Essential Fall Cleanup Tasks in the Studio

For various reasons, I've been working "from a bag" for most of the summer. After some time, my tools become much more curated (which is a good thing), but they are getting a lot of use and not much care. Now that I am getting into the "fall projects" state of mind, I am on a mission to get my equipment in better order. 

1. Over the summer, I got a pencil sharpener, which simplified a situation with "100 dull blue pencils" - Henry works hard, has very few complaints: some unexpected sprays with watercolor, a couple of smudges with gouache, and one recent ink soak. 

2. I did a "big refill" on my fountain pens, did some cleaning, checked nibs on dip pens and such. And now I have them in two rotation boxes (I do this from time to time to make sure that I use my tools and not just have them sitting) 

3. And I recently took time to change blades on all my knives. There was a bit of pliers action to make some blades move, but all ended well. I cannot emphasize how nice it is to have a sharp knife. A gift! 

All images are clickable for larger size and reading my notes on inks and such. 

Reading Notes: Draw Stronger by Kriota Willberg

Recently, I complained that all the pencil sharpening put me in a position to buy an electric pencil sharpener. Despite the fact that I am enjoying my new toy, this situation brought me back to a book I love and gift and recommend often: 

Draw Stronger: Self-Care For Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists

by Kriota Willberg

Firstly, this book contains actionable things that help me keep my hands working. Stretches, strengthening exercises, and a list of things to check in my work environment/habits.

Secondly, this is a book that is drawn from the first page to the last, and I appreciate it as an illustrator, and as a reader and connoisseur of large projects! 

Thirdly, while writing about all this I went down the rabbit hole and learned about graphic medicine, comics in palliative care, embroidery, and history of sutures and ligatures, and... well, it was a rabbit hole! 

Pencil Sharpener Revolution: Introducing Henry

I've been using colored pencils and sharpening them with various sharpeners. (A search on this blog shows that I mentioned my favorite sharpeners several times). And I am sure you know that graphite pencils and color pencils need slightly different approaches to sharpening. 

But recently I realized that if I need to sharpen a bunch pf pencils at the same time, the strain on my wrist is getting to a point of concern. Granted, this is a reason to work on my wrist strength - but on the other hand, having a backup that sharpens various thicknesses of color pencils well and does not send me to the icepack is a sensible parallel solution. Hence - recent purchase - introducing Henry the Pencil Sharpener. 

p.s. I am aware that my pencils might live longer if I skip the electric sharpener, but part of that long life comes from the fact that I would use them less, and my goal is to use them more - and enjoy it. 

Travel Sketching: a quest for the right amount of tools

I was excited about the East Coast trip and potential fall colors and started thinking about how to approach the selection of the tools way before it was time to pack. There are different approaches I've employed before - no restriction (lol!), limiting my tools to one kind of material. Or limit by weight. Or think about what colors would prevail in potential sketching situations and see if I can crystalize a collection of tools around that. Only the last idea seemed reasonable but I did not want to jinx my fall color chances (and the predictability of the colorful season on the East Coast is very iffy). 

So - my first attempts are below - they were created based on the "what if I was just going to paint outside today" kind of thinking. Needless to say, they were way more than I would have used on this trip, way more than it was reasonable to carry with me across the country and in potential sketching situations!

The left one had more pens and bigger selection of brushes and more markers too. The middle one one had mostly water brushes but a lot of color pencils and gouaches of all sorts (from my palette to a jar of white to some tubes). Both were well over 1 lbs... Then I put together a lovely little selection of pencils (rightmost image) and thought that I might just stick to this - but very quickly it grew into another more-than-a-pound bag!

So - I decided to make some rules and then do my best to stick to them.

1. My general rule is that no matter what I should take with me my favorite materials - they change from time to time but I do not remember ever traveling without a pentel pocket brush with black ink a uniball pen (gray body) and a ballpoint. Between these and a finger/smudging, I can cover all the basics :) 

2. My next rule is to bring at least some version of material that is exciting me most at this particular moment. In this case, it was my acrylic markers - I picked two colors.

3. I knew that I would need some tape and glue and pencil sharpener. And a paper towel. And various sketchbooks (I took three with me - one main one to collect everything at the end of the day, one pocket and one with the lovely smooth paper that it joy to work on (thank you N. for this gift!) - see photo below. 

