Paper Pleasures

 

3/18/21 Iroshizuku Yama-budo ink, Cd'A Museum Aquarelle pencils and Boku-Undo
sumi watercolor on various Legion Stonehenge papers

As you know, I always enjoy trying out new art materials and tools, but paper is one category I’m less apt to experiment with willy-nilly. Although paper is an integral part of the art medium equation, as an urban sketcher, I have other factors to consider besides the paper quality itself that may require tradeoffs: Most critically, the sketchbook size and format. Even if I fell in love with a particular paper, if I didn’t like the book it came in, it might be a deal-breaker. It’s been two years since I stopped hand-binding my sketchbooks, so I generally don’t consider unbound papers anymore.

I’m working on a review of the Legion Stonehenge paper sampler set for the Well-Appointed Desk, and it’s giving me a fun paper-testing fix that I don’t give myself often. All of the papers seem high-quality and mixed-media friendly, which makes the testing all the more pleasurable. As I test, my favorite Stillman & Birn books are my personal yardstick against which all other papers are measured. An unbound Legion paper or a sketchbook containing Legion paper would have to leap high to reach that (metaphorically mixed) bar. I hope I don’t fall in love with any sample, or it will throw me into a new paper tizzy (I haven’t had one of those since I returned from the Netherlands nearly two years ago!).

On the other hand, I must remind myself that I still use plenty of paper at home and in the (real and virtual) classroom regularly, so portability is not always a factor. I wouldn’t hesitate to spring for a fresh pad of unbound paper if it was the right paper. My mind is open.

The Legion samples are 2 ½ by 3 ¾ inches, so these tiny paper pads are stretching my sketch-scaling muscles. Fortunately, my trusty head of garlic fits just right.

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.

COVID Community Center

 

3/16/21 Northgate library and community center

After picking up some books at the Northgate branch library and going back to my car, I noticed that the adjacent community center was being used as a COVID testing site. The playground, also part of the complex, was cordoned off, and the entire walkway leading up to the various entrances was ribboned. It was empty the day I was there, but maybe on busy weekends the ribbons are necessary to manage snaking lines of people waiting six feet apart. Nearby, a child jumped around on a bench because he couldn’t use the playground, of course.

I thought sadly about how the community center is normally a fun, welcoming place for classes, meetings and activities. Every Halloween, the center used to sponsor a free pumpkin carving party that was fun to sketch, and I’ve sketched the playground, too.

The bright yellow ribbons and neon orange stanchions had a forboding, unwelcoming presence, like a hazardous construction site. Danger. Caution. Keep Out.

On the bright side, the Greenwood branch used to be the closest library branch offering curbside-pickup service, but recently the much closer Northgate branch opened for curbside, so now I can go there. The service is about as contact-free as any I have used: When I approached the friendly library staff person behind the plexi window, he pushed a tiny plastic basket through the slot at the bottom. I dropped my library card into the basket, he pulled it back to scan the card, and a moment later he returned with the books I’d placed on hold. All library materials are quarantined for 48 hours before being lent to other patrons. The library website lists all the protocols staff members follow to ensure patrons’ safety and their own. It was all very reassuring.

It will probably be a while yet before the library opens again for “normal” use, but until then, I’m grateful that I can continue to borrow books safely.

Vintage Colored Pencils: Conté à Paris Aquarelle

Conté à Paris Aquarelle colored pencils

Conté crayons are probably familiar to anyone who has taken a traditional drawing class. According to Wikipedia, the sticks “were invented in 1795 by Nicolas-Jacques Conté, who created the combination of clay and graphite in response to the shortage of graphite caused by the Napoleonic Wars (when the British naval blockade of France prevented import).” Messy, dusty and smeary like pastels or charcoal, they are nice to use in a life-drawing studio where I don’t have to clean up. (They are definitely not nice for urban sketching.)

Beyond those classic drawing media, I didn’t know much about Conté products or even whether the French company produced a colored pencil. By “colored pencil,” I mean the type that combines pigment with wax in the way that is most familiar to me (I say this as clarification because the term crayon is French for “pencil,” so the kind I use and collect would also be called a crayon).

Recently a lightly used set of vintage Conté à Paris Aquarelle colored pencils crossed my eBay radar. They didn’t look very “vintage” in the photos; a UPC barcode was clearly visible on the box. But the fact that my collection lacked a Conté set and its inexpensive price made it an easy buy.

A fellow pencil enthusiast surmised that the set was made before 2004, based on Conté’s Nanterre address on the back of the box. The name of Bic, which acquired Conté in 1979, does not appear on the packaging. (“Bic Conté” aquarelle pencils, made in China, are currently available on Amazon.)

The address is a dating clue

When I first opened the box, the barrels looked familiar, and I became alarmed that I had mistakenly purchased pastel pencils. That’s because they look very similar to those Conté crayons I’ve used for life drawing – with a round, slightly larger-diameter barrel and a rounded end cap. To my relief, they are colored pencils, not the messy crayons. Apparently Conté retained the traditional look of its crayons on its pencils, too.

The aquarelle colored pencil's design (top) is similar to the classic Conté drawing crayons. 

