My First Strathmore and Moleskine

I never really paid attention to what paper I was drawing on until this past August when I decided to take a more deliberate and serious approach to my art. I was in the hospital and you can only watch so many movies and TV shows, play so many card games and board games, and sleep so many hours before you feel you're going to quietly die of boredom in your sleep. I had some ideas I wanted to put to paper and asked my parents for a notebook, a sketchpad, a pencil, and a pen. They came back with a Moleskine notebook and a Strathmore 400 Series 6"x8" drawing pad.

The Strathmore 400 Series drawing pad is great. Spiral bound so it lays flat and pages aren't easily removed. It's the perfect pad to take with you everywhere. Amazing with pencil drawings and India Ink. I've used it for markers (crayola because Prismacolor and Sharpie will bleed through), color pencils, and charcoal. I find that 6"x8" is a great size as it's not too small but small enough that it's portable. I also have pads of other sizes for less portable applications. I've bought other drawing pads and sketch books but the weight and texture of this paper is my favorite.

Now a quick note on the Molskine brand notebooks. Moleskine pads and books has several great aspects to them that make them worth their elevated price. They have usually have a built-in book mark, an elastic band attached to the cover that helps keep it closed, it always lays flat, and it has an expandable pocket that is useful for storing scraps of paper. I only possess a ruled notebook but I've seen and felt their watercolor paper and I have wanted one ever since then. I use Strathmore Windpower and 400 Series for my watercolor and mixed media works but the Moleskine watercolor paper seems a little heavier and smoother. I'll let you know more about it when I purchase my own.

Gesture Dragon

BONUS SKETCH
Did this from a picture in a magazine. I used a graphite stick and didn't erase. If you've never tried it, don't erase at all in a sketch or two. I find that it's a good exercise in building confidence.Thanks for reading about my Brainsplosion.

Links

Strathmore

Moleskine

Sharpie

Prismacolor 

Two More & Maybe Some Changes

So here are the two sketches I should have posted yesterday. I was feeling under the weather at that time. It happens when you're chronically ill but I've learned to just move passed it and accept that it will happen sometimes. On the bright side I'm going to get an outpatient procedure done that should make my life a little more comfortable. Anyway, you don't come here for my personal life, you come for the art! (or at least I hope you do.)

 

Surfer 1

Cactus Jack

The first is an old drawing I did when I was researching surfing for a game I had designed. I bought a box of crayola crayons because they're cheap, fun, and can add lots of color. Surfer 1 is a drawing based on a picture from either the internet or a magazine. I can't really remember as it was at least a year ago I drew that one. So I sketched a very basic under drawing and went over it with my new crayons. The white is the paper as a white crayon is mostly ineffective. The second drawing was also done while researching for a game I had designed and is also done from an image I found on the internet. I used pencils of various hardnesses. I think the range was 2H to 6B. I did this about 3 months ago so all I remember clearly is how much graphite was on my hands.

Keep checking back because I might start supplementing my usual posts with some that contain book or product reviews. I may throw in a new piece or even maybe some random pages from my sketchbooks that aren't really meant to be stand alone pieces. I feel like most people see finished pieces and think, "Oh wow, they're talented." I want to show you how much I practice so you can see it's not a matter of talent but a matter of dedication. Also, you'll be able to see that not every time I set out to draw the final product is something I'm proud of. In short, I screw up too. Thanks for reading about my brainsplosion.

Just FYI

I just wanted to call everyone's attention to the right-hand side of my blog. Under my "about me" section I've added a list of websites that I follow. While right now it's only a few I'll keep adding more. In each update I'll let you know about the new ones I've added.

Right now I have only 2 sites on the list. The first is a SoundCloud of my good friend Charm Polyp's innovative and entertaining music. Do me a favor and hop over to his site and give a few of his tracks a listen. You might find that you like it. The second is an art blog of an amazing artist known as G.J. that I just found using StumbleUpon. Seriously, I'm envious of him. Give him a look too, especially if you like fantasy or science fiction art.

Getting Into The Groove

I have two more pieces for all my readers out there just as promised. I've been determined to stay away from updating every day as I'm afraid my huge backlog will disappear and then I won't be able to keep up with the demands of this blog. I'm right on schedule with this post even though I was in the throws of medication side effects for the passed couple of days. I won't go into details but even though I've discontinued its use I'm still feeling its effects. Anyway, here are the two pieces I've promised.

Catch Yourself

Iguana

The first piece is a mixed media piece. I used pencil to sketch the hand and sharpie markers to color the blocks. This was around the same time I did Brainsplosion and a lot of the other pieces I'll be uploading. The second is a sketch of an iguana from a picture I found on the internet. This and the previous brown-headed skink sketch are from a series of animals I drew to try to get the hang of real animals in an attempt to bolster my own creature design. That's it for this post. I'll keep you all updated and hopefully no more medications or medical disasters will keep me down. Thanks for reading about my Brainsplosion.

Something Old and Something New

I've got a considerably large backlog of sketches. I've filled several sketchbooks and continue to do so. My plan is to share with you at least one old sketch and one new sketch each post. So here they are. First is something old, then something new.

Brainsplosion

Brown-headed Skink

The first piece, "Brainsplosion," was a pencil drawing that I colored with sharpie markers. I have quite a wide array of sharpie marker colors and a lot of my early color work is done with them. The second piece is a sketch of a brown-headed skink. It was from a picture I saw in an over sized book on reptiles from the clearance section of my local Borders. It's probably one of my favorite places to sketch. Thanks for reading about my Brainsplosion.

Introduction

I just wanted to write a quick post and say hi to all my future readers. I'm hoping that with this periodically updated blog I can share my art with the world.

Here's some quick background information on me. I'm a completely self taught artist. I never took my art seriously until this passed August (8/10). I spent several months in the hospital from August to around October. I was in and out after that for a while and was mostly bedridden. So as a way to pass time I started sketching more and designing video games. Since then I've been experimenting with new media and have greatly improved my skill.

So begins our journey. I'll upload older sketches and pieces as well as try to keep you up to date on my current projects. Just remember, art is fun.