My Sketchbook’s Gifts to Me

 

Another partially used sketchbook conquered.

My goal to fill partially used sketchbooks continues. My latest conquest is this Hahnemühle Akademie Aquarelle sketchbook. For student grade, it contains excellent paper, but once I discovered Hahnemühle’s watercolor books containing 100 percent cotton paper, especially on location, there was no turning back.

What makes this book unusual is that it is entirely filled with sketches using reference photos and some imaginary work – not a single page drawn from life. I did a lot of portrait practice, both human and animal, direct watercolor challenges, workshop exercises, composition practices – all done from home.

An exercise in imaginative drawing and watercolor play.

The superpower of working on location is that the sketch becomes permanently infused with sensory memories from the experience. When I look back at an urban sketch, especially from my travels and other experiences that were new to me, all the sounds, smells and feelings of making the sketch come rushing back.

This book doesn’t evoke any memories or feelings in that way. Even when I sketch from a photo I’ve taken myself of a place I know well, the superpower of drawing from life doesn’t work. Although seeing a portrait made of an Earthsworld stranger sometimes  makes me recall whatever struggle or satisfaction I may have felt from an approach or medium I was trying, the subject and experience have no other emotional connection.  

Lots of Earthsworld people! I usually crop images neatly for this blog, but here are the full pages, messy scribbles and all.

This volume, however, is emotionally meaningful in a different way. I began using it in March 2023 in the midst of my most difficult, painful caregiving years. Most pages were filled late at night when I could finally take respite to recover from the day’s challenges so that I could sleep. I now see the book as the direct product of the art therapy that probably saved my life (or at least my sanity). Recalling that time, it’s hard to look through now, but I’m also filled with gratitude.

Composition studies using the Caran d'Ache mixed media set

I also appreciate the purely experimental nature exhibited in this book. With no connection to subject matter, I could focus exclusively on media, technique, approach or whatever else I was exploring. With my grounding in urban sketching, I tend to think of my sketchbooks mainly as repository for my on-location observations. The pages are finished products. But to many artists, a sketchbook is a place for play and experimentation. I have sometimes worried that I don’t do enough of that kind of play in my daily-carry sketchbook, but this book makes me realize I have been doing it all along – I just keep the play in a separate volume.

It is always with great satisfaction that I put away a completed sketchbook into my bookcase designated for that purpose, and my urban-sketch-filled books are usually the most rewarding. This one surprised me for all it has given back to me.

I filled the few remaining pages with doomscrolling prevention tactics and my recent Blick themed Neocolor II palette experiments.

An Old Moleskine

 

3/4/26 photo reference

I’ve lately had less need for my doomscrolling prevention program. It helps that we’ve flipped the clocks forward, and the Big Dark is over. Gloom and doom in the news is somehow easier to bear when there’s still light left after dinner. In a few weeks, I’ll be able to take short golden hour walks again – the best time to simply enjoy walking without a fitness goal or destination.

After being inspired initially by Orla Stevens’ mixed media and other approaches (even imaginative), I seem to have settled into monochrome sketches using Derwent Drawing pencils. It’s the most relaxing and therefore the most direct in taking my mind off whatever unpleasantness it might be occupied with.

3/18/26 photo reference

Trees in the urban landscape from my own camera roll are an easy go-to. But recently I was thinking about all the portraiture I practiced several years ago using Earthsworld’s reference photos. I’m very rusty, and portraiture always includes some tension because I can’t shake the desire for resemblance. But portraiture also offers interesting challenges that continue to captivate me, even if more mental energy is required.

The prompt for portraiture came from the sketchbook I used for these three sketches: a very old Moleskine that contains that weird, heavy, manila-folder-like paper. The first half of the book is filled mainly with portraits I made with ballpoint pen or marker – the ideal media for use on this smooth, strangely water-repellent paper. Since the surface feels similar to Stillman & Birn Zeta, I thought I’d give it a try with Derwent Drawing pencils – and I like it! Those soft pencils seem to glide effortlessly. (My mission to complete partially filled sketchbooks continues!)

