daily-ish notes…

  • on fountain pens.

    I’ve been trying out fountain pens again.

    About a year ago I bought a dip pen, some ink, and a bunch of motivation to learn to use them.

    It turns out I’m not a fan of dip pens. Fun, but delicate and messy. Not my style.

    But then last week — in my ongoing search for a cartridge-based fountain pen — I ordered a Lamy starter set. This has taken me down a bit of a rabbit hole of inks and converters and nibs and relearning to sketch with a pen that isn’t a felt-nip.

    I will likely have more to write on this topic later, but for now I’m experimenting and learning.

  • of spring-spiration.

    It’s the first day of spring. Or, officially, the spring equinox and the astronomical point at which the planetary axis corresponds to this thing we think of as a seasonal change.

    I was thinking about being outside again and painting in the fresh air.

    I could, in theory, paint outside year-round, but since watercolour needs water and water freezes below zero degrees Celsius, then my options are paint faster or paint inside.

    Or wait until spring.

    Which is today.

    Horray!

  • of multitasking.

    I dabble in a lot of artistic stuff.

    I’ve been painting and posting it here, sure, but I have also been writing, taking photos, making short videos that I post on Youtube, and delving into the culinary “arts” as I bake and do other interesting things.

    I’m still struggling with the unanswerable question of whether to be broad or to be deep.

    Right now I’m exploring broadly. Maybe someday I’ll inspired to go deeper.

  • on photography.

    I bought a camera app. Well, precisely, I subscribed to an app for my phone for about ten bucks per year that simulates some of the features of an SLR camera. It’s not perfect, but it allows manual control over things like white balance and exposure that are all seemingly automated in the native camera app on the phone.

    Why did I do this? Well, for you to be frank.

    I’ve been posting a lot of photos of my art here and those photos are … well .. to be frank again, mediocre. I usually take at least a dozen of each sketch in various light trying to find the best, clearest, most true version of that sketch, but even the best of the best of those photos are hitting about 75% quality.

    Taking photos of art is a skill or requires gear or is impossible or something. I look at the real life sketches in my book and they are lively and bright and interesting. I look at the photos and they are … ok.

    Hopefully there really is an app for that.

  • to rule them all.

    It’s strange to admit but after nearly 18 months of actively sketching and painting I finally — finally! — bought a ruler.

    Six inches of light ruled stainless steel with a cork base just the right size to fit into my pencil case.

    Finally.

    Did I mention, finally!?

    I’ve been using the edges of books, pencils, or just winging it and drawing freehand.

    Straight lines were lessons in improvisation… until now. Now I finally own a proper straight-edge ruler and I’m fairly certain it will add a certain, let’s call it, accuracy to my sketches that may have been lacking before.

    Perspective. Parallel lines, Straight edges. Firm corners. Properly measured dimensions and lines drawn with an arc approaching zero.

    It’s a whole new world.