Saturday, September 23, 2017

Mushrooms and autumn

It was the first day of autumn, yesterday. I saw a mushroom peeking out from the uneven grass of someone's yard. It made me realize how much I missed painting these things of fall: fungi, colorful leaves, fiery trees.

I cannot wait.

Friday, September 15, 2017

New books, Pentel paints


It's been a little difficult waking up early again and getting back into the swing of classes, but 18th century satire should help. I've been wanting to read Candide by Voltaire for quite some time, so it was nice to find it at a used book sale earlier this week.


My brother also gave me his Pentel watercolor set, which had sat unopened for a long time. I squeezed the tube paint into a small plastic palette, and have been using it since. 

I've been doing a bit of what one would consider to be urban sketching. It just feels so liberating to draw with light, fast pen strokes to capture the essence of a subject. There's a lot for me to still learn, but for now the lack of "rules" has been enjoyable.

Earlier, I mentioned that I've been exploring different drawing and painting styles. I enjoy the slow, layer-over-layer style of watercolor painting, but trying out new things is always a good experience.

Monday, September 4, 2017

Started in my Moleskine


My first Moleskine came in last month, a pocket hardcover with blank pages. I will be doing a more thorough post with thoughts later on, but I thought I'd mention how easy it is to carry around. Considering that I fill up notebooks extremely quickly, I really appreciate the simplistic and no nonsense style of these.

As you can see from the photo, it's smaller and more compact than my Midori.


It's been a little over a week, and I've written a ton. I've also added in washi tape and painted a little, which even surprises me. I've never been too into crafty journaling--I write my words, and that's usually it. But I've been getting a lot of inspiration from different sources, and I've found that I do (sort of) like the color that tape or paint gives to a page.

I wanted a Moleskine so I could at least say that I tried it out--I mean, I've heard from a number of people who have acted as though it was the god of all notebooks. More on whether I agree with that statement later...