Because drawing is good for you.
Doing laundry is a great chance to draw one of those things that we do without even thinking about it. It is a slow process and leaves heaps of time for sitting down, observing the everyday grind. Which always turns out to be more interesing than you´d think.
18 x 26 cm, Pilot Falcon with DeAtramentis document ink and watercolours on Stillman & Birn alpha series sketchbook page.
I was at this doctor´s appointment in October, and since I was quite a bit early, I thought I´d try to draw the waiting room. I had an interesting point of view, and thought it might become a nice sketch with some perspective, people, chairs, signs… In the end, the guy before me didn´t turn up to his appointment, so I was called in early. Isn´t it typical? The one time you really have a good chance to finish a drawing in a place you rarely visit…
But in the end I really like this sketch, unfinished and all. It makes me smile.
17,8 x 14 cm, UniPin fineliner and grey PITT Artist brush pen, on Stillman & Birn alpha series sketchbook spread.
Wake up and smell the coffee! Cafés and coffee paraphernalia are always great subjects for sketches. And drawing is such a nice occupation for your hands and mind while drinking that coffee…
Both drawings: 17,8 x 14 cm, fude nib fountain pen with black De Atramentis document ink, and watercolours, on Stillman & Birn alpha series sketchbook spread.
A good thing with a tiny sketchbook is of course it´s portability. I like drawing whatever is in front of me, to record all those everyday things in life, and wanted to capture this place, where I sometimes change buses to and from work. I´m never there long enough to finish a drawing, but it was easy to just keep working on the same sketch during several days with this little sketchbook. Also, weather matters less! A few drops of rain doesn´t do much harm, because the sketchbook is almost covered by my drawing hand, held closely to my body while drawing.
And as always, you are never bored with a sketchbook in hand. I was host at an exhibition in October, and while it´s fun to talk to visitors and take care of things around the exhibition, there are always those moments of silence and complete calm between visitors, where I tend to get a bit restless. I kept myself busy drawing.
All drawings: 17,8 x 14 cm, fude nib fountain pen with black De Atramentis document ink or UniPin fineliner, and watercolours, on Stillman & Birn alpha series sketchbook spread.
I have always had a hard time working in small sketchbooks. Not so much because of the size, but because I haven´t found any decent sketchbooks to use. I have tried Moleskines – good for ink, but not for watercolours, I have tried to bind my own – good paper, but my own binding tends to be a little too chunky for small books. And then I´ve tried a number of others, with crappy paper, or the books don´t open flat, or the binding falls apart, or…
In September, the good people at Stillman & Birn sent me some samples of their new softcover sketchbooks, and I started out trying the small portrait format book, 8,9 x 14 cm. And I have to say, after using it for a while, that these small books are perfect! The paper is my usual favorite alpha series paper, with the right balance (for me) of tooth and watercolour durability, and the covers, although they are soft, are flexible but still really sturdy and strong. The book opens flat in spite of it´s small size, and is easy to hold and use, even standing up (which I always have a hard time with, using larger size books). I really like the rounded corners too.
To make a balanced review, I´d like to say that there is at least one thing that I´m not too crazy about with this little book, but I really can´t think of anything. I´ve been keeping this little fellow in my bags since September (when I´m not drawing in it, obviously), which means it´s been squeezed, scraped, bruised and bent, over and over again, but it´s still holding up fine (see photo below).
Also, it´s getting thinner and thinner, because I´m doing something to it that I´ve never done before: I always draw on whole spreads, i.e. where the spread consists of the same sheet of paper, and then cut them out (I know, so terrible, right?). I´m thinking I´m going to frame these little guys somehow, once I´ve used up the book. We´ll see where that ends up. More spreads coming up in the next posts!
Both drawings: 17,8 x 14 cm, fude nib fountain pen with black De Atramentis document ink, and watercolours, on Stillman & Birn alpha series sketchbook paper.