3/18/26 Earthsworld reference photo

Skimming the portraits gave me a heavy pang. Dated 2022 and 2023, those portraits were a large part of my original doomscrolling prevention program: Instead of news reports of current events, I was doomscrolling my own anxiety as I taught myself how to navigate caregiving responsibilities. Despite all that is going on in the world now, nothing in the current media gives me as much pain and stress as that period of my life did. Seeing the portrait practice gives me compassion for my former self, and I feel much gratitude.

Beyond Doomscrolling Prevention

 

2/23/26 Neocolor II in Hahnemuhle sketchbook

2/23/26 Derwent Drawing pencil in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook (all sketches from photo references)

An interesting thing is happening with my evening sketches from photos that began as my doomscrolling prevention program. Keeping me from reaching for my phone is still an immediate benefit, but the long-term advantage is that I’m encouraged to use more materials from my vast stash – and sometimes experiment with using them together in ways that probably wouldn’t have occurred to me otherwise.

2/26/26 Derwent Drawing pencil in S&B Zeta sketchbook

You may recall a period a few years ago when I made more than a hundred portraits based on Earthsworld’s photos. I didn’t talk about it at the time, but that late-evening practice began as self-care during what was often my only respite as a caregiver. Drawing the faces of random strangers took me outside my anxious, agitated mind and gave me a focus. After a while, though, the practice went beyond self-care; I found myself learning from the enjoyable portraiture practice and using materials I rarely used on location.

2/26/26 Neocolor II in Hahnemuhle sketchbook

My 407 consecutive days of drawing my hand had a similar outcome: What began as self-care during a historic time became a project that took on a life of its own.

2/26/26 Inktense Blocks, Neocolor II in Hahnemuhle sketchbook

Like the random Earthsworld people, the subjects of these seemingly mundane neighborhood photos don’t mean much to me beyond their composition potential or high-contrast values. I’m having so much fun just grabbing materials that feel good in my hand and seeing what happens when I apply them to paper. Who knew that doomscrolling (or avoiding it) could have such benefits?

3/2/26 This experiment was a mix of more materials than I typically use together. I first used Prismacolor Art Stix (the block form of Prismacolor colored pencils) for the areas that I wanted to remain relatively sharp. Then I used Inktense Blocks and Neocolor II crayons for foliage that I activated with a water spritzer. Finally, I used a Fibralo brush marker to give the central tree stronger definition. 

Discovering a Tree Character

2/9/26 photo reference and imagination

Looking for more ways to avoid doomscrolling, I watched a new video from Steve Mitchell’s Mind of Watercolor YouTube channel. Although I’m not using watercolor much lately, I often find Steve’s approaches to sketching, painting and mixed media inspiring. In this video, he draws an imaginary tree character inspired by fantasy book illustrations.

Scrolling through my “trees” folder of photos, mostly taken on neighborhood walks, I found one with a spectacular twisted trunk (at left). This tree seemed to be a character already – all I had to do was exaggerate its shape a bit (but not much) and add a face. The face was easy enough to draw, but I admire the way Steve “sculpted” the face of his tree more dimensionally. I’d like to work on doing more of that.

Another fun challenge was interpreting the “light logic” for the imaginary areas of the tree and the face. Since the reference photo was taken on an overcast day, I didn’t have much to go on, so I had to squint hard, choose the light direction and make it consistent for the parts I imagined. Steve seemed to be working from a variety of references and maybe mostly imagination, but it’s obvious that his vast experience has given him a strong sense of light logic. I wish he had talked about this challenging aspect of imaginary drawing, but it probably comes intuitively for him.

2/10/26 photo references and imagination

The next evening, I tried it again (at right), this time with two reference photos: a different tree and an Earthsworld face. Working on making the face more dimensional was definitely easier with a reference photo (and it was extremely low pressure to use the reference for inspiration only and not have to think about resemblance). As with previous experiments in drawing from imagination, I want the result to look convincing as a 3-dimensional object in space, even if the subject is obviously fanciful.

Anyway, these are a ton of fun, and I plan to do more. They work my imagination, which is always hard for me, especially in the evening when I’m tired, but most of it is comfortable and familiar. 

Isn’t it amazing that these tree trunks are not fantastical at all – they are real! The trees are both outside my immediate neighborhood, so I’m not sure if I can find them again, but I hope to someday draw at least one of them realistically from life.

