Leaf portraits - and some thoughts about blogging

I have have not posting very much here at the moment. It's not really because I don't want to, or because I'm tired of blogging. Well, I am a bit tired of the design of my blog, and I've been wanting to make some changes for absolutely ever, but that is another story.

I've come across some remarks here and there in the past few months, about more and more people questioning blogging and/or stopping to blog altogether. Personally, I think that's a shame and I don't have any intention of stopping myself, and I want to make some changing both in my own blogging as well as blog reading practice. I still think that blogs are the best way to show your work and all, in your own, personalised space. But maybe that's also because I don't like Facebook very much (especially as I don't seem to have much control over what I actually get to see, and I really dislike having some sort of algorithm make that decision for me). I do like Instagram, but I don't like to read longer posts on there. It's just too small on my phone.

I've been spending a lot of time with all kinds of drawing exercises in my sketchbook, and learning more about botanical art. It's fascinating - and a bit confusing - how much detail there is in a leaf, when you look closer! 

And that's why I haven't been blogging that much recently. Because there simply isn't much to show at the moment. It's just that not everything one draws, paints or sketches is really worth sharing. And I also think that it is important to keep some things for yourself. To do them just for fun, play, practice, without any intention of producing something post-worthy to be shared on social media. Process versus product.

There's so many things I want to do at the moment, and sometimes I feel that I'm not really getting anywhere. There never seems to be quite enough time. Especially as at the moment, I'm also working through 2 online classes, and a book. One of the classes I've been looking forward to for months, the other one came quite unexpected, as a free gift. But it turns out to be a very interesting class that could be just what I need right now, as is the book. But it does all take up a lot of time, and doesn't leave much left for painting. I'm trying to squeeze in more time for creativity during the week. Many people seem to opt for getting up an hour earlier in the morning and use that time to do something, be that drawing, reading, yoga etc.. But I already get up at 5.30, so that is definitely not an option for me. The TV is a big time waster for me, and I'm trying to switch it off more often in the evening and use that time for more rewarding things, and only watch things I actually really want to watch - like Springwatch at the moment. I love it!

Ink Tests - DeAtramentis Archive Ink and some Noodler's inks

I only discovered drawing with fountain pens at the beginning of this year, and I'm still trying out different pens and inks to find the 'perfect' ones. For the past few months, I've been using mainly three inks: Platinum Carbon black, Noodler's Brown and Noodler's Lexington Gray. I like these three colours, and I especially loved the Platinum Carbon, as it dries almost instantly and is a nice rich black. But because of its properties, this ink can be a bit hard on a fountain pen, and I haven't dared using it in a TSWSBI, my favourite pen at the moment, only in a Lamy Safari (which is a great pen too).

So I've been looking for alternative blacks, and also, I wanted to try out some different browns. I really like Noodler's Brown, but maybe a bit of a darker brown would be nice too. Last week, my order of some bottled inks and ink samples arrived. Two bottles of black ink - DeAtramentis Archive Ink and Noodler's Black (American) Eel, and a bottle of Noodler's 54th Massachusetts, a blue-black. And some ink samples: Noodler's Red Black, Noodler's Walnut, Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia, Noodler's Q'ternity and Noodler's Turquoise.

The following are, according to the manufacturer/reseller info, waterproof:
- De Atramentis Archive Ink
- Noodler's Black (American) Eel
- Noodler's 54th Massachusetts
- Noodler's Walnut
- Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia

Different papers take inks differently, so I tested them in the three sketchbooks I'm using at the moment, my trusted Moleskine Sketchbook, the Fabriano Venezia and the Stillman & Birn Alpha. And there's been quite some surprises.

Moleskine
DeAtramentis Archive Ink, Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia and Noodler's 54th Mass. are all waterproof, as stated. Noodler's Black Eel and Walnut, weren't. I had let the ink dry for a couple of hours before adding water, and tried again after 2 days. I hadn't filled any of the inks into a fountain pen, but used a dip pen instead, which has a much denser and uneven ink flow than a fountain pen. But they were still not waterproof.  The Sepia is almost too rich, it spread on the paper almost like it was blotting paper, and even bled through the page. Same with Noodler's Q'ternity.

