Good to Be Back (Plus Zeta Mutterings)

 

4/4/26 Mt. Rainier from Maple Leaf Park (Derwent Drawing pencil and Neocolor II crayon in S&B Zeta sketchbook)

Even after only a short time away, and no matter how much fun I had, it’s always wonderful to sleep in my own bed again. (The flight home had been especially grueling: Two-and-a-half hours on the tarmac waiting for stormy weather to clear before five more hours in the same seat.) It always takes me a few days to turn my body’s clock back to west coast time and get back into my routines.

On Saturday the temp got up to 60 with brilliant sunshine! From Maple Leaf Park, Her Majesty looked majestic, indeed. It’s always grounding to sketch a familiar subject that tells me I’m home.

Sketchbook notes: A while back I had mentioned finding an old but unused 3 ½-by-5 ½-inch Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook in landscape format. Years ago I had determined that a Zeta book would never be a favorite with mixed media because the surface doesn’t take water well when spritzed heavily. I still think that’s true, but I love the paper so much with Derwent Drawing colored pencils (which I used for the mountain) that I’ve been trying to give the sketchbook another fair shot.

Compare the way the “licked sky” wash in the Zeta sketch above to the one below in my favorite Hahnemühle 100 percent cotton sketchbook. I’m still not crazy about how Zeta’s surface takes washes, but given the infrequency with which I use that technique, I’m wondering if it’s an acceptable trade-off. I so enjoy that lovely, smooth finish with Derwent’s soft core. Sketching the Lincoln Memorial last week on Hahnemühle’s strong tooth just wasn’t as satisfying, and I didn’t like the rough look. The whole time I was sketching it, I was wishing I had a Zeta.

Detail to show "licked sky" using Neocolor II crayon in Hahnemuhle 100 percent cotton sketchbook

I’m just muttering aloud. . . I’ll carry it around for a while longer and see what happens.