Cool Light/Warm Shadow = Brain Buster

 

3/10/25 Both exercises done with Prismacolors
in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook

Unattributed reference photo

The final assignment in Sarah Bixler’s class was to use reference photos with relatively cool light and warm shadows, which is the reverse of how I usually see and interpret light/shadow. For the first one (above), I used the same reference photo (unattributed) that Sarah had used in her demo.

Per her suggestion, I kept the lighted side fairly saturated while the shaded side was more of a mix of warm/cool and therefore less saturated. While Sarah explained her interpretation and logic as she demo’d, what she said made sense. But when I tried to do it myself, I got confused and befuddled! The light didn’t seem cool at all, nor did the shadow side seem particularly warm.

Feeling frustrated that I didn’t do it right, I tried again, this time with an Earthsworld reference photo (below). I deliberately chose one with a warm shadow side enhanced by a warm light under his chin reflected from his yellow shirt. To avoid the repeat of my confusion, I took a more mechanical approach that had worked for me previously: I determined that the warmest area was under his chin. Relative to that, everything else on his face was cooler. Though my approach feels mechanical, I think the second one’s result is much better. More important, I felt more solidly that I “get it,” even when the logical warm light/cool shadow is reversed.

3/11/25

Earthsworld reference photo

Whew! I took her class because of the brain blowouts I had gotten during her previous workshops . . . and this time, the blowouts continued, all the way to the end! One thing is for sure: I cannot unsee what I have learned to see about color temperature! Portraiture from photos is all fine and good for learning concepts, but we all know what I really want to do: Practice what I’ve learned out in the real world!

Ramping Up Color Temperature (Plus Thoughts on Colored Pencils)

 

3/1/25 Rainbow of hues without crossing the color wheel
(all exercises done with Prismacolors in Stillman & Birn
Zeta sketchbook; same Earthsworld reference photo for all)

Week 4’s assignments in Sarah Bixler’s class extended the palette to primary triads and a full rainbow. For the rainbow exercise, we were instructed to avoid blending “across the color wheel” (to create neutrals) and instead maintain fully saturated hues as much as possible, blending only analogously. The result would enable us to demonstrate our understanding of color temperature without neutrals muddying things up. Although the resulting portrait is wacky looking (at left), it certainly was effective in forcing me not to fudge!

For the other two portraits, we were to use a traditional painter’s primary triad and what Sarah calls a printer’s primary triad (what I refer to as CYMK). These were much easier for me because of all the primary triads I had played with a few years ago (and still find fascinating to explore).

3/2/25 printer's primary triad (CYMK)

On one of them, we could add a warm neutral and a cool neutral to help with values if needed (below). I thought the latter additions would be helpful, but in practice, I regretting losing the clarity of the triad hues.

3/3/25 painter's traditional primary triad with addition of indigo and
burnt sienna as cool/warm neutrals

Why use colored pencils?

During a class discussion, one student, a painter, asked sort of a devil’s advocate question: Why use colored pencils instead of paint? Sarah’s response was especially interesting to me as both a colored pencil geek and an urban sketcher: Initially she had started using colored pencils because she was looking for a portable medium that she could use when she was out biking or hiking and wanted to stop for a quick plein air study.

The more she used them, however, the more she realized that colored pencils had unique properties that paint did not. With paints, she can mix any color she wants, but the more she mixes, the less her original chosen palette is apparent. Colored pencils make it easier for her to see how each color addition affects how she perceives the other hues. Because transparent pencils mix optically and can’t blend completely as paint can, they won’t lose their original color identity.

She also finds that because the earlier marks cannot be completely obscured by later layers, she has more opportunity to push toward abstraction. “A nice wonky abstraction is possible,” Sarah said. She enjoys the clear, directional marks that pencils make.

Her comments validated many thoughts I’ve had myself but haven’t always articulated about why colored pencils are a unique, compelling medium.

Color Temperature: Clicking into Place?

 

2/15/25 orange/blue only
(all exercises done with Prismacolors in Stillman &Birn Zeta sketchbook)

In the second session of Sarah Bixler’s class, Sarah gave us a lengthy demo of her portraiture style using color temperature as the focus. As I had felt in her earlier workshops, I’m both intrigued and perplexed at the same time, and I jumped into the homework eagerly.

