Ohio Pen Show

The annual Ohio Pen Show has rolled around, once again. Vendor rooms will be open to the public November 2-4, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin.  The entry fee is $5/day or $10 for a weekend pass. Come for the history, the ink, the pens, and the paper; you will find many friendly people.

Deborah Basel’s Journal class ($20) will be of special interest to sketchers. Deborah usually offers calligraphy workshop for adults and children, so this is a new addition. She is a good instructor, so I’m sure it will be a worthwhile session. (She will also be offering her customary calligraphy classes.)

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.

Golden Hour

Tonight a fellow sketcher introduced a couple of us to an (Itunes) app called The Golden Hour ($0.99). It calculates the morning hour (just after sunrise) and evening hour (just before sunset) when the warm light is best for photography, based on date and location. This information is also helpful for sketching. Shadows become most dramatic.

There are other apps that perform a similar function, some with additional features, such as tracking moonlight and the blue (twilight) hours.

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

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.)

"Art Haul"

Breakfast at Bob Evans

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors

My "art hauls" usually consist of one or two items purchased online or at a local art/craft supply store (often on sale, clearance, or with a 40% off coupon), just enough to anticipate a new way to play with mark making.
This time, it was Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors,  which I used in the ornaments depicted above. The six shades of sparkly gold appeared gaudy until the Advent season; then suddenly, they fit. The metallic paint, while rather opaque for watercolor, retained a surprising amount of sheen when dry.

The top sketch also shows a couple tables of friends engrossed in breakfast conversation, at the local Bob Evans.

Palette

Current palette

Tonya just posted a palette review over at Scratchmade Journal, so I'll post an update of mine here. I keep coming back to the Sennelier half pan sampler set of six. It measures about 8.5 by 3.5 inches.
I ordered 25 empty half pans from Kremer Pigments, removed the plastic insert, and used Loctite Fun-Tak to fasten the extra pans in.
 
I made a brief detour with the Alvin Heritage palette, but never became comfortable using it. I like the Sennelier's portability, enamel mixing areas, and the flexibility to rearrange the pigments and choose pan size. Might even be able to get some brushes in there.

The view from here

Sketchbooks, 2014-1017

Daler Rowney Cachet

Fabriano Venezia

Moleskine: Planner, Watercolor

Pentallic Nature Sketch (spiral)

Stillman & Birn: Alpha, Beta (spiral)

Strathmore: Visual Journal (spiral), Toned Tan (spiral), Mixed Media (500 series)



Experiment

Rose Red, Titanium White, Ivory Black

I am playing with Richeson Casein for the month of April.  James Gurney and Stephen Quiller like it, but not many contemporary artists seem to use it.

I am not used to opaque paint, so am at square one.  It is milk-based, and does not re-wet like watercolor and gouache, so you have to squeeze out only the amount you will use in one sitting.

I am using the paint in a Canson Montval 5.5 x 8.5, cold press, 140 lb, twelve-sheet watercolor tablet I had on the shelf. (I plan to use both sides of each page.) I read it is hard on brushes, so picked up an inexpensive set of Artist's Loft craft brushes. I am starting with freezer paper, clipped to a drawing board, for a palette.

The picture is of a prepared background using Rose Red, Titanium White, and Ivory Black.

Ohio Pen Show

Last year, I attended the Ohio Pen Show for the first time:

• rows of tables of (old and new) pens, paper, and ink for sale
• interesting classes
• fountain pen collectors

This year's show will be held next weekend, November 11-13, at:
Crowne Plaza Dublin Hotel
600 Metro Place
Dublin, Ohio
(Just west of Frantz Road, south of Route 161.)

I think admission is around $5. (Children may be free, not sure.)
Fun children's activities are scheduled Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.:

• ink grinding
• calligraphy demo by Deborah Basel
• free pen from Anderson Pens
• note writing
• origami
• door prize

This a trip both back in time and around the world, with pen makers from Italy, Germany, and Japan represented, as well as our local Ohio craftsmen.

Bullet Journal

I began using Ryder Carroll's structured, flexible Bullet Journal system in May of last year. I implemented it in a large, blank, stapled Fabriano notebook, which allowed information to run together and was difficult to index.

A few weeks ago, I filled it and moved to the Bullet Journal community's popular dotted Leuchtturm1917 (in the A5 size), which comes with introductory index pages and page numbers. So far, it seems to be working better, especially for logging what happens (sometimes channeling into collections and habit trackers).

Kara Benz (who blogs at Boho Berry) is doing a helpful Bullet Journal intro series on youtube.

New tools

Sewing gauge

Saturday, I attended a plein air watercolor workshop and learned of a couple new tools. The instructor used:

• a sewing gauge for measuring proportions and sight sizing, and 
• a large eyedropper--first to wet her watercolor and later to draw excess water off palette mixes.

Ready for watercolor class 

I signed up for a local plein air watercolor workshop and bought some materials: Alvin Heritage palette, Nocturna oval wash brush (Royal Langnickel, 1/2"), a few Hake brushes, and a sheet of Arches paper.  Used soft scub to rough up the palette. Attempting to stretch a half sheet for the first time.

Added the recommended perylene green and raw sienna to my palette. Not sure the Cheap Joe's American Journey sampler will have enough of the Alizarin Crimson and Aureolin the instructor listed.

Colors: Winsor yellow, Quin gold, yellow ochre, TP orange, Winsor red, Quin rose, Diox purple, Fr. ultramarine, cobalt, cerulean, cobalt teal, pthalo green, perylene green, burnt sienna, raw sienna.

Sketching Tools

Sketch kit

The Venezia Fabriano sketchbook is worn, and nearly full, after eight months. (This is one of the first sketches in it.) I usually sketch with a Lamy Joy fountain pen (EF nib), filled with De Atrametis document ink, then add color with a waterbrush.

I now use the second palette from the top of the stack--a Sennelier sampler with the plastic insert removed, then lined with empty half pans filled with various tube watercolors. There should also be a  small spray bottle (to pre-wet the paint) and a paper towel (to squeeze the waterbrush into between colors) in this drawing.

Interested beginners may want to start as I did*, with a 5x8 Strathmore Visual Journal for Mixed Media, a Micron felt tip pen (fineliner), and a Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Sketchers Pocket Box (includes a tiny travel brush).  Get a small spray bottle to wet the watercolor a few minutes before starting. If you plan to sketch away from home, you will find a waterbrush, along with a paper towel, useful--eliminating the need to have a cup of water to rinse your brush between colors. (Hobby Lobby has sketchbooks on sale every other week, and you can use one of their coupons on the palette.)
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*The books that got me started were Gina Rossi Armfield's No Excuses Art Journaling and Cathy Johnson's Artist's Journal Workshop, followed by a few of Danny Gregory's. (Can be found in local library.) Sketchbook Skool kept me going. More recently, Craftsy has enabled me to focus on areas of interest and refine skills.