Lake View Cemetery

11/9/13 Platinum Carbon ink, watercolor, Arches 140 lb. hot-press paper

Bruce Lee fans would be disappointed.

On my way home from using the Blick Art Supplies discount coupon that was burning a hole in my purse (keep reading to find out what I bought), I drove around Capitol Hill looking for a sketch. I ended up at Lake View Cemetery, where a number of famous people are buried, including both Bruce Lee and his son Brandon. I’m not exactly a fan of the martial arts film star, so I skipped his gravesite, which is what many visitors to the cemetery come to see. Instead, I just drove slowly through the grounds looking for an interesting tree to sketch.

This time I remembered to take a Copic Multiliner SP pen to use on the last pages of my Arches signature – but wouldn’t you know it? I grabbed one that was out of ink! Argghh. But I was determined to use watercolor this time, so I struggled through the sketch with my usual Platinum Carbon ink. So much for Arches.

Now I’ll tell you what I bought at Blick (and you might be disappointed by this, too): a single sheet of hot-press Fabriano 140-pound paper. I probably should have thought of something more expensive to get a 30 percent discount on, but five bucks is a bit of a gulp for a single sheet of paper that I’m going to tear up to put in my sketchbook, so the coupon made it easier to swallow. Stay tuned for that test.