Graphite for Gilligan’s Island

 

My picks, from top: Dixon's Typhonite Eldorado, Faber-Castell 9000, Staedtler Mars Lumograph. The other two didn't make the cut.

11/27/24 Faber-Castell 9000 8B

Regular readers of this blog know my preoccupation with thinking about what I’d take to Gilligan’s Island. Don’t laugh – when it comes to art supplies, it’s an important question. Although I typically ponder this issue as it relates to my entire sketch kit, which would always certainly include at least one graphite pencil, it was only recently that I began thinking more specifically about which graphite pencil I would take.

The question came up during Pencilvember while I was using a Faber-Castell “Castell” 9000 pencil for a draped scarf study. For a graphite sketch, I typically use one hard grade to begin, then finish with a softer grade. In the case of a full-on, finished drawing, I might use several grades in between. But I was in a hurry that day with only 20 minutes before I had to leave for an appointment, so I tried an experiment: Instead of my typical method, I used only the F-C 9000 in 8B.

I know 8B sounds way too soft, and I thought it would be challenging to draw the initial blocking and lightest values with a pencil that dark. In fact, it is very strangely both hard and soft. While the end result is not as smooth as it might have been had I started with a harder grade, I was happy with it – both the result and the process. Because the entire 9000 range is so hard (compared to any Japanese range and probably even some European ranges), the 8B was suitably hard while also being dark. Huh – I wouldn’t even mind taking it to Gilligan’s Island.

11/29/24 Dixon Typhonite Eldorado 3B

That’s what got me thinking: what other graphite pencils would be good candidates for the “three-hour tour”? Before I get started, let’s consider the criteria:

Multiples and variations must be minimized. Anticipating a potential rescue, the Skipper tells the castaways that they may bring only the “bare essentials” (a term that makes Mrs. Howell gasp and adolescent 1960s viewers titter). Ginger’s 15 evening gowns would not make the cut, and neither would a full range of graphite pencils.

In addition to being compact, each choice must be versatile. If one colored pencil can take the place of two (oooh, bicolors!), that’s great, but if it’s also a watercolor pencil, all the better. The double-sided Viking Verso would be an ideal graphite choice – if only I liked the scratchy graphite.

Practical matters must also be considered. One could make the argument that a clutch and a box of leads in a variety of grades would certainly be a compact graphite set for the island. But how practical would it be to continually change the lead in a clutch while making a drawing? Not at all. I’d be rescued by the time I finished that sketch.

Finally, a subjective criterion is also important. I must enjoy using the pencil, or being stranded for any length of time would be intolerable.

12/1/24 Staedtler Mars Lumograph 2B

With these criteria in mind, I determined that a pencil for Gilligan’s Island must have graphite hard enough to last far beyond that three-hour tour to minimize sharpening, but it must also be soft enough to build darks efficiently. While the result may not be as smooth as using multiple grades, it must be at least adequate. To test the pencils, I made more draped fabric studies using the Field Notes Streetscapes sketchbook.

My top three candidates are the vintage Dixon’s Typhonite Eldorado 3B, the previously mentioned Faber-Castell 9000 8B, and the Staedtler Mars Lumograph 2B. Each is simultaneously hard and dark, making them versatile, compact pencils. The Lumograph is not as smooth and pleasant to use as the Eldorado or 9000, but it does meet the criteria. The Lumograph and the 9000 have the advantage of being readily available almost anywhere (except the Island, of course) compared to the vintage Eldorado (though it can be found often enough on eBay).

12/2/24 Tombow Mono F: Too hard.

Although I had doubts, I tested a long-time favorite pencil to see how it would fare: A Tombow Mono F. Sometimes I start graphite drawings with this F as my first, hardest grade, then finish with a softer grade or two. Unfortunately, it's not soft enough to finish a sketch, at least with my patience level, because it takes too long to build up the darkest darks. (Who’s got that kind of time when there are coconuts to pick?)

My search was by no means exhaustive; I probably have other pencils that would pass the Gilligan test. These were simply the ones that were fresh in my memory from this year’s and last year’s Pencilvember. What are your graphite candidates for Gilligan’s Island?

12/2/24 vintage Eberhard Faber Microtomic 6B: Too soft.

All pencils were freshly sharpened before making the test sketches. This image shows how the points looked after the sketches were finished.

Which Field Notes Would I Take to Gilligan’s Island?

From left: "Pretty Much Everything," Workshop Companion, yellow Sweet
Tooth, red Sweet Tooth, Lunacy

Every now and then I like to think about what kind of sketch kit I would take to Gilligan’s Island. I admit, this is mostly an intellectual exercise, for if I were really going to board the S. S. Minnow from Honolulu for a three-hour tour, surely I would take the same bag I carry day-to-day and everything in it. Every time I step out of the house, my bag contains enough sketch materials to last at least a week stranded on an uncharted island.

But I’m recalling one of the many times the castaways thought they were going to be rescued, and the skipper commands the others to bring only “the bare essentials” (which causes much consternation among the Howells and Ginger, who clearly thought a three-hour tour would require several changes of evening wear). So when I refer to the sketch kit for Gilligan’s Island, I’m really talking about sheer minimalism. The bare essentials. What is the absolute smallest, minimal sketch kit I could have and still survive – not only the three-hour tour but perhaps even stranded for a few days?

