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.

Today is a perfect day to create

In fact, every day is a perfect day, but what I wanted to emphasize is the fact that today, we have. Tomorrow, we don't know. So it's better not to delay until tomorrow. Especially if you are struck by inspiration. I've learned to always write down ideas when they pop up. If I'm at work and can't immediately write down my idea because I'm in a meeting or whatever, I send myself an email that always starts with the same word in the email title.

"Concept: Today is a perfect day to create - lettering"

This makes it easy to find all my concepts in outlook just by searching for "concept".
If it's for a painting or an illustration, I add further details or useful info in the email.

Momentum is the highest achievable state of mind

It's true. When I'm creating, and I'm able to get into the zone, I am completely cut off anything or anyone that doesn't relate to the work I'm doing. There's no fatigue, no pain. There is warmth and coldness though, and a whole scala of emotions, particularly when painting. It's an intense experience. I can recommend anyone who is asking himself (or herself) what to do to start creating. It doesn't matter what, as long as it comes from,within you. The reward is great.

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)

Digital version of "Procrastination leads to failure..."

Here's the digital version of "Procrastination leads to failure, so pick up your tools and get things done". It's vectorizzzzed. :)

Ampersand

Another lunch break sketch... 5 times ampersand!