Two challenges collided: The first was the same as in the initial exercise (when we focused only on values by using black) – the difficulty of “painting” only the abstract value shapes instead of rendering with a contour line. The second challenge was simultaneously paying attention to color temperature and its relativity.

Assigned to draw three portraits using reference images of our choice, I went to my favorite portrait go-to, Earthsworld, for two. For the first (at right), we were to use only orange and blue for the color temperature range. The gradient under the portrait shows the range from warm (pure orange) to cool (pure blue) and everything in between. The middle of the gradient bar should be close to a neutral gray.

A trick I used was to first identify the coolest area (his shirt) and the warmest areas (the sunlit side of his face near the highlight) and make those pure blue and pure orange. From there, as I moved around the drawing, I kept asking, Is this spot warmer than the shirt? Cooler than the sunlit side of his face? I’m not sure whether she would recommend this tactic, but it seemed to help me.

For the second exercise, we were to begin with brown (warm) and black (cool) to establish values first. After that was done, we added orange and blue to indicate temperature more clearly. This version was easier for me because I could look at values without confusing the issue with hue (below). I remembered to take a photo right after I made the initial block-in of “value shapes” – so challenging without drawing a contour line! But it does help to hold the pencil loosely and use the broad side of the point so that color goes on as widely as possible – like paint.

"Value shapes" during initial block-in

2/16/25 Brown/black used first to establish values

The last exercise (below) – similar to the first except using burnt ochre (warm) and peacock green (cool) – I had to laugh through most of it! Sarah had suggested using a selfie for one, so I chose a very unflattering, harshly lighted photo with a three-quarter view that I find especially daunting. I actually thought the unflattering photo might help me to abstract the shapes more easily! HA! I’ll tell you what was helpful, though: For the initial block-in, I turned the reference photo upside-down!

2/18/25 burnt ochre and peacock green (Brownie points for me
that I even turned this one in!)

Although that last one was painful and humbling, that’s when things started to click into place for me. In the first one, I felt like I was automatically thinking of blue as “darker” than orange and relying on it to darken the values without regard to temperature, which then confused me. As you can see from the gradient bar that I converted to grayscale below, in reality, both orange and blue are about the same value (in fact, the whole gradient is). By the time I got to the selfie, I started “seeing” that darker areas can be warm, and lighter areas can be cool – temperature is not the same as values. Holy heck, am I really starting to get it??

I remember sort of arriving at this point toward the end of her previous workshops, but without more practice and feedback, it felt slippery, and I was never confident that I understood enough to internalize what I learned. I hope that the remaining three classes will help me solidify what feels like I’m just beginning to grasp.

Orange/blue gradient from first exercise converted to grayscale

Review: Filgo Colored Pencils – Sunset

Filgo colored pencils from Argentina

It’s not what you think! I didn’t fall off the wagon yet again. I can explain!

Back in the fall when the Urban Sketchers Symposium took place in Buenos Aires, I saw a few sketchers showing the contents of their goodie bags on social media. One item that caught my eye was Filgo colored pencils, which I had never heard of. Then one sketcher showed what she was doing with them, raving about how much she loved them. Ooo, that got me curious!

(Incidentally, if you’re wondering if I was able to add a symposium-logo pencil tin to my beloved collection, I would have – except there was none to be had from Buenos Aires! ☹ Long before the symposium, I had asked a friend who was planning to attend if I could have the Cretacolor tin, assuming one would be included in the goodie bag, and she kindly agreed. When she returned, though, she gave me the sad news, which I had already suspected from images of the goodie bag that I had previously scrutinized. If the Auckland symposium tin was the last of the series, I suppose I should be relieved that my collection is complete [other than the mysterious Barcelona tin, of course], and I won’t have to beg anymore. Sigh. I’m going to miss the hunt.)

My Googling had indicated that the Argentinian Filgo brand wasn’t impossible to get in the US, but difficult and pricey . . . and oh yeah, I’m supposed to be downsizing.

Fast-forward to the November Gab & Grab, where the pencil fairies were looking out for me! Another friend who had attended the symposium was offering her Filgo pencils – which I promptly grabbed!

"Black & White" refers to the color opacity that works well on dark papers as well as light.

