Bake-off Interruption

8/3/25 7:20 p.m., Maple Leaf neighborhood

This sketch probably looks like many others I’ve made, with one exception: It was 7:20 p.m. on a Sunday evening. I had been quietly enjoying The Great British Baking Show after dinner as I occasionally do, when suddenly the floor started shaking and the windows vibrating from jackhammering on the street. Although it hadn’t rained in weeks, a small river was forming on the pavement in front of the house a few doors down.

After I made this hasty sketch from my front porch, I went down to ask a worker what was going on: a broken water main. “Happens all the time,” he informed me, gesturing toward “these old pipes are everywhere.” In response to my remark of consternation, he said, grinning, “One of these days it’ll be your house.”

I thanked him for his reassurance and went back to my no-longer-quiet Sunday evening.

New Gas Mains – Again

 

6/27 - 7/4/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood

A year ago, a huge utility project began in the ‘hood, and it took nearly that long to finish as it moved northward a block at a time. New natural gas mains were going in. This summer, the same utility has begun another project. This one is a bit more intrusive because the work is closer to home. Parking has been restricted, so a lot of my neighbors have to keep moving their cars, making it harder for all of us. It’s noisy, dusty and inconvenient, and sometimes the jackhammering feels like an earthquake, but I’m trying to make the best of it – and you know what that means!

I knew this story would go on for weeks (possibly months? I hope not), so I had plenty of time, but I wasn’t sure how to capture the equipment and action in a comics format. I could have filled up the spread in one day, but I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to work over time. I made these three sketches over the course of a week, keeping in mind different perspectives and overall compositions. It was surprisingly difficult for me to wait between sketches – I always feel compelled to fill up a spread all at once. It must be my natural inclination as a daily journal keeper.

I wish I hadn’t mixed brown and black inks for the frames . . . it was an experiment, but I think the spread looks less cohesive.

The Lure of a Sketch

1/14/24 The Brothers, Olympic Mountains

With the deep freeze we had a couple of weeks ago and the more recent “atmospheric rivers,” my daily walking-fitness program in January was miserable-to-spotty. Sometimes when it’s cold, wet and windy, not even the lure of a potential sketch can get me off my duff.

1/10/24 Maple Leaf Park

1/23/24 Green Lake neighborhood

Most days, though, I grumble all the way out the door, but by the time I reach the end of the block, I’m already looking around for something to sketch. And after I’ve sketched, the walk is always worth it.

1/13/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood

1/19/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood

1/28/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Material notes: I finished filling the half-filled red Uglybook, and now I’m onto finishing the orange one that I started during InkTober. I only used one spread in it then, though, so it’s almost like starting a brand-new book. I think I have only two more partially used books to finish filling, and then I can start my plan of completing each Uglybook from cover to cover before starting a new one. Let’s see how I do with resisting the temptation of switching among all the new colors!

Fed up with fighting the white Posca, I went back to a Sakura Gelly Roll for a while (another white pen that works well – until it doesn’t). Oddly enough, my Facebook “memories” reminded me of my white Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pen (the ink is the same as the bullet tip I reviewed a while back except that this one has a brush tip), so I pulled it out. It’s not opaque enough to use the way I like to, so it won’t be a permanent go-to, but I’m trying it again for a while. In the sketch above of the excavator, I drew the cab’s dark interior with a black Uni Pin, then colored the window glass with the white Pitt. The translucency gave the window an interesting effect.

Bakery Business

1/4/24 Utility work outside Macrina Bakery, Maple Leaf neighborhood

 The utility project I sketched in September is still going on in my immediate neighborhood. The work looks similar every time – the same machines, the same big holes, the same noise – but it just moves a bit further north each time. I usually pass it on my walks wherever it happens to be that week, but since all the heavy equipment is the same, I haven’t sketched it again.  

Last week I noticed the project was on the side street adjacent to Macrina Bakery. In fact, an excavator was parked in Macrina’s small employee parking lot, and it looks like some related work might occur right on the property. Obviously, I’ll have to check out the status again soon because, you know, I need to look after bakery business (by that I mean my own).

White pen note: In case you’re curious, I have given up on the white Posca marker and have gone back to my standby Sakura Gelly Roll. While the other Posca colors in the 0.7mm “pin” size behave somewhat better, the white always seems to develop clogging issues eventually. I have tried three so far with the same results, regardless of which way I store them (point up or point down). I have one more that I’m storing horizontally at home, and that seems to be doing OK so far, but that means I can’t take it with me – and urban sketching is 99 percent of my use for it. So it’s déjà vu all over again, all over again. And again.