Lots of bleeding through the page with some of the Noodler's, especially when water was added.

Fabriano Venezia
An older test with my three favourites Platinum Carbon, Noodler's Lexington Gray and Platinum Pigment Ink Sepia Brown. All dried quickly and are perfectly waterproof. Although the Platinum Sepia is a bit of a weird colour.

DeAtramentis proofed to be waterproof in this one, except for that patch of rich ink, which might just not have been completely dry, so that's okay. Noodler's 54th Mass did well again too. Both Noodler's Black Eel and Walnut dissolved when water was added. Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia dissolved only a little bit, it would take a light wash, I suppose, but it was the same problem with bleeding as in the Moleskine, only worse (and same again with the Q'ternity).

Stillman & Birn Alpha

Of the new inks, only Noodler's Massachusetts was completely waterproof. So too were the old Carbon Platinum and Noodler's Brown and Lexington Gray. DeAtramentis, and Noodler's Black Eel, Walnut and Sepia all dissolved when water was added.

I really was surprised with the results of the DeAtramentis Archive ink and Noodler's Black Eel. DeAtramentis was only completely waterproof in the Moleskine and the Venezia, and  Noodler's Black Eel in none of them. I know that they are both used by artists who use them with watercolours, and so need them to be waterproof. 

Noodler's Walnut, which is stated to be waterproof, wasn't at all, no matter which sketchbook. In fact, it reacted exactly the same as any of the other non-waterproof inks.

Noodler's Sepia was waterproof in the Moleskine, sort of waterproof in the Venezia, and not at all in the S&B Alpha. But then I'm not considering this ink anyway, as it's far too rich and spreads on the paper terribly, and even bleeds right through the page.

Summary/Verdict:

Blacks

I really loved my Platinum Carbon Ink. I believed it to be as black as can be, and I was quite surprised to see that, next to DeAtramentis Archive Ink, it looked quite a bit pale (you can't see it very well on these scans, I'm afraid). I have filled one of my TSWBIs with this ink and am going to try it out a bit more, and hope that it will be as waterproof as it is supposed to be. There is another waterproof black ink, DeAtramentis Document Ink. I'm not sure what exactly the difference is between the two, but I want to try that one out too eventually. As to the Noodler's Black Eel, I'm not quite sure what to do with that one.

Brown

As to alternative browns, well, the Noodler's Sepia is definitely not an option. I would  have liked to have Noodler's Walnut as a darker alternative to Noodler's Brown, but as it turned out not to be waterproof at all in my tests, it's no good. So I'm going to stick with Noodler's Brown. I do like the colour, so that's not a problem. DeAtramentis also makes a brown ink, and I hope to try that one too some time, so there might still be another option.

Blue-Black

I've always liked blue-black ins, it's the standard in my fountain pen I use for writing, and has been for the past almost 20 years, so I wanted to add one for drawing too. Colourwise I would have prefered Noodler's Q'ternity, but apart from not being waterproof, it also spread and bled on the page, so that's no option. Noodler's 54th Massachusetts is a little bit dull, I think, but it proofed to be perfectly waterproof in all three sketchbook, so I'm going to use that one for now and see how it works and how I like it.

Non-Waterproofs

Of the remaining non-waterproof inks, I really like Noodler's Red Black. It is a rich, dark colour that dissolves into a beautiful bright red when water is added. I think it could be used for some nice effects for drawings (As could Noodler's Walnut for that matter, since it is not, after all, waterproof).  I also liked Noodler's Turquoise, it's a beautiful colour, both with and without water, but I just don't really see it as a colour for drawing that I would use much. So I guess I'll just use up the ink sample, and that's that.

This has turned into a very long post, but I am always interested in reading about other people's experiences with different mediums, and so I hope that this post will be of interest to some of you too. And I'd be happy to hear of your own experiences with these, or with other, inks.

Decisions, decisions...

I've been using ready stretched canvasses ever since I've started painting on canvas (because that's how my painting teacher did it), and I've never really thought about stretching my own canvasses. But recently, I've become a bit bored with the ready stretched things. There just doesn't seem to be that much variety, at least not in texture. So I've started thinking about doing my own stretching. I ordered two sample booklets from one of the big art shops here, and oh my, so many different textures and varieties!

