Some Thoughts on Pens

Sketch of Geoff, pigma micron on paper, 2007.

My sketchbook exchange partner Karo has posted a review of her favorite pens. Like many of us, she is still in search of her ideal drawing instrument. My current favorite is the Sakura Pigma Micron size 01. About the micron, Karo says:

The tip gets broken easily and they dry up super fast. And if they get in contact with my gouache... it's instant death. That's why I don't use the 0.01. It had a very fine tip and did a nice thin stroke. I was so happy when I first got it... but it lasted 2 weeks and now it barely writes and the stroke is inconsistent.

I agree about the limited durability of the micron's tip, but I compensate for the pen's short life span by having a lot of them around. I buy them in boxes of twelve (about $25 from the Blick company) so I always have a new one ready. Oh, and I try not to drop them.

Sketch for Carmen McWillie, ink on paper, 2008. This is the drawing I used to make an acrylic gel transfer for the final piece, below.

My other pen of choice is the Bic Round Stic Grip Fine point. (Oddly, I have trouble finding the fine point in stores, so I usually mail order them. The medium point tends to clump and smear.) I use this pen for its versatile tonal range. The major drawback here is that the Bic's ink is non-archival. I get around that problem via an acrylic gel transfer process. You can read instructions for that process here and here.

Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie. Acrylic transfer and collage on found canvas, 2008.

Sketchbook Exchange I

Cover of All Things Conspire, collaborative sketchbook between Sarah Atlee and Karo Design.

The talented Karo and I have begun a collaborative sketchbook project. I began by making a dozen or so drawings in a blank book, then sent it to her to add on.

Left-hand drawing by Karo, right-hand drawing by Sarah. Click to view larger.

You can see some of these drawings on her blog, in this post and also this one. More of my initial drawings in this Flickr set.

Can't wait to see what she does with this one.

I'm Interviewed for the OVAC Blog

Sketchbook: I Miss Oklahoma, ink on paper, February 2009. Click image to see full-size.

Ryan Peck interviewed me last week for the OVAC blog, and here it is.

I mentioned to him that if I could go back in time ten years or so, and talk to myself when I was mid-way through art school, I would say: ignore the fear. Or alternately, feel the fear and do it anyway. Do not let fear keep you from doing or making anything. I'm telling myself that on a daily basis now. Hope it sinks in.

Alison Bechdel on Creating Fun Home

Alison Bechdel is the creator of the comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For. Her recent book, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, is a frank and tender deconstruction of her childhood and adolescence. It's never easy to understand one's parents from an adult perspective, and Bechdel uses Fun Home to explore her father's identity through fresh eyes.

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Dr. Sketchy's OKC Was Awesome

Ilsa Reclined, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009, ink sketch by Sarah Atlee.

Thanks to Marylin, Ashley, and everyone who attended or helped to organize the first Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School session in Oklahoma City.

Ilsa in a beach hat, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009, ink sketch.

And thank you to the lovely Ilsa The Wolf for working so hard and making it look easy.

Ilsa in profile, from Dr. Sketchy's OKC, January 2009, ink sketch on cardboard.

Can't wait for February!