Way Up High

9/15/23 Seattle City Light workers, Maple Leaf neighborhood

While all the natural gas action was happening on the street, another kind of work was being done way up high – by Seattle City Light. Just around the corner from our house, two trucks with cranes held baskets of workers who took most of a day installing new cross beams on existing poles. Thankfully, we experienced no disruption of electrical service.

When I sketch trees, it’s an opportunity to feel gratitude toward them for the services they provide. In the same way, sketching utility workers is an opportunity to thank them for services that I take for granted most of the time.

Big Utility Action

 

9/12/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

We received notification a few weeks ago that our natural gas utility would be doing some major infrastructure work in the ‘hood. While I could almost hear the collective groan from neighbors about traffic disruptions and parking restrictions, I rejoiced: Imagine all the heavy equipment!

On one morning, I had my pick of three machines, all quietly waiting while workers set up cones and directed traffic around them. I thought I’d have enough time to make a leisurely portrait of one (left), but before I could finish, everything burst into noisy action.

One worker used a circular saw to cut a hole in the metal plate in the street (below). As showers of sparks flew in all directions, a guy behind him held a shield to protect the grass, but the worker wasn’t wearing any kind of face protection! (Luckily for him, I was there only to sketch, not report him to OSHA.)

My favorite machine is the one that looks like a long-legged bug with a wide stance (similar to the worker cutting the hole, above). The business end was a noisy jackhammer.

A couple of days later, I went back for more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a sketch of the opposite end of the same machine doing its business (the shovel side at left in the sketch below), which was to haul and position a metal plate in the street. One thing I like about heavy machinery is that they are multi-functioning Swiss army knives: They can all do more than one thing. 

9/14/23 Same machine, different big hole.

9/18/23 Concrete pours into the big hole.

The following week, I was rewarded with a cement mixer! When a worker came by to see what I was up to, I asked if I could expect any other big machines on the project. Unfortunately, no – the project was expected to be done in a few days, and then the whole process would be moving to the next block.

Paper and pen notes: My mustard yellow Uglybook is now full. As it came in a Mystery Pack, it was my one and only. It’s a great color – I sure hope Uglybook uses it again sometime.

I liked using a blue Posca paint marker with that yellow paper so much that I decided to reverse the combo with the blue book I went back to (started last spring before I got distracted by several other Uglybook colors) by using a bright yellow Posca.

The honeymoon is over... at least with white.

Speaking of Posca markers, my white one is behaving badly. I thought that my cap-down storage trick was working so well – and it still is with all the other colors. But something is different about white – unlike the other colors, it doesn’t flow well even after shaking and priming, and storing it cap-side down doesn’t help. Even worse, exactly what I had half-expected to happen finally did happen with white: The cap had been posted, and when I replaced it, I realized the pen’s back end (and therefore my hand) was covered with white paint from the inside of the cap.

Huh. Somehow I knew the Posca honeymoon wouldn’t last.

Big Action in the ‘Hood

7/31/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

My walk yesterday was rewarded with action in the ‘hood. First, I could see from a distance that something big and noisy was happening: Where a house once stood was now a huge pile of dirt and debris. Most of the action was hidden behind a tall hedge, which was frustrating, but occasionally a long arm with jaws on the end of it would reach out and dump a mouthful into the truck. I kept my distance to avoid the dust.

A few blocks away, a crane atop a long-bed truck was delivering sheetrock through an upper-floor window of a new house. It’s always fascinating to watch the delicate maneuverings of a crane like this.

7/31/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

With that, my one and only hot pink Uglybook is full! I finished it in a month – the fastest ever because I stayed with it straight through without jumping around among various books as I usually do. I thoroughly enjoyed using that book – not just the hue (although how could I resist hot pink?), but it was also the right midtone between black brush pens and white pencils or light-colored markers. Many of Uglybooks’ vivid page colors are fun to use, but they are either too dark or too light to serve as a midtone. This pink was ideal.

I received the single book as part of a mystery pack, and Uglybooks told me that the color was a one-off and would not be offered as a pack. We’ll see if my entreaties are heard.

