Thursday, December 31, 2015

watercolour tubes

Holbein watercolour tubes, bought yesterday, along with some older ones that belonged to my father.... on the fifth anniversary of his passing.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

pencils


Boxes of pencils, bought at a community flea market. Acquiring packets of them by the dozen gives these ubiquitous drawing instruments a whole new sense of respect. I am not sure whether the red-blue, dual colour pencils are common outside of Japan, but encountering them in an unlikely place was a bit of a treat. The regular lead pencils, apparently intended for Japanese "calligraphic" writing exercises has a nice thick lead, and at 5B, probably great for softly layering tones or drawing dynamically on larger sheets while retaining a good sense of control.


Saturday, December 5, 2015

winter shoes

I wanted to draw all the shoes at the school... but realized I forgot my faithful fountain pen (actually, I was not faithful to IT). I was therefore forced to draw with thick Sharpies, which were all I had in my bag... You can't dawdle and linger with your line; Sharpies really force you to make some quick decisions, and you can't focus on details. Otherwise, you end up with permanent marker spots 3 sheets deep. I felt a bit handcuffed and a little high from the smell... the results: a little clumsier than I would have liked, but the discomfort of a challenge is always a good thing.