End caps: The green one is the aquarelle

Even better than the traditional sanguine, charcoal and other crayons, though, is that these pencils have a transparent, tinted varnish instead of paint on the barrels. Although several contemporary colored pencil lines have natural wood barrels with a colorless varnish, including Caran d’Ache Luminance and Derwent Lightfast, I don’t recall seeing any with a transparent tint that reveals the wood grain. It’s a beautiful finish that I would love to see on more colored pencils.

Instead of paint, a lovely transparent tinted varnish.

3/13/21 vintage Conté à Paris Aquarelle colored pencils
in Stillman & Birn beta sketchbook

In swatch tests, I was pleasantly surprised by their softness. Another surprise was the thickness of the cores – even thicker than my beloved Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles! They apply with a bit more dust, however, than Caran d’Ache’s premium line.

Putting the pedal to the metal, I made a sketch of the garlic, scissors and cup. Although the pigment isn’t up to the Museum Aquarelle level, I’d put it close to Caran d’Ache Supracolor, which is an excellent pigment degree. The pigment dissolves well and blends beautifully. No lightfast rating information is indicated, but the list on the bottom of the packaging indicates that the line included 56 colors – a respectable range. 

I’m guessing that Conté à Paris Aquarelle colored pencils were considered artist grade like the rest of the drawing pencils that bear the Conté à Paris brand. (Somehow the contemporary Bic Conté set, which is encased in resin instead of wood and comes in a range of 24, doesn’t evoke “artist quality.”) I’m pleased as punch to have snapped up these gems!

88th and Latona

 

3/12/21 88th and Latona, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Last spring, when the impact of the pandemic was fully sinking in, and I knew we were in it for the long run, I embraced my own walking route for its sketching potential. Looking for places where I would be safe from both cars and other pedestrians, this convenient dead end was ideal. Below is the sketch I had made back then. It was a bright, sunny May morning that had given me hope for the summer: I can still enjoy sketching outdoors.

Last week, I paused at the same dead end. I had just put my full range of colors back into my daily-carry, so I could have sketched it in color again. Ironically, along with the colors, I had also put my ArtGraf water-soluble graphite pencil back in, and I was reminded of how much I love this pencil and its simplicity. Sketching comfortably on that cold but equally sunny morning, I again anticipated summer with hope. This time, however, I felt hopeful far beyond summer. The worst was over.

5/15/20 88th and Latona

Minimalism is Dead; Long Live Color

 

3/11/21 Maple Leaf neighborhood

This year’s minimalism challenge was my most extreme ever, so I wasn’t sure how I would do. More than a month later, I have declared it finished, and I’m pleased to say that I hardly missed anything I took out. Granted, sketching mostly in the neighborhood in the dead of winter isn’t much of a challenge in terms of color. My early addition of the Pentel Multi 8 filled with June Gold leads gave me all I needed.

The Pentel Multi 8 and June Gold leads served well and will stay in for a while longer.

Around the same time, I replaced the Bic 4-Color 3+1 with a woodcased graphite pencil. The Bic multi-pen/pencil seemed like a good idea, but I figured out quickly that ballpoint is too slow on the street. The mechanical pencil unit gave the tool added versatility, but it was mostly a novelty. I still prefer the variable line width of a woodcased pencil.

Those were the only changes I made during the challenge. Ironically, the material I used most was not new; it was a carry-over from my usual kit: the tried-and-true (and highly versatile) Uni Pin brush pen.

Shown below are my usual colors and tools, all returning to my full kit (with the optimistic addition of a couple of pinks for anticipated blossoms). Although I did review each item before putting it back in, the only ones I left out were the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Big Brush Pen, which I rarely use anymore, and a few non-water-soluble colored pencils that I use with a Field Notes Expedition in the rain. For the latter case, I’m keeping the Pentel Multi 8 in my bag for a while longer.

Long live color! (Not shown: water spritzer)

What prompted me to decide that I was done with minimalism? A couple of unseasonably beautiful days last week. I switched out my sketch kit, drove all around Green Lake enjoying the sunshine, and ended up back in my own neighborhood to make the sketch above. As you can see, I still don’t need much color – but it’s important to stay optimistic. Spring is just a few days away.

Fat and happy again.

Back to my original Rickshaw prototype Waldo case.

One Year Since

 

The past week was bittersweet and emotional. I hit several “one-year-since” anniversaries: my last Jazzercise class; my last in-person yoga and Gage Academy classes; our last Urban Sketchers outing; our last trip to Costco (where I sketched a few people as a lead up to the One Week 100 People challenge); the last time we shopped inside any grocery store; the last time I walked around Green Lake with the friend I’ve been walking with there for more than a decade. As you can see, I just passed Day 363, which means that I’m coming up on a year of drawing my hand. How time flies.

As for the hands, I was so busy drawing my face most of the week that I relaxed by making some fun, blind-contour abstract doodles. In the last self-portraits I made, I used two contrasting colors – one for form, one for details and the darkest values – and I enjoy the way that looks, so I will explore that further. The face helps the hands and vice versa.