Front Yard Action

3/28/23 Across the street, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Ever since last August when the Honey Bucket arrived, the remodel at the house across the street has progressed apace – though most of it has been frustratingly out of my view behind the house. I’ve managed to catch the big things that had to come through the front, like the cement mixer and the plywood delivery truck, but most of the front view has been piles of junk and, of course, the Honey Bucket (once I almost caught the maintenance on the Bucket, but the service person was too fast for me).

Suddenly this week the action was in front – the porch steps were removed, as were a couple of small trees. Not just one but three small excavators have shown up to dig up dirt from various holes and move them to piles.

I came home from an appointment one day, and it was all happening at once, so I quickly dashed upstairs to our front deck to catch as much as I could. With all the yardwork happening, I feared for the little pinwheel palm that I have enjoyed sketching many times, especially when it snows, but I’m happy to see that it is being preserved.

At Last, Something Big

 

10/4/22 Across the street

My patience finally paid off. Almost two months ago when a Honey Bucket appeared across the street, I was certain I’d have fun stuff to sketch. With all the action in the back of the house, it has mostly been an exercise in frustration – until last week.

My first clue was the “no parking” sandwich boards that appeared on that side of the street: A-ha – something big this way comes! Indeed, on the appointed date, a cement mixer lumbered into position. I know they don’t take as long as they seem like they would, so I wasted no time getting up to our front deck for a second-story view. It was even better than an excavator, since I don’t get to practice cement mixers often!

In fact, I’ve been grateful to friends who have given me advance notice of cement mixers at their houses, which were a lot of fun to sketch: Kate last year, Alice in 2020, and Kathleen the year before that.

Tedious Operation

 

5/24/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Heading out into the neighborhood to make some composition studies, I passed this excavator, but it was on its lunch break, so I kept going. I wanted to see it in action! By the time I returned, it was back at work, digging out soil next to the house. Apparently there wasn’t enough room to park the dump truck nearby. The excavator was scooping out dirt and releasing it into a small, motorized container that looked like a wheel barrow – except the operator was standing up in back of it. When it was full, the little machine would move the dirt over to the dump truck parked on the street. It looked like a tedious operation that could have gone a lot more efficiently if the dirt could have been dumped directly into the hauler.

Not that I cared about efficiency. The excavator moved quickly, but its motions were rhythmic and repetitive. I would draw a bit, then wait for it to return to the same position to draw a bit more. It was the most heavy-equipment action I’ve had in a long time!

Heavy-Equipment Yellow

 

4/5/22 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Seems like it’s been a long time since I sketched any heavy equipment. Distracted the past few weeks by pink blossoms, I have seen but bypassed several excavators in the ‘hood. I was happy that this one was still at the spot where it has been working for a while. It was early morning, so the workers hadn’t arrived yet, which enabled me to park where I did. Ahhh… nothing like a good smattering of heavy-equipment yellow and traffic-cone orange to start the day off right.

Finally, a Sunny Sketch/Walk

11/8/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Getting out for a walk has been difficult these days (and weeks). The rain is bad enough (and I don’t mean drizzle, sprinkle or spit – I mean rain), but when combined with harsh winds, it’s miserable walking weather. On Monday we were treated to a day of sunshine, though, and it was wonderful to get out for a dry and relatively warm sketch/walk.

First up was the excavator, which had been sitting idle in a front yard for weeks. The landscaping project is finally starting up, and I had fun doing some quick captures. Every few digs, the operator would climb out and use some kind of electronic device that beeped, perhaps measuring the depth of the dirt. He did some hand shoveling, too.

Japanese maple

On my circle back toward home, I came to the fiery red Japanese maple that I had regretted missing when it was at peak. From a block away, I could see that as many leaves were on the pavement as on its branches, but the brilliant red was still there. This spectacular maple was going out with a bang.

Here's what the ground looks like beneath the tree.

Cadman Mixer

7/27/21 Cadman in Renton

Our mini sketch outing!

First Kathleen, then Alice, and now Kate: My best concrete mixer sketching opportunities have come from friends getting their driveways redone! The one yesterday was the most fun because Kate sketched it, too. It’s always a challenge to scale a big machine like this Cadman and still have room for a bit of Kate’s house, too.

As Google was leading me to Kate’s cul de sac, I had noted the top of a water tower. After I was done with the concrete mixer, I went back to the spot to sketch the water tower, too. A subtle tree is painted on the tower, and an actual tree stands right in front of it. The challenge was to include both so that it was clear which was which!