4. Next - I decided that I would think about when I might have a chance to draw and come up with a set that should cover both indoor and outdoor options but with the idea that I should be able to complete a sketch from the "I think I have a chance to sketch" thought to the moment when I am closing the book and running after my companions in under 5 min with the idea that it can be 2. So it would have to be something small, workable while standing and in the rain, and easy to pull out of my pocket. With that in mind, I made several options (and quickly tested them on the page below). But with options to expand if I pull everything out for a luxurious chance to spend an evening and use everything.  Altogether this meant that each tool should be able to do multiple jobs (hence some color pencils are watercolor pencils and some are not for example. And simultaneously they should be different enough to be able to cover a wide range of colors, textures, and values. But with the 5 min for a sketch limitation.

As you can see, I decided that jinxing or not but I am bringing my yellow with me :) 

Here is what I ended up with. You can click on the image to see the names of the pencils (there is a close-up below too). And my watercolor+gouache palette is something I will have to go back and research more - it was pulled together at the last minute when I suddenly found my art tool palette I thought I lost it a few months ago!). 

One of the large acrylic markers contains my own custom-mixed light blue color. And the second one has pigment info printed on it - cad yellow deep hue. I took 10 pencils (one has 2 colors :) And two crayons that deserve a separate post about them - this is a new tool for me and it is a tricky one but really interesting! Zig calligraphy markers to allow me to travel without my pilot parallel pens (I did miss them but Zigs were enough in this case). 

And I used all of these! Some more than others but this was a relatively small kit that served me well! And I came up with some cool combinations and sequences for using these tools together. 

Current main sketchbook (number 157) is 8x10 gamma from Stillman&Birn - covered in all sorts of stickers :) Large white one is a midori notebook cotton - takes some wash but mainly such a joy to write and draw in and somehow very liberating! And the top one is royal talens art creations in the smallest size. Fits in my pocket and deserved a medal for surviving all sorts of weather on this trip!

This is a series of posts about Fall 2024 trip to East Coast.

1. Airport Sketching 

2. Choosing sketching tools

3. Leaf Drawing Party

4. Catching Some Color / Fall feelings

5. Printmaking on the go.

On My Table: Beginning of July 2024.

This is how my "just moved" art table looks like at the beginning of July 2024. 

There are piles of old sketchbooks and artwork (see an elephant on the right?) I will scan these before I turn them into something else - would you like to see some?

There are recent sketches and some tools that are still looking for a place in the new studio space - like my fox tail brush and an arm which I am using to record process videos. I have a pile of sketchbooks to make flip-throughs!

And there is a small set of tools that I kept in my bag during the move. Between this kit and a pocket sketchbook with a ballpoint pen, I kept my drawing going despite many things shifting in all kinds of directions. Moving is not a linear or easy process but keeping my practice helped a lot!  

Here is a brief description of my "Moving Kit":

A - My travel watercolor+gouache palette; 

B - Bag with brushes (water brushes and some good brushes for when there is more than 2 minutes + tiny water jar and a pencil sharpener). 

C - Small zipped bag with a minimal kit of my favorite materials. Having your favorite tools is like having your favorite food - a must!

So this is how July starts for me: still, some unpacking, organizing new space, trying to catch up on all the projects put on hold during the move - and drawing through all of that! 

On My Table: Beginning of May 2024.

April was a month full of events for me - and many opportunities to paint outside! I already shared some: an outing to paint a white orchard, a grassy hill, a long-awaited meet-up with friends with a trip to see redwoods, painting a wisteria tree, a baylands outing, a solar eclipse, and a trip to the ocean. But there are also many more that I am going to share soon: an outing to paint dogwood, an afternoon with lilacs, and a couple of trips - so all in all April was a great month for painting outside!

And on the first of the month, I snapped this picture trying to tell a story of where I am. In short - I am in too many places at once. Just before I made this photo I tried to sharpen my airpods in a pencil sharpener only to try and put my finger in it a few minutes later. Hence a band-aid and blood on the page. But looking back at my sketchbooks through the years I see that April and May are always months when things speed up more than I want them to so I am hoping that things will follow the seasons and by the time there are matilija poppies in my neighborhood I would be slowing down a bit.

No detailed comments on the pencils this time - I am putting together a separate post on that!

On My Table: Beginning of April 2024.

This month I took a very honest photo of the mess on my art table. When I need to work and come to a table that looks like this I have three options: put new stuff right on top of everything, clear a tiny spot in the corner and work there - or make a photo for the "first of the month on my art table" and then clean the table because it is a hazard to work on right now. 