But now there's the problem of deciding which one. Linen or cotton? (I'm not really considering the polyester options, that just sounds wrong somehow). Primed or unprimed? Well, I know which one I like most. Unfortunately, that also happens to be the most expensive. So the problem now is to find my favourite affordable fabric.

Umprimed fabrics are less expensive, so that might be an option. But I'm just a bit concerned about how the fabric will behave, if you first stretch, and then prime it. Will it warp? Would I have to gesso it first, and then stretch it? That might be a bit akward, though, especially with the larger sizes.

Well, before I make any definite decisions, and order a bit huge roll of fabric, I'll have to do some more investigating. I bought two more sample booklets from the other big art shop here. They have some great looking, and slightly less expensive, fabrics in their catalogue, and I'm looking forward to try them out. After all, it's quite a big investment, to get a big huge 2x10m roll (they don't seem to sell them by metre here), and I want to get the right one. Although it might probably take a while to find the perfect canvas. Not easy, but rather exciting.

Linking this up to the wonderful Paint Party Friday. I know, there ins't much of painting going on here, but I hope that some of you might have some tips or recommendations for me. 

What do you use/prefer? Ready stretched, or stretching your own? Have you changed from ready stretched to making your own? Or vice versa? I'd love to hear what you think and about your own experiences.

Shopping in London

A page in my new Moleskine sketchbook/art journal I started during my holiday in England, inspired by my favourite art shops in London. There's a number of shops I always enjoy going to when in London, and I'm sure that some of you might like to know about them too, so here's my list of favourite London shops.

Art shops:

Cornelissen: my favourite, and in my favourite area, Bloomsbury, 105 Great Russell Street. A wonderful shop where you find everything your art-heart desires. The shop itself is worth a visit, it's like a step back in time to when artists relied on their trusted colourmen to provide them with paints, before the invention of paint tubes and synthetic pigments. It's a bit more expensive, as they don't usually have so many sales and special offers as some of the others, but there are a number of things you won't find in any of the other shops. Apart form painting materials, they also have tools and materials for printmaking, guilding etc. Among the things I come here for are oil paint sticks, and "liquid metal" metallic acrylics.

Cowling & Wilcox: there are several branches in London, but the one I usually go to is their Soho branch, at 26-28 Broadwick Street. They often have special offers with up to 40% off Liquitex paints, for erxample. It was also the only one where I found Liquitex Soft Body paints. They have some general arts and crafts materials too, as well as stationery.

Cass Arts: also has several branches in London, one of which very conveniently right around the corner from Cowling & Wilcox, at 24 Berwick St. I come here for the Derwent Sketching pencils, which have an extra wide graphite core. They ufusally have some great special offers, although I was beginning to get slightly worried when the sales assistant kept running off to get a free jar of clear gesso with the paints, a box of pencils instead of the individual pencils, etc. ..., as I was trying to figure out how to fit all that extra stuff into my suitcase.

Other specialist shops:

Shepherds Falkiners: back in Bloomsbury, 76 Southampton Row. A specialist shop for fine papers and bookbinding supplies. On the ground floor, you'll find the most tempting range of beautiful patterned paper, and a whole lot of patterned cardboard boxes in all shapes and sizes. In the basement are bookbinding supplies and tools.

Blade Rubber Stamps: Another fine Bloomsbury shop, in 12 Bury Place, pretty much opposite the main entrance of the British Museum. They have a wonderful range of stamps, mostly wood mounted, but also other kinds of stamps, and ink pads, as well as scrapbooking and card making supplies, and a selection of Stampington magazines.

And last but not least, a shop that has been on my list for ages:

Intaglio: 9 Playhouse Court, 62 Southwark Bridge Road, not too far from Tate Modern. The place to go to for everyting about printmaking: tools, materials, and a range of books too. Unlike the others, this is not really a shop to go to for just having a look around and browse, but rather one where you have to more or less know what you want. This is also the reason why I have never been htere until two weeks ago, when I wanted to buy some wood engraving tools.

