Oh the eternal search for the perfect sketch pen.
And so I bought a maple wood A.G. Spalding & Bros. roller ball pen. It's got a great heft and lays down a bold black wet 0.5 line. The fit and finish is perfect. The wood has a smooth natural feel.
A.G. Spalding & Bros. also makes several other wood finishes and pen designs. For example, they have a fountain pen in the same wood design. They are also available at jetpens.com. (I'm not affiliated with A.G. Spalding & Bros. nor Jetpens, I just like their huge selection and speed of delivery.)
Here's the bad news, the ink is not waterproof. Rats. So the sketch looks a little blurry and muddy. As I painted over the sketch with the watercolor wash some of the pen's ink mixed in with the color, thus producing the darker hue. If it were waterproof ink, it would be a perfect 0.5 sketch pen. If you buy the fountain pen you could fill the cartridges with your own waterproof ink, such as Noodlers Bulletproof Black. (You can read more about some of my experiments with Noodlers Bulletproof Black here.
The Helix 0.5 here pictured is waterproof but the cap doesn't post which makes the pen short and light. It doesn't have the heft of the Spalding. It came in a four pack with several other line weights: 0.1, 0.3, 0.8.
I suppose if I were more of an artist it wouldn't matter WHAT pen I used. I sure envy Andrea Joseph's work. It's outstanding. And she does all her sketching with discarded pens. Her work is quite incredible.
So maybe that's my problem. I'm spending way too much time shopping for pens rather than drawing with them.
...dave
To believe in one's dreams is to spend all of one's life asleep. - Chinese Proverb
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Remodel
I've been doing a little remodeling lately. There are several trades present: plumbing, electrical, paint, carpet, etc. I'm not involved in any of those very skilled jobs. I'm on demolition.
And I guess that's a good thing. All I really need is a sledge hammer and I'm good. Just point me in the right direction and I'll start swinging.
So me and a crew of 15 went at it this last Saturday crashing through walls and plumbing and wiring and ceilings. We helped the carpenters beef up rafters where the walls we tore down used to be.
The resulting entryway looked so different, I decided to draw the changes in a crude architectural drawing. I figure that by the time the new tile and paint is in, it'll hardly be recognizable.
And that's the reason for my illustrated journal anyway. I want to capture the highlights of the day. I want to slow things down a bit.
The way I figure it, when I'm old and sitting in the rocker out back, I want to remember what I did so that I can reminisce with friends and family. Otherwise I'll just sit and drool. And that's no fun for anyone.
...dave
I think I'm nearer the end than the beginning. - Dave Terry
And I guess that's a good thing. All I really need is a sledge hammer and I'm good. Just point me in the right direction and I'll start swinging.
So me and a crew of 15 went at it this last Saturday crashing through walls and plumbing and wiring and ceilings. We helped the carpenters beef up rafters where the walls we tore down used to be.
The resulting entryway looked so different, I decided to draw the changes in a crude architectural drawing. I figure that by the time the new tile and paint is in, it'll hardly be recognizable.
And that's the reason for my illustrated journal anyway. I want to capture the highlights of the day. I want to slow things down a bit.
The way I figure it, when I'm old and sitting in the rocker out back, I want to remember what I did so that I can reminisce with friends and family. Otherwise I'll just sit and drool. And that's no fun for anyone.
...dave
I think I'm nearer the end than the beginning. - Dave Terry
Friday, August 15, 2008
Blackberries are the perfect fruit
Blackberries are my favorite fruit. I pluck them plain, off the vine, or slather them on my toast in jams or jellies.
They are the perfect fruit. They feel smooth, yet bumpy in the mouth and when I bite into them they crunch. Long after I swallow them I'm still enjoying the little seeds left behind.
While making the smoothie the other day I used blackberries. I almost didn't add them because I kept eating them while tossing in the other fruit.
After making the drink I sat down with a few left over and decided to sketch them. After the sketch I wanted to color wash them and used some of my watercolor paint but then I struck on an idea: Why not use the blackberry for it's own color. Again, I say they are the perfect fruit because I used the pulp for the color wash. Try that with a banana.
And the great thing about using the pulp for the color wash over the sketch is that I can eat the left over "paint" pulp.
The hardest thing about attempting to paint blackberries is keeping them in the bin long enough to finish the drawing. I kept sampling the fruit. I had to sketch quickly.
...dave
A blackberry in my mouth puts a smile on my face. - Dave Terry
They are the perfect fruit. They feel smooth, yet bumpy in the mouth and when I bite into them they crunch. Long after I swallow them I'm still enjoying the little seeds left behind.
While making the smoothie the other day I used blackberries. I almost didn't add them because I kept eating them while tossing in the other fruit.
After making the drink I sat down with a few left over and decided to sketch them. After the sketch I wanted to color wash them and used some of my watercolor paint but then I struck on an idea: Why not use the blackberry for it's own color. Again, I say they are the perfect fruit because I used the pulp for the color wash. Try that with a banana.
And the great thing about using the pulp for the color wash over the sketch is that I can eat the left over "paint" pulp.
The hardest thing about attempting to paint blackberries is keeping them in the bin long enough to finish the drawing. I kept sampling the fruit. I had to sketch quickly.
...dave
A blackberry in my mouth puts a smile on my face. - Dave Terry
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Smoothie
I was feeling under the weather. (What does THAT mean, we are all "under" the weather.) English no make any sense.
Anyway, I tried all kinds of stuff to snap out of it. I was lethargic, exhausted, and even had a sore throat.
I finally decided to try to find a Jamba Juice place, or a least something similar. It turns out, after doing a store search, that Jamba Juice is only in 20 states. But alas, mine is not one of them.