Filgo’s Black & White Supersoft Sunset Tones includes 15 colors. Since most of the product information on the package is in Spanish, I used Google to help me translate from an image. That’s how I learned that “black and white” indicates that the colors are opaque enough to use on black or dark papers as well as white.

Made in China, the simple, round pencils are capped with color indicators. No color names or numbers are printed on the barrels. Distinctively, the entire wood barrel is dyed black. The well-centered cores sharpen well, too.

The soft cores produce little dust. I would not say they are “supersoft,” but soft enough to be pleasant to use and relatively well pigmented for pencils that are likely to be a budget-priced set for students.

The color range is, by definition, limited to “sunset tones” (which I found to be limiting, indeed, for my test sketch). I’m assuming that other color-themed sets are available to cover the rest of the spectrum. My swatches were made in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook and a black Uglybook. I found that my scanner seemed to dull the colors on black paper, so I also photographed the page (which is marred by glare, but that’s the tradeoff).

Filgo swatches made in Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook

Swatches in black Uglybook (scanned)

Swatches in black Uglybook (photographed)

Making my test sketch on Christmas day, I chose this Santa-looking guy (though with much better hair than Santa’s) from Earthsworld’s reference photos. Although the sunset hues worked well for his skin tones, I missed having a cool violet or blue to dig into those dark shadows. I made do with the darkest maroon.

12/25/24 Filgo colored pencils in S&B Zeta sketchbook

While not as soft or high in pigment as the recently reviewed iBayam colored pencils (which are likely to be in the same general price and quality range), Filgo colored pencils are pleasant enough to use. But I’m glad I didn’t hunt them down and pay international shipping rates to buy a set.

Curiosity satisfied, I can sleep at night again, and I’ll happily take this set to the next Gab & Grab. (I wish I knew more hardcore colored pencil geeks in Urban Sketchers Seattle. We could all save money and keep our stashes manageable by continually passing around our pencils for others to try.)

Review: iBayam Colored Pencils

iBayam colored pencil set of 72

A funny thing happened at Gage Academy’s Drawing Jam a few weeks ago. In previous years, Blick has always been a primary sponsor, donating all the free art supplies that participants receive with their Drawing Jam admission. The offered colored pencils were usually Blick’s student grade, which are of typical quality for their ultra-low price (a polite way of saying “not great”).

At the supplies table, I spotted the jars of colored pencils, of course, and assumed they would be Blick. To my surprise, they were of the iBayam brand – one I’d never heard of. I was curious, but in the interest of my commitment to downsizing, I helped myself to only one (not one of each color – only one red).

The only pencil I sampled at Drawing Jam... and looked
what happened!

Expecting the typical low-priced pencil, imagine my surprise when a few scribbles felt pleasantly soft and decently pigmented. This iBayam brand deserved further research!

The Gage staff member who coordinated this purchase must know their colored pencils: Available on Amazon, iBayam colored pencils are a better price than Blick’s – and much better quality, at least on first scribble. A set of 72 colors was the only one I could find. My commitment to downsizing forgotten disregarded, I added to cart. (In my defense, it was my first large colored pencil set purchase in a long, long time . . . well, OK, maybe two years, but colored pencil years are like dog years.)

An Amazon reviewer had mentioned the extremely flimsy packaging, which was no exaggeration. Every time I open the paper box and slide out the thin plastic trays, I fear that they will give way, and all the pencils will be on the floor. They definitely need to be put into a different container for ongoing use and storage (the bird on the box sure is pretty, though). As expected, iBayam pencils are made in China (as nearly all ultra-inexpensive colored pencils are).

Extremely flimsy trays and box

Silver printing on glossy round barrel

The set comes with a “72 Colors DIY Color Chart” for making swatches. I usually ignore such charts when they come with pencil sets because the paper is often not ideal for colored pencils. I prefer to swatch in a sketchbook. What made me look twice at the enclosed chart was the baffling numbering: Neither in numerical order nor in the order of the pencil arrangement in the trays (which was a typical rainbow order), it made no sense!