7/27/21 Renton

Homework Break

 

6/15/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

This is my final week in Kathleen Moore’s class in drawing nature with colored pencils. I am overjoyed that we are required to do this week’s studies in the field! Our record-breaking rain earlier this week had me worried that I wouldn’t have many dry opportunities to complete the homework, but Tuesday dawned partly sunny. I went out shortly after breakfast for the first study.

While I enjoyed working on a challenging study of a Japanese maple (I’ll show it soon as part of the classwork discussion), something right across the street from the tree caught my eye. Wrapped in yellow CAUTION tape, its shovel in repose, an excavator looked like it was there for the long haul.

After I finished the tree, I took a break from my assignments. And none too soon: A work crew arrived and started moving the cones away, and a second excavator arrived on the scene. So it wasn’t there for the long haul, after all.

Versatility

 

5/31/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Like trains and ferries, this excavator can take care of business from either end without turning around. I like versatile tools.

The Orange Line of Action

 

3/17/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Excavators are back on the property I sketched a couple of weeks ago where a big landscaping project is under way. Sketching heavy machinery at work is similar to sketching active people. It’s about looking for the line of action, anticipating the motion, and capturing as much as possible of the gesture before it changes. When an excavator is moving dirt from a hole to a pile, the car body tends to be stationary, so I can work on that part with a bit more leisure than the part that is swiveling and digging. Also like people, an excavator tends to alternate between two actions repeatedly. (If you’ve ever sketched someone in a coffee shop, you know he will scratch his beard, tap his tablet, and scratch his beard again, over and over.)  

I missed sketching people in public during last week’s OneWeek 100 People challenge, but excavators are almost as much fun.

Still Quiet in the ‘Hood

 

2/18/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

We’d seen this excavator, quietly waiting for some action, several times on our walks through the ‘hood, but the chilly temps we’ve been having kept me from stopping to sketch it. On my way home from errands one day, I drove by to see if it was still there. It was, still quietly waiting. I was happy that I had the car for shelter because it started raining a few minutes into the sketch.

Technical note: The June Gold colored leads in my Pentel Multi 8 are working out sufficiently in my ultra-minimalist sketch kit. The Multi 8, however, isn’t the most efficient tool. This sketch took only about 15 minutes, but changing the leads frequently with the eight-color (admittedly cool) dialing mechanism was tedious and time-consuming. With conventional colored pencils, I’m used to holding the colors I’m using with one hand while the other draws, and it’s easy to switch colors quickly. I didn’t realize how often I like to switch colors until I started using this. That’s the price of minimalism when I want color, though: Everything is a tradeoff.

Review: June Gold 2mm Colored Leads

 

2/8/21 Northgate neighborhood

We all knew I wouldn’t last long with the few colors I gave myself in my ultra-minimalist kit (in fact, I was impressed that I lasted two weeks). I like the one Caran d’Ache Bicolor, of course, but the blue and red ballpoint inks in the Bic 4-Color 3+1 weren’t getting much use. I was going to stick it out a bit longer, but an idea came to me serendipitously. Someone I follow on Instagram who usually shows only fountain pens had a mechanical pencil with a bright orange lead. It looked more vibrant than most colored leads I’ve tried, so I inquired, and he said it was a June Gold lead. The 2mm leads come in a pack of 36 colors for 7 bucks! Typically, I would stay away from a “bargain” like that, but reviewers seemed to approve.

While I waited for the leads to come, I looked at my 2mm lead holder options and remembered an old toy: The Pentel Multi 8. Purchased early in my urban sketching career when I was enchanted with all things compact (as you can see, not much has changed), it was a promising concept – one body containing slots for eight lead colors. Unfortunately, the leads it came with were terrible.

A few years ago when I reviewed the Koh-i-Noor Drawing Pencils for the Well-Appointed Desk, I liked those 2mm leads much better, so I swapped them in for some colors in the Multi 8. I even noted in my own blog post that those leads in the Multi 8 could be a good solution for a minimalism challenge – then promptly forgot about it.

