony Express route. The insulated cable traversing the lower right corner marks the parking spot. (Oops, the horizon line is too near the middle.)

“Setting aside time each day to become absorbed in just being- in the present moment, alone in nature, - will leave you refreshed and refocused. . . . . Nothing spectacular, everything spectacular. The essential magic occurs when pencil meets paper and the eye really sees a tree. The Process of Seeing is what counts, not how good a drawing Is. Being A Witness brings a sense of belonging, of compassion, of responsibility.” -Clare Walker Leslie 

 More reading: Jan Blencowe, Three easy ways to begin keeping a nature journal.

Any time someone stops and wants to know what you're doing--or looks at what you're doing--they'll look at your drawing, and then they'll look up at what you're sketching. . . .Chances are pretty good they've never seen that building exactly that way.  You're helping them appreciate their city. They're becoming more aware. That builds civic pride. Civic pride builds advocacy for a great urban environment.
-----James Richards, Essential Techniques for Sketching the Energy of Places.*

*I generally enroll in Craftsy classes only when they're offered at a good sale price, $19.99 or lower, which seems to occur randomly and around certain holidays--sometimes through their Facebook feed. 

Love can be defined as sustained, compassionate attention. Paying sincere attention to another person...helps us to build understanding and kindness. Similarly, I feel understanding, care, and compassion when I journal and turn deep attention to nature. Love of the natural world is the spring that waters commitment to stewardship. . . .  John Muir Laws in The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling.

Fujimura on the value of limitations, boundaries....

Lent: "It's All in the Waiting" by Makoto Fujimura from Pilgrim Year on Vimeo.

Makoto Fujimura is an artist, a writer, and the Director of Fuller Seminary's Brehm Center.

Lapin's Camino pilgrimage sketchbook

(camino de santiago from picnic on Vimeo.)

Lapin is a well-known French illustrator, artist, and urban sketcher who lives in Barcelona. His memoir of walking the Camino is an interesting record for the Lenten season.

Michael Nobbs, Welsh artist

Here Danny Gregory interviews Michael Nobbs, an artist and author from Wales.  Mr. Nobbs has written several books (Drawing Your Life), developed a podcast series (One Thing Today), and grown an online creative community (Sustainably Creative), working within the health challenges posed by living with ME (or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).  His coping strategies are useful for anyone who wants to create within the confines of limited time.

Richard Bell, Yorkshire artist

Danny Gregory interviews Richard Bell, a Yorkshire artist and author who keeps a wonderful record of plants and wildlife in his backyard, throughout the seasons--as well as of scenery and human activity in his local community (Wild Yorkshire). Mr. Bell shares how he has been able to forge a career in art, while working within boundaries of physical limitations.