Sunny Side Up

I bought some blue W&N ink. Lovely little glass container, nice light blue chroma. It takes a little getting used to though. What I like about this is that you are forced to think about how much ink you take on your pen more than you would using black ink, as it's a lot more visible if you've taken too much or not enough. I can't wait to try some other inks now.

Yet another lovely day

I was 2 minutes in my lunchbreak today at work when my boss came in. The lunch break was over.
I bought these Pilot parallel pens and I'm practicing with them during my lunch breaks. It's great fun and I hope to be able to show some stuff soon. In the mean time, here's an inked version of the one I posted the other day.

Perseverance is mandatory

I've been drawing and painting for over 10 years now and while I am quite confident at the easel, I am still fully aware of the fact that being an artist is lifetime commitment. Some of the work I do turns out really well, other things seem like a disaster. Over the years, I've overcome the urge to bring myself down whenever I see errors or flaws. They are just lessons to be learned and things to remember the next time I resolve similar problems. Mastery doesn't come over night. It takes years and years of practice.

In other fields like design and lettering, it's no different. I'm fairly new at lettering so there's a long path to be followed towards mastery. Here's a drawing to remind myself. I'm putting this in a category called artists advice, because it is mainly advice I try to give the artist in me, while other artists may find it useful too.

(Click the image for a large view)

Traffic is Society's Mirror

Here's a quicky.
Been extremely busy this week, only gone to work at 6:30am and not home before 10pm, "racing" from one location to another. It seemed like I wasn't the only one. In fact, a lot of people seem to be in a hurry when they are driving.

This weekend will be nice and calm though.
On sunday, I'll be joining Dr. Sketchy's as part of The Big Draw.
Time to relax and just sketch...

100% music on the radio please

Here's another one within the music theme.
Some may find I'm very critical for radio, but I really think this medium should be a lot more about music, like it used to be in the eighties and nineties, than it is about news and commercials.

When I'm driving to work in the morning, I hear 2 or 3 songs in the +30 min ride. That makes me a bit sad. Radio as a medium has so much potential to be a culturally lifting experience. Now it's merely publicity and sensationalism.

Here's my 2 cents:

I was testing my new copic sketch markers for the first time. The first word I inked was "music" using the Warm Grey 9. All the sudden it started bleeding an aweful lot of ink on the letter "S". It bled so much that it came far out of the boundaries of my letter. I had to correct with a white gel pen.

I vote for non stop music on the radio

Ever been bothered by the way radiopresenters interrupt a great song? Or songs being abruptly shoved towards the deep blackness of not being heard until the end because the radio makers decided at some point that we are better off hearing some commercial for a totally uninteresting product?
I've had this for years. So I've recently turned that little long term frustration into something positive like a lettering design. Check it out!

I vote for non stop music on the radio!

This is not the end

It's just the beginning!

Save your Brushes!

Here's another "note to self". If you're a painter, you may benefit from this one as well. When you use gesso to prepare your carrier -be it canvas, paper, board or whatever- sanding is very important. Especially if you prefer to have a rather smooth surface to paint on. A smooth surface is nice because it gives you the most control. You decide how much texture is on your surface and where it is to be found. No unpleasant surprizes when painting a portrait, etc. Another reason why sanding your canvas is good, is that due to the smoothness, your brushes will last a lot longer. 

Autumn Sun Is So Much Fun

I was sitting on our lovely terrace the other day. We don't get these really hot days anymore in September, but it can be quite enjoyable to feel the more subtle warmth of our best friend the sun on my back. The combination with the chronical fatigue makes for a wonderful buzz.