Out of masochistic curiosity, I decided to fill in the chart, wondering if perhaps the colors would spell out a secret message or reveal a hidden image when I was done. The task took longer than it should have because I had to hunt for the corresponding number on the chart’s randomness each time I picked up a pencil. No message or image was revealed. What kind of madness is this?! (A comical employee at iBayam is currently laughing their ass off.)

If you can make sense of this color chart, do let me know in the comments.

Though a few colors are too similar to be practical (especially all those blues and likely-fugitive pinks), the color range is decent for a set of 72. My pet peeve is when a large set has lots of greens, none of which are natural, but this set’s selection isn’t bad.

I tested White for opacity when I made a recent nocturne, but it needed an assist from a Prismacolor in the brightest spots.

I also swatched the colors in my own sketchbook just as I always do, if only to see the colors in some kind of sensical order. Annoying as the color chart is, swatching twice on two types of paper confirmed that the pencils are pleasantly soft and contain good pigment. They also produce very little dust, even as soft as they are. Most cores are well-centered, and they sharpen beautifully.

Colors swatched in Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook

Appearance-wise, the only problem pencil was 047, which I had to deduce when it was the last slot left after coloring all the others in the chart. I don’t know the name of it because both the number and name are completely obliterated on the barrel.

This pencil had a bad day when color names and numbers were being printed.

As a test sketch, I chose a Zorn palette of Ochre (062), Ruby Red (023) and Black (072) to make a portrait from an Earthsworld reference photo. I found iBayam pencils to be ideal for the messy-hatching method I learned from France Van Stone a couple of years ago. I can scribble fast and hard (not recommended for most colored pencil applications) to get lots of color down quickly. To cover large areas, I can put pressure on the side of the point without breaking it. Not quite as soft as Prismacolor, which would be my favorite for this method, it’s close. While this sketch wasn’t the best example for testing blending, I piled on enough layers to be able to feel that they weren’t sliding off each other (which is common when cheap pencils contain too little pigment relative to binder).

12/20/24 iBayam colored pencils in Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook (Earthsworld reference photo)

Perhaps most impressive is that this set is a great value: 72 colors for $14.99. That’s less than half the price of Schpirerr Farben (although I paid quite a bit less a few years ago, the set of 72 is currently selling for $40), which was my previous favorite in the ultra-low-price category. iBayam pencils also produce less dust than Schpirerr Farben, which are quite crumbly.

Although I fell off the wagon buying this set, it was for a good cause: iBayam is now my recommended budget-priced colored pencil.

Updated 1/15/25: After writing this review, I had been thinking about all the many extremely low-priced colored pencil sets on the market, almost all of which are made in China, and speculating that many are probably made by the same factories and branded with different names. I don't own enough of such sets to make a useful comparison, but a regular blog reader and fellow colored pencil geek does! She reports back that iBayam colored pencils look and perform very similarly to Kalour. Although I don't own a Kalour standard colored pencil set, I do have a Kalour watercolor pencil set, and the latter have a similar softness and pigmentation as iBayam. I think it's safe to deduce that they are all made by the same factory.

InkTober Finale: Lackadaisical

 

Gel ink

Bic ballpoint

I began InkTober 2024 lazily, and I finished lackadaisical. Less than halfway through the month, I was already bored because I didn’t challenge myself enough, which I regret. By the third week, I was just going through the motions. As I always say, what’s the point of doing any drawing challenge if it’s not actually challenging? It bothered me that I didn’t think of a way to push myself harder (and truthfully, I was so preoccupied with my ongoing downsizing tasks that I didn’t want to spend more than 15 minutes a day on InkTober).

Bic ballpoint

Uni Pin and Sakura Micron technical pens

That’s not to say that I didn’t learn anything. Just as I’ve discovered from all my face-parts series, human mouths are fascinating – the infinite range of shapes and forms – and exposed teeth really kicked up both the fun and the difficulty. OK, so maybe it was a bit challenging – I can live with that.

Sailor Fude de Mannen fountain pen and 
Platinum Carbon Black ink

As always, many thanks to Earthsworld for his daily Instagram photo references (all but Oct. 31) that made finding inspiration so easy.

Edited: I just put all my Inktober 2024 sketches into a Flickr album. I rarely make a series that looks consistent throughout, but I do like the way they all look together in a grid!

My apparent tradition for these face-parts series is to end 
with a selfie. ;-)