Now, three years later, I dug it out and filled it with a carefully considered selection of eight urban colors from the June Gold set. For 2mm colored leads, they are softer and more saturated than any I’ve used (well, except for the Caran d’Ache 2mm leads, also reviewed at the Well-Appointed Desk, but they come in only four colors). Certainly not like Prismacolors, Polychromos or any other woodcased favorites; I think it’s not possible for a mechanical lead to compete with a woodcased pencil. Without the structure and support of wood, it must have materials other than binders to keep them from breaking. But for a set of 36 colors that can fit in a tube about the size of the Multi 8, they are pretty darn good. Ideal, actually, for a short-term minimalism challenge.

Pentel Multi 8 and June Gold 2mm leads

The only downside to these compact, budget-minded colors is that the leads are too long to fit in the Multi 8. There’s an easy solution, though: Just snap them in half.

My June Gold urban palette

Compact!

The Caran d’Ache Bicolor has come out of my bag. Although I’m using it only for the graphite component, the Bic 4-Color 3+1 is staying in for now. And June Gold leads contained in my Multi 8 are my only coloring agent. They ought to keep me happy for the duration of the challenge.

Review: Bic 4-Color 3+1 Pen/Pencil

 

A new function for an old-school icon: the Bic
4-Color 3+1

I seem to have come full circle.

Several years ago when I had been dabbling in sketching with ballpoint ink but hadn’t yet embraced it, I tried using a Bic 4-Color Pen. As a teenager, I thought it was the coolest thing ever to have four ink colors in one compact pen. First introduced in 1970 by French entrepreneur Marcel Bich, it’s nostalgic to me. Many decades later, the iconic pen was still cool in my continual search for compact, portable sketch materials, so I gave it a shot. As I said, I hadn’t yet embraced ballpoint ink, and the pen body itself seemed cheesy and clumsy, especially the slidey things used to select the ink colors. (Apparently my standards in product design had come up a few notches since I was 13.) I rejected it almost immediately.

The concept of a multi-pen still had sketch kit potential, however, so I upgraded to a Uni Jetstream 4 & 1 when I observed my first National Ballpoint Pen Day. With far superior design and construction, the Japan-made Jetstream’s body feels more substantial than a Bic 4-Color, and its slidey things move smoothly and engage flawlessly. The Jetstream is still my favorite ballpoint to write with. Unfortunately, the ink it contains is a newfangled “hybrid” that delivers a smoother, blob-free writing experience but, alas, is just not the same as blobby, oily Bic ink. I still keep it in my bag to sign papers or jot quick notes, but I don’t enjoy drawing with it. (Incidentally, in case you are uninitiated, the Japanese have gone hog wild in the multi-pen industry. A quick search on JetPens brings up literally hundreds of options. You’re welcome . . . see you in a few hours.)

From left: a classic 4-Color, one with a highlighter, one with "fashion" colors

Fast-forward a couple of years to InkTober, when I came to thoroughly embrace drawing with Bics. Something about that sticky, oil-based ink makes it the “pencil of pens”: It’s pressure-sensitive and can be layered gradually like graphite. Any pen that acts like a pencil is good by me!

A 0.7mm pencil component makes this Bic 4-Color unique.

Recently a new Bic 4-Color came to my attention: the 4-Color 3 + 1. Actually, it has only three ink colors, and the fourth component is a mechanical pencil (the Uni Jetstream also has a pencil unit, as designated by the “& 1” in its name). In general, I’m not a fan of drawing with mechanical pencils, but having a pencil option with my beloved Bic ink does make this Swiss army knife of drawing tools more versatile. It was worth a try.

As soon as I got it, I noticed a difference. The body shape is slightly different from the classic 4-Color and – more significantly – the mechanism of the slidey things is much smoother and operates better. Reading the fine print on the packaging, I learned that while most Bic 4-Colors are still made in France, the model with the pencil component is made in Japan. Interesting!

Also interesting is the Bic’s 0.7mm lead instead of the more typical 0.5mm lead found in other multi-pens. I have a heavy-handed habit of snapping most 0.5mm leads, so this was good news to me. The included lead feels like HB. For sketching, I prefer a softer one, so I’m going to swap it out for a 2B (the softest grade I could find in 0.7mm). It’s reassuring not to need a sharpener, which I haven’t carried in my slim pandemic bag in a year.

The ink refills – red, black and blue – are standard medium points that are my favorite for drawing.

Capped eraser

Much-improved slidey things!