Pretty Much Everything's dark orange paper makes a great
background for brush pen and opaque white gel pen. The
pale grid ruling is hardly visible. Alas, this book is a very limited
edition and difficult to find.

I define absolute “bare essentials” as paper in the form of one small sketchbook and one drawing instrument. Since Field Notes Brand notebooks have become my pocket sketchbook of choice, it seems reasonable to assume that one would fulfill the paper part of the essentials. A couple of years ago, I was bemoaning the dearth of small notebooks with paper appropriate for sketching, but now I have my choice of four: Workshop Companion, Sweet Tooth (in three colors), Lunacy and the very limited, orange-paper “Pretty Much Everything” edition. Which would I take to Gilligan’s Island? And with that choice of notebook, which writing instrument would I take?

These were among the weighty questions I pondered as I prepared to head out for Zoka Coffee yesterday. In addition to the one I am currently carrying (a red Sweet Tooth), I grabbed a couple other Field Notes notebooks to test them for Gilligan-ready status.

Red Sweet Tooth with brush pen, white gel pen, white colored pencil.

You know by now how much I like red Sweet Tooth paper (and, similarly, the bright orange “Pretty Much Everything” paper) – it’s an ideal toned background for a black brush pen highlighted with a white Gelly Roll pen or a white colored pencil. But without that white highlighter, I’m not sure dark red or orange paper would get me through a whole week.

A gray-papered Lunacy takes a brush pen or fountain pen beautifully but not a white highlighter, and colors fall a bit flat, so it would be similar to a red Sweet Tooth in that regard – monochrome Island sketches.

A yellow Sweet Tooth, however, could take a brush pen, a pencil or even a compact coloring implement of my choice – maybe a rainbow pencil. Better yet, a Uni Jetstream multi pen containing four ballpoint ink colors and a pencil! And an ivory-papered Workshop Companion could take all of those, too.

Yellow Sweet Tooth with rainbow pencil

Both also go well with my favorite Sailor fude fountain pen filled with water-soluble ink that could be washed for shading – the ultimate in simplicity. But here’s the rub: If I stick with my one-implement rule, then I can’t bring a waterbrush. At the coffee shop with that restriction in mind, I used a handy tool I know Don Colley uses frequently but that I don’t use much – a finger. With spit! I was pleased with the shading I was able to get on the man’s back and head with one finger (see bottom of page), but even my pinky was too wide to shade his hand.

It would be difficult to sketch several days on that island without color, but I think I still get more mileage from a tool that allows me to convey tones quickly. If I could bring two implements, I’d bring the red or orange book, a black brush pen and a white Gelly Roll, and I’d be happy for a long time. But since I can only bring one. . .

I’d pack the Workshop Companion and either a water-soluble brush pen or the Sailor fude filled with water-soluble ink. My spit-finger would always be available for toning, and if we weren’t rescued in a week, I’m sure the island would offer minerals and plants that could be made into pigments.

Yellow Sweet Tooth with ballpoint pen

Now if only one of the gajillions of multi pens available included a brush pen component, I wouldn’t care if I ever got rescued. 

Lunacy with brush pen

Workshop Companion with ballpoint pen

Workshop Companion with rainbow pencil

Workshop Companion with graphite pencil

Workshop Companion with fountain pen
and finger-spit wash

What I Would Take to Gilligan’s Island

My bare-essentials sketch kit -- what I would take to Gilligan's Island.

It’s been more than six months since I updated my Current Favorite Art Materials page photos. I used to update the page and the photos nearly every month because I was changing the contents of my sketch bag – and therefore my favorite supplies list – so often. But the past year or more, I’ve settled into a comfortable groove that I make only minor tweaks to occasionally. You can see the updated list and photo of my bag’s contents now.

The page also includes a photo and contents list of my ultra-minimalist sketch kit, but I realized I never did a post about it. When fitness-walking in the neighborhood or around Green Lake, I never used to take sketching gear of any kind. But ever since I spotted an elusive gray heron  at Green Lake and found myself empty-handed, my habit has been to take a small kit that I think of as the absolutely bare essentials.  These are the few items I couldn’t bear to live without on that fateful day when The Minnow washes up on Gilligan’s Island. (I suppose eventually I’d have to peel bark off of palm trees to make paper and wrestle an octopus to make ink.)

The kit is currently housed in a Travelon Convertible Travel Wallet, which has (though barely) enough space for my smart phone and keys too, so it’s actually a serviceable bag. It contains:

• A Pilot Petit1 Mini fountain pen filled with water-soluble ink (find out why this rarely used pen is ideal for keeping in this bag)
• Dark gray Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush pen
• Kuretake waterbrush
• Handmade catch-all sketchbook
• Eyeglasses (with a dedicated space in the bag, the all-important glasses are never forgotten) 

What would you take to Gilligan’s Island?

