Come on out to Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School this Sunday evening at aka gallery. Our featured models this week are Annie Cherry and Bindlestiff Willie. It's getting pretty crowded, so bring a chair!
Dr. Whatskies? Click here to learn more. You do this in Oklahoma City? Yes, yes we do.
This post is part of NaBloPoMo for July 2009.
090711 Sketchcrawl 08 by Flickr user Borromini Bear. Click image to view source.
Via the SILA blog.
Today is the 23rd International Sketch Crawl Day! Go ye and make drawings in ye Books of Sketch. Browse the SketchCrawl Flickr pool here.
Hey, Okies: who wants to converge for the next Sketch Crawl, in more or less October? (The official date has not yet been released.) All we have to do is draw. Let's talk about it.
This post is part of NaBloPoMo for July 2009.
The Pen Drawer.
Oh, pens, how I love each and every one of you. Below are some of my favorites.
The Old Standby: Sharpie Ultra-Fine Point. Pros: Long-lasting as long as they stay capped between uses. Writes on a variety of porous and non-porous surfaces. Inexpensive and easy to find in bulk. Very durable tip, will stand up to quite a bit of abuse. Decent color selection. Cons: Smelly. Bleeds on paper. They will write on top of acrylic paint, but as the ink is solvent-based, the acrylic will dissolve and clog the pen tip. This solvent will also make paper turn yellow after a few weeks, sooner if the drawing is exposed to air and sun.
My water-based friends: Pilot Razor Point and the Papermate Flair black felt tip pens.
Pros: Very durable. Both deliver black lines with reliably uniform thickness. Easy to find at office supply stores. Good for ink wash drawings (this one was made with the aid of a Niji Waterbrush). I also use them to write down loud thoughts. Cons: They only write on porous surfaces, not good for mixed-media work. Limited range of colors available.
Not So Much: the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen and Staedtler Pigment Liner. I tried these while in search of alternatives to the Pigma Micron (why, I can't remember). Pros: Archival ink. Durable tips. Waterproof, writes on a variety of surfaces. The Faber-Castell pens come in Sepia, which is not bad, but the ink is almost indistinguishable from black. Cons: Both pens are fairly expensive for felt tips. I find the tips, for all their durability, are not flexible enough to produce satisfying lines, especially with the larger sizes.
The Champs: Pigma Micron 01 and Bic Round Stic Grip Fine.
Micron pros: Microns have a flexible tip that will produce strong lines and fine detail if treated gently. They come in many sizes, though I stick to the 005, 01, and sometimes the 02. Multiple colors available. Will write on porous and non-porous surfaces. Waterproof when dry. The ink does not bleed on most papers. Microns have a strong fan base: check out this Flickr group, for instance. Micron cons: Expensive if you buy them one at a time. I buy them in boxes of twelve from Dick Blick. The tips wear out fairly quickly, and can be ruined easily by dropping the pen or leaving the cap off. The ink takes a few minutes to dry, and when wet, will smear on surfaces like acrylic.
Bic Stic pros: Oh my goodness, I love drawing with this pen. Incredible tonal range. Stands up to plenty of abuse, including leaving the cap off indefinitely, storing them in my hot or cold car, dropping them, shoving them through my ponytail for safe-keeping, etc. Long-lasting. The ink is gel-based but not entirely waterproof. Bic Stic cons: Very non-archival. I get around this problem by turning my drawings into acrylic gel transfers. The Medium-point Bic Stic is prone to clumping and smearing (arg!), and unfortunately, the Fine-point is not easy to find in office-supply stores. I order them by the dozen.
For more pen reviews, browse the links below. Happy drawing.
The Pen Addict The Tools Artists Use Doodlers Anonymous Flickr group Doodlers Anonymous website Karo: The Quest for the Perfect Pen
This post is part of NaBloPoMo for July 2009.
Illustration of cafeteria cherry pie by Maira Kalman, from her New York Times column And The Pursuit of Happiness. See below for links to Kalman's column.
At Ease, Kalman's latest installment of her New York Times column.
Read Kalman's latest column here.
Order The Illustrated Elements of Style here.
Check out some more of Maira Kalman's many illustrated books.
The next Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, OKC edition, will be this Sunday evening at aka gallery in the Paseo. Madame Marylin tells us that Savonne the Minx, who hails from Tulsa, is a burlesque ballerina!
Also, she said something about hula hoops. Come on down.
Click here to learn more about Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School. Click here to see my other Dr. Sketchy's drawings. Click here to see the Dr. Sketchy's OKC pool on Flickr.
