My current sketching kit

It has become second nature to carry around some sketching materials with me where ever I go. It means that if I have to wait anywhere I can use the time to sketch. In fact, having to wait almost becomes a bonus.

It’s always good to review what one uses and here are some of my current tools. A number of years ago I treated myself to a Waterman Fountain pen and ballpoint set. The ballpoint was appropriated by someone fairly early on. Fortunately the fountain pen didn’t fall prey to the same fate and I still use the fountain pen at home every day.

For some years I used fibre-tipped fine liners - mostly the Uni-Pin. These have different nib sizes, ranging from 0.005 through to 0.8. However, I tired of them running dry and becoming scratchy. So a few years ago I started using fountain pens filled with permanent ink.

Here are some of pens that I use for drawing.

Two Lamy Safari pens, one with the EF (extra fine) nib and the second has an Italic 1.1 nib.

A Noodler’s Konrad Flex pen - currently filled with Noodler’s #41 brown making lovely expressive lines, easily turned into ink and wash.

  

Hero 812 eight running horses - a bent nib calligraphy pen - good for very thick/thin line combinations.

      

Pencils and watercolour pencils

Derwent Sketching pencils are water soluble and come in Dark wash 8B; Medium Wash 4B and Light wash HB. These are useful for quick sketches of people.

Caran D’Ache watercolour pencils - these are a recent addition to the roll although I bought these in Hong Kong a number of years ago and have only used them occasionally.These can be used when it’s not practical to whip out the watercolour palette.

All of these fit into a pencil roll I found at Officeworks (Australia) for the princely sum of $5. It has pockets along the bottom, elastic running along the centre of the roll and a flap at the top, keeping everything safely inside.

I keep my two Lamy pens in a separate pouch in a zipped compartment in my handbag. The thinking is that if either goes AWOL I still have what’s in the other pen roll.

These sketches are in a new sketchbook - Stillman & Birn Gamma landscape. Ivory 150gsm Vellum surface. The colour is more creamy than the Alpha so I'm testing the paper along with various sketching tools.

Here are some useful links to product suppliers.
DISCLAIMER - please note that I do not receive anything from these suppliers for mentioning their products

Click on the highlighted name.
Rosemary & Co for brushes - very high quality and good value. If you are out of the UK remember the Vat % comes off.

Fountain pens - Goulet Pens have a comprehensive range and in addition many videos on pens and their maintainence. Regular Q&A sessions will answer all your quaetions.

Australian readers can also check out LarryPOST in Sydney for pens,ink and sketchbooks.

Notemaker, based in Melbourne is another stockist. 

To be continued - My watercolour palette and brushes.

Sketching at Brookfield Garden Centre

Last week, artists from my Friday class met at Brookfield Garden Centre for a sketching morning. We wandered around and each found interesting things to draw.

I was struck by the orchids as I walked in the door so I went to those first. These were drawn directly in ink while standing. Since I haven’t mastered the art of holding my watercolour palette, little water bottle and sketchbook simultaneously, the watercolour was added later.

Phalaenopsis orchids - ink and watercolour Alpha Sketchbook

Rusty bells and butterflies on chains next called my attention. Again the colour was added later, random splashes appeared out of nowhere (who did that?) so I turned these into a purple wash.

Rusty Bells - ink and watercolour Alpha Sketchbook

Nearby I found this meditative group of statues. I used Noodlers #41 Brown and because it seemed to be taking ages to dry on this paper (S&B Beta A4 sketchbook) I decided to use the ink as a wash with a water-brush, later adding a little grey - a Cobalt Blue and Burnt Sienna mix. 

A quiet corner - ink and watercolour Alpha Sketchbook

Eventually, we were getting too hot in the sun, we gathered at WildCanary for coffee and cake. Drawing our cake was part of the deal. Since we had a lovely big table we had room to complete our sketches.

Strawberry Frangipani Tart - ink and watercolour Beta Sketchbook

It was such a lovely day.

Here are some sketches from my fellow artists:

 Renuka Russell

 Judith Rihm

 Vida Fiser

Lesley Jolly

It was such a lovely day!

Urban Sketchers Brisbane on The Great South East

There was much excitement at the USK Brisbane sketch crawl this morning. Our group was to be filmed for the Channel 7 TV programme The Great South East, which features people and places in SE  Queensland.

Needless to say there was a bumper turnout. While we waited for the film crew to arrive, I started a quick ink sketch of the General Post Office. I wanted to get a feel for the building and decide how to tackle the building in the larger sketch.

GPO Noodler's #41 Brown in Alpha sketchbook

 It's a building with three sections. The left hand side with the clock face is the original building, although the clock was originally on the centre Tower section and was later moved. The right side of the building was added later and matches the left side. We were in relative calm sitting in Post Office square across the road.

I decided to concentrate on the original building.I loved the fact that the trees obscured quite a lot of the complex building. There was a also a lot of traffic on the road in front of me - trucks, delivery vans and crowds of people moving about, so a lot of editing took place.

While I started my sketch some of the other sketchers were interviewed. I decided on a loose watercolour wash of the main shapes so I would have something to work on when they came to talk to me. 

Fortunately I had a fair bit of the sketch started when it was my turn to be interviewed, so I didn't have to face a blank page. Carole Horne, the Producer asked me to "assist" the presenter, Blair Allsop with his sketch and give him a few tips on starting. The crew were with us for a couple of hours and then went on to shoot footage of some of the sketches we had done in other locations around the city.

 General Post Office Brisbane ink and watercolour Zeta sketchbook 

If you live in Queensland make sure you tune in to Channel Seven on a Sunday afternoon at 5.30pm. We will get some notice of when the segment will air - most likely in about four weeks so I'll let you know when it's on.

Andy Warhol predicted that

“In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes”

After all effort that I am sure our fame will most likely only amount to three or four minutes in total.