Raise your hand if you begrudge the five minutes it takes to pack clothes for a two-week trip, and then happily fritter away the next ten hours plotting which pens and journals to carry. I’ve never had a system, only the desire to a) not facepalm for forgetting a pen that would have been PERFECT …
He exuded confidence and impatience. Traveling the world and teaching with passion takes a lot of energy. Even if Alvaro Castagnet dove into the class with the verve familiar to those who devour his passionate-painter videos, we could tell he was a touch more stretched than the paper in front of him. But he smiled, …
There are many reasons not to make your own watercolor. Not enough time. Lack of access to tools and materials. Besides, you can buy ready-made, ready-to-use watercolor and start painting immediately. And then there’s WHEEEEEEEE! I CAN MAKE MY OWN WATERCOLOR!!! Whee wins. Other people go to Katz’s, I proceed to Kremer. I’ve always wanted to take a …
UPDATE: A5 Journal Guides are available at Common Room (for Manila-based peeps) and now online at Vanness! You get a suggestions sheet, and four guides printed on thick, high-quality, laminated cardstock. (I can try other materials in the future, but this feels better under a thin sheet, for some reason.) And now on to the …
My other Kryptonite is art supplies. Not only was my visit to France replete with foie gras and fromage blanc, I also indulged in art supply shops of hyperventilation-inducing variety. I dragged friends to Creative Grafic in Aix-en-Provence and proceeded to ignore them for an hour. I wanted to hug their brush display. I’ll take one of …
Waterbrushes – brushes whose handles hold water – have made it possible for travelers and commuters to sketch and wash on the go with hardly any mess or fuss. Fountain pen doodlers will find that a waterbrush or two in the bag can extend their enjoyment, adding wash to their line work. Most fountain pen inks, unless otherwise asserted, are watersoluble and lift easily from the paper.
One of the great things about the Fountain Pen Network is how helpful forum members are. Thanks to this thread, what began as a search for fountain pens became my very own art supplies tour of London. A short walk from Saatchi Gallery is Green and Stone of Chelsea. This shop feels like a cabinet …
Caran d’Ache’s Grafcube is a formidable chunk of graphite. You can letter with it, draw with it, or conceal it in your fist for added punching power. (Pardon the dirty fingers.) The graphite is dense. I did a test run to loosen my shoulder, because big letters call for big arm movements. The Grafcube lets …
It looks like I do. At first it’s novel, then it’s almost useful, because the sheer novelty of it all sends my brain scrambling to find justifications for owning one. The sharpener comes with a Flat Sketching™ pencil. The instructions do not in any way capture how fun This Object™ is. After a few side-to-side …
I don’t want to go back to the time when scribes had to whittle their own pens, skin their own goats and cook their own ink. Where reasonable substitutes exist, be reasonable. Walnut ink used to be made from walnuts. Walnut Drawing Ink (by Tom Norton Designs) isn’t. A “Walnut Drawing Stick” can be bought …