So I settle on Planet Smoothie. It sounded so good. I remember how good one of those smoothie drinks went down just after having my wisdom teeth out. I can't wait. I pulled myself into the car and motored down there, just a 10 minute drive from my house. It was closed.
Rats.
I drove around aimlessly looking for something similar. When I'm not looking for those places they seem to be on every corner. Now I can't find an open Planet Smoothie anywhere on the planet.
I find a health food store and decide to make my own. I find a packet of nutrition that has 200% of the daily requirements of vitamins A to Z. I buy two. I drive to a Whole Foods and buy blackberries, strawberries, and two kiwis (the fruit, not the people).
I blend it up into a purple drink (the blackberries had some influence here) and chug it down. It's refreshing, soothing, energizing. Wow. I ought to open my own shop. This is easy.
I feel better by the afternoon and do some study and reading. At 8:40 p.m. R and I decide to go for a 2.4 mile walk. We risk our lives walking back to the house through the darkness.
...dave
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx
Anyway, I tried all kinds of stuff to snap out of it. I was lethargic, exhausted, and even had a sore throat.
I finally decided to try to find a Jamba Juice place, or a least something similar. It turns out, after doing a store search, that Jamba Juice is only in 20 states. But alas, mine is not one of them.
So I settle on Planet Smoothie. It sounded so good. I remember how good one of those smoothie drinks went down just after having my wisdom teeth out. I can't wait. I pulled myself into the car and motored down there, just a 10 minute drive from my house. It was closed.
Rats.
I drove around aimlessly looking for something similar. When I'm not looking for those places they seem to be on every corner. Now I can't find an open Planet Smoothie anywhere on the planet.
I find a health food store and decide to make my own. I find a packet of nutrition that has 200% of the daily requirements of vitamins A to Z. I buy two. I drive to a Whole Foods and buy blackberries, strawberries, and two kiwis (the fruit, not the people).
I blend it up into a purple drink (the blackberries had some influence here) and chug it down. It's refreshing, soothing, energizing. Wow. I ought to open my own shop. This is easy.
I feel better by the afternoon and do some study and reading. At 8:40 p.m. R and I decide to go for a 2.4 mile walk. We risk our lives walking back to the house through the darkness.
...dave
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Insulating the Garage
I know it's been a long time and I promised myself I'd never apologize for not posting to the blog. When I'm here, I'm here. When I'm not, I'm not.
I need to talk about this because it's a peeve I have.
When I read someone's blog post about not writing and how sorry they are and how much their readers want them, etc. I bail. I can't tolerate reading all that sappiness. Like I care? Write when you can and I'll appreciate it. If you can't, well, I'll be visiting other blogs. When you do, I'll be back. No issues. Just come back with something interesting to say. And don't talk about how grieved you are that you haven't written.
I hate that. I really do. It's a sure bet I'll bail from their blog like shrapnel from a hand grenade. If I've bookmarked their page, I'll yank their bookmark right out of my favorites by it's roots. I'll never return. I'm serious, really.
I'll never apologize for not writing. No way. Not me. It assumes that people are camping out on my website hitting the refresh button pining for the next post. That's ridiculous. Like they have nothing better to do? I'm certain that's not true.
I have been off to other places. I've found out about Helium and have been hanging out over there. It's a pretty cool site for would-be writers. Helium posts new subjects each week, you write about them, people rate your work against others writing about the same subject, you win dollars. That's kind of cool.
Although, I haven't won any money yet, but that doesn't stop me from writing. As people rate your work above others you slowly rise to the top, thus the name. I'm rather stoked because in my first week of writing some of the contest subjects I got top honors. I placed first in each of the categories. The Jury is still out on whether I win the bucks. We'll see. But it's fun all the same.
If you enjoy writing, this is the place for you. It's mostly non-fiction subjects although I've seen some fiction categories too.
I'm still keeping my Illustrated Journal so thought I'd post one. It's some time ago but I've got some newer ones coming up. I see only slow progress with my sorry sketches. But posting it on the blog is good motivation to improve.
When I'm confident enough to post my illustrations every day I will know I have arrived.
...dave
"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" - Mark Twain
I need to talk about this because it's a peeve I have.
When I read someone's blog post about not writing and how sorry they are and how much their readers want them, etc. I bail. I can't tolerate reading all that sappiness. Like I care? Write when you can and I'll appreciate it. If you can't, well, I'll be visiting other blogs. When you do, I'll be back. No issues. Just come back with something interesting to say. And don't talk about how grieved you are that you haven't written.
I hate that. I really do. It's a sure bet I'll bail from their blog like shrapnel from a hand grenade. If I've bookmarked their page, I'll yank their bookmark right out of my favorites by it's roots. I'll never return. I'm serious, really.
I'll never apologize for not writing. No way. Not me. It assumes that people are camping out on my website hitting the refresh button pining for the next post. That's ridiculous. Like they have nothing better to do? I'm certain that's not true.
I have been off to other places. I've found out about Helium and have been hanging out over there. It's a pretty cool site for would-be writers. Helium posts new subjects each week, you write about them, people rate your work against others writing about the same subject, you win dollars. That's kind of cool.
Although, I haven't won any money yet, but that doesn't stop me from writing. As people rate your work above others you slowly rise to the top, thus the name. I'm rather stoked because in my first week of writing some of the contest subjects I got top honors. I placed first in each of the categories. The Jury is still out on whether I win the bucks. We'll see. But it's fun all the same.
If you enjoy writing, this is the place for you. It's mostly non-fiction subjects although I've seen some fiction categories too.
I'm still keeping my Illustrated Journal so thought I'd post one. It's some time ago but I've got some newer ones coming up. I see only slow progress with my sorry sketches. But posting it on the blog is good motivation to improve.
When I'm confident enough to post my illustrations every day I will know I have arrived.
...dave
"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" - Mark Twain
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)