Blue, red, black inks

1/26/21 Bic 4-Color 3 + 1, Uni Pin brush pen and colored 
pencil in Field Notes Signature

As much as I enjoy sketching with a ballpoint or graphite pencil, they can be more time-consuming than watercolor pencils or markers because the best use of them involves large areas of hatching. I’m not inclined to do that kind of sketching on the street, so I’ve been using the Bic 4-Color 3 + 1 in conjunction with the Uni Pin brush pen. The latter does the heavy lifting on darker values quickly. I like the combo.

With red and blue the only colors besides black, this so-called 4-Color isn’t as colorful as I would like it to be. Still, during these grayest days of winter, it’s accurate for neighborhood sketching. I have some doubts about how well the 4-Color 3 + 1 will serve my minimalism challenge  needs, but it’s fun to have a “new” tool to try. And regardless of how well it works for my challenge, it’s great to see an improved body for an old-school tool.

2021 Minimalism Challenge: Most Extreme Ever

 

Downsized! Here's the sketcher's-eye-view of my extremely slimmed-down sketch kit.

Every winter since 2018 I’ve challenged myself to minimize and simplify my sketch kit (here are reports from other years: 2019, 2020). Not intended as a permanent kit change, the challenge usually lasts about a month during the most colorless time of year. Though it is occasionally frustrating, I enjoy the opportunity to clean out my kit and remove inessentials. With fewer materials to choose from, I look at my sketch opportunities with a fresh eye. Of course, after the end of each challenge, more materials inevitably creep back in, but not without a critical evaluation of whether they would earn their long-term keep in my bag.

This year, because my pandemic edition sketch kit is already smaller and pared down, I was tempted to skip the challenge – how much slimmer could my sketch kit possibly be? But then I looked at it critically one day, and I had to admit that quite a few things kept appearing over the summer and fall during the best color months. The kit could certainly stand to lose a few tools. It was time for a minimalism challenge after all.

A bit over-stuffed.

Before: Everything that was in my daily-carry kit.

And minimal it is – perhaps the most extreme kit ever (below). The kit’s focal point is a new rendition of a very old-school tool: the classic Bic 4-Color ballpoint pen, but with a twist – it comes with a mechanical pencil unit. I’ll be writing a full review of this fun tool soon, but for now, I’ll just say that the addition of the pencil makes it an interesting and functional Swiss army knife of ballpoint ink (red, blue and black) and graphite.

After (from left): Bic 4-Color, Caran d'Ache Bicolor, Uni Pin brush pen, Gelly Roll, Derwent
Drawing Pencil, all contained in Rickshaw Waldo field case.

I thought very carefully about color. Of course, I always want all hues, but which colors would be important in conveying meaning in an otherwise monochrome sketch? In my limited geographic sketching area, the only colors I felt that way about are heavy equipment yellow and traffic cone orange. I judiciously picked out the yellow/orange Caran d’Ache Bicolor pencil and called it good.

The Uni Pin brush-tip marker, white Sakura Gelly Roll gel pen and white Derwent drawing pencil made the final cut because I use them whenever I sketch in a red Sweet Tooth Field Notes, which is still one of my favorite fast-sketch approaches.

Slim and trim.

To keep myself honest, I went through my stash of bag accessories and found a bright pink Rickshaw Bags Waldo field case that I had received as a gift a while back. It’s a slightly smaller version of the one I used all last year in my pandemic kit. There’s a bit of space to spare, but not much, so it will prevent too many tools from sneaking in. (I mostly live in yoga pants these days, but every couple weeks, I put on my jeans to make sure I still can. Same concept.)

A tough but significant decision was to use dry materials only. (The Caran d’Ache Bicolor is water-soluble, but I’m using it dry.) This simplifies the kit significantly: I could eliminate both the waterbrush and the spritzing bottle. This also means paper quality is no longer an issue, so I can use any simple sketchbook or notebook. I took out the pocket-size Stillman & Birn Beta book that had been my daily-carry in the fall and replaced it with a slimmer Field Notes Signature. Although the latter’s paper has let me down with light washes, I enjoy using its slightly larger page size with all dry materials. The red Field Notes is already a daily-carry alternative to any white paper book I carry.

Sketchbooks: two Field Notes options

1/25/21 First sketch with the spartan kit

Too spartan? Probably. But it will be fun to find out how long I last and what I can’t live without. I took my ultra-lite kit out for a trial run the other day. News flash: ballpoint ink doesn’t blend well with colored pencil. And I’d like to get a softer lead for the mechanical pencil. It’s an interesting combo, though. Stay tuned for updates.