My goal for this April is to paint on location (en plein air) a lot. So I am urgently reviving my gouache set-up so that I can paint quickly and anywhere. I will tell you how it went at the end of the month!

Comments and links to some things in the picture:
- My favorite White Pen - Uni-Ball UM 153 Signo Broad Point Gel Pen. 

- A pen I used a lot lately - Zig Memory System Calligraphy Marker (I almost killed it during the drawing trip to the zoo where I took a separate sketchbook - which will become part of this sketchbook soon :)

- Pencil Sharpener #1 is Swordfish The Triple 3 Hole Canister Pencil Sharpener

- Pencil Sharpener #2 is KUM AS2M (which makes some excellent long points and also has a side sharpener for sharpening mechanical pencils).

- Little yellow bottle - is a part of Kuretake Water Brush - Petit Set. 

I am searching for a red that is simultaneously a little pink and a little orange has a glow and works well when diluted (goes to transparent well even if it is opaque when applied thick) and I want to find a color that I can reproduce with pencils too. Any suggestions are welcome :) Current front runners are Pyrol from Daniel Smith and Sennelier Orange or vermillion Schmincke gouache. 

On My Table: Beginning of February 2024.

January is behind us and I am in the thick of working on a whole bunch of things. This is a cleaner version of my table :)

• A lot of of pencils on my table - I need to limit my color options for a project early so that I have some rules to break later in the game :) 
• There are some texture-making experiments - they might not go anywhere but I Had fun making them. 
• My favorite paper towel for painting (Original Shop Towels). 
• My second favorite pencil sharpener - KUM AS2M (which makes some excellent long points and also has a side sharpener for sharpening mechanical pencils). (I showed my absolute favorite pencil sharpener a few months back). 
• And one more little thing that's been sitting on my table is small post-it notes - I use them to catch all the fleeting thoughts that try to take my mind off what I am doing at the moment - they all get a note - and I look through them later in the day to make sure that all the "water my table garden", "research waterproof running shoes" and "donate to that cause" are all taken care of.

Here is to a good February! (some trees are blooming near me already!)

On My Table: Beginning of July 2023.

It's July. In Ukrainian the name of this month (Lypen) is tied to the name of the linden (aka Tilia - Lypa in Ukrainian). I am walking the streets of California smelling Tilia blossoms and thinking about this amazing name for the month - it means way more to me than Julius Caesar ;)

As I'm working in a large (A3) sketchbook it took me some time to come up with a way to fit it on the table with the other things that I wanted to share and still show a part of it. This sketchbook is being filled with lots of summer sketching adventures!

I got some amazing books for my birthday and am obsessed with looking at the lines and colors in the art of Joaquín Sorolla, Tove Jansson, and Beatrice Alemagna:
Book 1: Sorolla and the Paris Years
Book 2: Tove Jansson: Work and Love
Book 3: On a Magical Do-Nothing Day

This new pencil sharpener (Swordfish The Triple 3 Hole Canister Pencil Sharpener) earned a place in my plein air set (Emma Carlisle mentioned it on her Patreon - for me the winning point was that it can sharpen Woody 3 in 1 Pencils as well as normal and medium-sized pencils). 

I am mixing more colors for my acrylic markers, drawing lots of people and treasures, biking, walking, sketching and having an amazing summer! And I'm trying to pick my art supplies for an upcoming travel (hence limited palette ideas you can see on the table). 

On My Table: First Day of July 2022.

 I just returned from a trip - and my table is a total mess as I am:

• trying to sort what in my travel kit was useful and what was not (two Tombow Fudenosuke brush pens were used the most!) 
• looking forward to the wonders of Neocolor II pastels / crayons. A friend hooked me on them, I got some for my bday and now I am making lists of colors that I need :)
• enjoying my new paper towels in a form of a large pill - another friend hooked me on those :)
• my new favorite pencil sharpener (dome from kum - with two holes) can take care of the regular pencils and also sharpen aforementioned neocolor crayons! 

What is on my table? January 2021.

Imagine you just walked into my studio in the middle of the day - this is a typical January 2021 table mess view: recently revived ackerman pen that made my January a very inky month, pencil sharpener (I found it in my drawer) that is working really well for some finicky color pencils (thick luminance pencils for example), gouache palette and notes and sketches on a project I am working on.