I was really very proud of myself that, after already having bought some stuff I could easily have got here at home as well, I didn't end up buying wood blocks as well. It really did seem rather silly to fill up my suitcase with wood. But after looking at the websites of the art shops here at home, it doesn't seem like such a silly idea after all anymore. So now I might end up ordering wood blocks form England soon. Luckily, most of the above shops do mail order (although last time I checked, Cowling & Wilcox had ridiculously high shipping costs to Switzerland, something like starting at £40 or so). I just hope that Intaglio have normal shipping costs, like the rest, otherwise, I might have to start planning my next trip to London soon :).

Linking up to Paint Party Friday, which I unfortuantely missed for the past three weeks. And if you know more great shops in London, please share!

My favourite London shops ~ Shepherds Falkiners: A perfect paper heaven

For the past 5 years, I've spent at least one week of my summer holiday in London, taking courses in Book History at the London Rare Books School (LRBS). I love the area around Russell Square, in the famous Bloomsbury area, and I've discovered some fabulous shops which are leading my London Top Favourite Shops List. I've meant to write about my three most favourite art materials and craft shops alredy in summer, but I forgot to take the pictures of their shop fronts that I meant to. So I decided to put it off until after my short trip to London in October. But what can I say - I forgot to take pictures again! Well, I must have been so excited to enter the shops, that it completely slipped my mind (and afterwards had my hands too full...)!.

So I've now decided to write about them anyway. After all, I've got enough photos of the fabulous stuff I bought there :). All three shops are conveniently close to each other, and only a few minutes walk from the British Museum's main entrance. The first shop I want to share with you is the one I've discovered the first year I stayed in Bloomsbury: Shepherds Falkiners, a fabulous shop specialising in fine papers and bookbinding supplies, located in Southampton Row (turn left on Great Russell Street (facing away from the BM entrance), cross Southampton Row, and then it's just a few steps to your right). The shop, though not big, is nice airy and light, with some lovely dark wood furniture, and the colours, patterns and textures of the papers are just so wonderful, a real feast for they eye. It's probably a good thing I don't know anything about book binding, at least the practical-making-it-yourself-part, or I'd probably spend a fortune in there. They do have a series of courses they offer, both in London and Wiltshire, and I'm still hoping that they'll be having one at a time when I happen to be staying in the area. I've always fancied learning some basic book binding :)

I'v wanted one of those gorgeous boxes already the first time I've stepped into the store, but I never figured out how to get them home. No space in the suitcase, and back then, it was still strictly one hand lagguage policy in the airplane. I didn't want to send it back by mail either, as I feared the edges would all get damaged. So no chance. But this time, at last, I got my box! I took my big suitcase for the few days, half empty, to fill it up with goodies :). And I didn't just get a box, but also a pencil box, a pencil holder and a sheet of paper. I simply couldn't resist the paper, even though it's almost impossible to get it home without creases. But I'm going to clue it on top of something anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

I bought the bonefolder back in summer. I've been looking at quite a few bonefolders, but this one was the only one that really was perfect. The size and shape, and it's slight bend that makes it lie in your hand just perfectly. Why all that fuss about a simple bonefolder, you might ask. Well yes, maybe. But. It's the small details that turn an ordinary bonefolder into a fabulous, perfect one. And I love details :).

If you're ever in that area (and it's an areay well worth visiting), do pop in there and have a look. They also have notebooks, diaries, greeting cards and other things that make great gifts for people who appreciate quality paper crafts. And they also got an online shop (with reasonable shipping costs to Switzerland, which is not always the case), so I'm sure I'll be ordering some more of those papers :). Unfortunately, they don't seem to have the boxes in the online shop, though. Well, a good reason to go there again next time I'm in London :)

Oh and make sure to take a few minutes to visit lovely Russell Square. It's such a peaceful place, especially in the autumn light - and the café serves a tasty English breakfast too :)

Next Sunday, I'll show you another one of my Favourite 3 London Shops, and we'll be going stamping mad. (And maybe I'll even managed to get some pictures of the shop).

Have a fabulous longest-day-of-the-year Sunday!