Show My Sketch Kit

6/23/21 My sketch kit contents (page 1 of 2)

Throughout the pandemic, USk Japan has issued regular prompts and themes to keep their members motivated. I’ve been inspired many times to join them – to sketch a journal page; to show process steps; to make urban sketches with blind contours; to avoid thinking; to use white as a prominent color. I also enjoy seeing what their members share on social media.

The group’s most recent prompt is to show the contents of their sketch kits – by sketching them, of course. Although I’ve sketched my tools in the past, it’s been a while – the last time was nearly two years ago – so I thought it would be fun to join them again. (Search the hashtag #show_your_sketch_kit on Instagram to see their kits.)

Instead of setting up all the materials together like a still life, I was in the mood to use a more illustrative style. (Most items are not shown to scale!) I usually feel like my kit is too big, but sketched this way, I see that it’s really not as big as I think (it all fit on two pages)! Maybe my annual minimalism efforts have had lasting effects after all.

I happen to have a new Hero 330 fountain pen with a fude nib (review coming up soon at the Well-Appointed Desk), so it was a good opportunity to take it out for a test drive. (Spoiler alert: It’s a great little fude, especially for the price!)

Page 2 of 2

Snippets

 

4/29/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Here are a couple of snippets from my neighborhood walks – a pickup truck (sketched with the Moonman fude nib pen that I reviewed at the Well-Appointed Desk) and another basketball hoop.

The third wasn’t made in my ‘hood; I sketched a tree outside my ophthalmologist’s office in Renton while I waited for my ride. Fully dilated, I squinted hard, making it easier to see the values. Sometimes sunshine is such a joy that I can’t keep myself from sketching, even when it’s nearly impossible to keep my eyes open.

5/14/21 Renton

The Profoundly Ordinary

4/28/21 A rare alley in Maple Leaf

I listen to the SneakyArt Podcast. In his recent interview with Urban Sketchers founder Gabi Campanario, host Nishant Jain talked about how urban sketching is, for him, about capturing all the small moments that make up our routine, everyday lives – the kind of moments that may be overlooked as not special enough to bother sketching. He used the phrase “people doing profoundly ordinary things” to describe these moments, and I felt moved by that phrase.

As busy sketching as I have been throughout the pandemic, what I have missed most is being around people and capturing them doing profoundly ordinary things. But even when people are nowhere to be seen, mundane neighborhood scenes strike me in the same way – beautiful in their profound ordinaryness.

3/23/21

By the way, I highly recommend the podcast. It’s the only one I know of that focuses specifically on urban sketching. Nishant’s guest list reads like the who’s who of urban sketching, and the interviews are always well-focused, inspiring and stimulating. He also now provides a well-edited transcript for those who prefer to read the highlights instead of listening.

4/13/21 The last of the cherry trees

4/26/21 The concrete mixer left just as I finished the sketch!