Green Lake Public Library

9/12/12 Lamy fountain pen, waterproof ink, Copic Multiliner SP, watercolor

Some days my freelance calendar is chopped up in such a way that I find myself with an awkward gap of time between commitments. I like to fill such gaps with a challenging sketch that I might otherwise try to avoid because it’s “hard.” The time is limited, so I don’t have to torture myself overlong. A few weeks ago I sketched a car during that kind of gap of time. Today I tackled dreaded architecture, but it’s a building I’m fond of and visit often, so it didn’t seem torturous: The Seattle Public Library Green Lake Branch, or “my” library, as I like to think of it.

I don’t know much about architecture, but I think it’s in the classic Carnegie library style that is slowly being replaced by more “modern” styles in some neighborhoods. The Green Lake Branch was closed for extensive improvements a while back, so I hope that means it’s around to stay.

I started this sketch with my Lamy Safari fountain pen filled with waterproof Noodler’s ink, but halfway through, I switched to my trusty Copic Multiliner SP because the Noodler’s was smudging to high heaven under my left hand holding the pen. I really like how waterproof the Noodler’s is on both Stillman & Birn and Hand Book sketchbook papers – but it apparently isn’t drying fast enough to keep up with my hand passing over it (the lifelong curse of the south paw).

But now I’m fantasizing about springing for an extravagant bottle of Platinum Carbon ink, which so many sketchers drool over. Any lefties out there who have tried it? Does it dry any faster than Noodler’s?