If I Had to Choose Only One Colored Pencil

6/19/20 Maple Leaf neighborhood (Caran d'Ache Supracolors in Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook)

Several months ago, I needed a new inkjet printer. Scrolling through hundreds of options, I became frustrated by the many “all-in-one” models. They don’t just print; they also scan, fax, copy, make espresso and serve it to me with music and dancing. All I wanted was a reliable, high-quality color printer. While there may be nothing wrong with a multi-functional device that can do all things, I had a feeling that they would not do any one thing exceptionally (such as print). That’s been my experience, anyway.

All of this is preamble to what I really want to talk about, which is, of course, colored pencils. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I occasionally like to think about what I would take to Gilligan’s Island. It’s my way of hypothesizing different ways of simplifying my sketch tools: Beyond a “three-hour tour,” what if I had to use these and only these tools indefinitely (or at least for a specified length of time, like my annual minimalism challenges)? It occurred to me one day that I had never posed the question about colored pencils: If I could choose only one set (perish the thought!), which would I choose?

I have mentioned several times that different types of drawings or parts of the same drawing require different types of pencils (such as soft or hard), so identifying one pencil that can do all jobs well is not possible. My recent picks of top colored pencils short-listed my favorites, but that list still includes three water-soluble pencils and three traditional pencils. If I really had to choose only one set – the footlocker I’m taking to Gilligan’s island simply will not hold six sets – which would I choose? And how would I choose?

The answer comes down to versatility: Even if a single pencil set cannot do all jobs well, which “all-in-one” pencil set can at least print, copy, fax and serve espresso satisfactorily, if not ideally? These are the criteria I used to make my choice:

• Water-solubility is essential and non-negotiable. That means the water-soluble pencil I choose must also work well dry. This criterion alone eliminates many watercolor pencils I’ve tried that are either unpleasant to apply (Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer, for example) or are difficult to blend and layer dry.
• The core must be sufficiently soft and thick to accommodate my need to sketch quickly and efficiently on location.
• Yet it must be hard enough to manage small details.
• The color range must be wide enough to cover any subject matter I might want to sketch.
• Replacement pencils must be easily available open stock (even on Gilligan’s island).

The pencil that meets all these criteria best is Caran d’Ache Supracolor. If you recall how often I’ve gone on and on about the virtues of Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle, you might be surprised by my choice. As often as I would easily choose Museum Aquarelle as my overall “favorite” pencil, it is the equivalent of a professional quality inkjet printer that makes beautiful color prints but that will certainly not send faxes (let alone make espresso). It’s my all-time favorite because it meets my urban sketching needs ideally. It is not without downsides, however. For example, the Museum Aquarelle is so soft and has such a hefty core that it will not hold a point for small details. Its color range is also narrow compared to most colored pencil lines. When achieving accurate hues is important (such as for botanical drawings), I almost always have to supplement Museum Aquarelles with colors from the Supracolor or Albrecht Durer lines.

6/9/20 Supracolor in S&B Nova sketchbook

The task that recently made me appreciate Supracolors used traditionally (without water) was my daily hand sketches on black paper. When I don’t plan to use water, I tend to choose a traditional pencil, so it was an interesting experiment to use a white Supracolor fully intending to leave it dry. The white Supracolor applied almost as pleasantly as various oil- and wax-based white pencils (without the “stickiness” of some water-soluble pencils), and the dry pigment was rich and opaque.

To continue examining Supracolors dry, I made two similar sketches of bellflowers using the same four Supracolor pencils – one sketch using dry pigments only, the second with both wet and dry layers. Although extremely soft, Supracolors will sharpen to a nice point and stay sharp long enough to draw slender leaves and stamen. In the dry sample, the pigments layered and blended beautifully. In the dry/wet/dry sample, the pigments again layered and behaved predictably well (as I have come to expect from both Supracolors and Museum Aquarelles).

6/18/20 dry Supracolors in S&B Epsilon sketchbook

6/18/20 wet and dry Supracolors in S&B
Beta sketchbook

Incidentally, the four colors I used are Cobalt Violet (620), Ultramarine Violet (630), Bright Green (720) and Olive Yellow (15). The first three are from the Limited Edition 30^th Anniversary Set, which means they aren’t available open stock (and therefore can’t be replaced at the Gilligan’s Island art supply store). I sure wish Caran d’Ache would make these “limited” colors part of their standard line, as I often find that the color I want happens to be one of them.

As a final test, I wanted to see how Supracolors perform in the field. Although I normally carry one or two Supracolors (usually seasonal or specialty colors that aren’t available among Museum Aquarelles), I’m not sure I’ve ever made an entire sketch on location with nothing but Supracolors, so it was high time I tried it.

Before going out, I tried to match each Museum Aquarelle in my current palette (which is smaller than usual in the Pandemic Edition of my sketch kit) with an equivalent Supracolor. I was able to find an identical or close match for most colors, but not Museum Aquarelle’s Dark Phthalocyanine Green (719), which I use often for the shady side of foliage. Nothing in the Supracolor line comes close.

The sketch at the top of the page, a quiet alley with interesting shadows one morning, was the result (including a bit of pentimento from a previous sketch that ended abruptly when my subjects went away). Not quite as soft or rich in pigment as my beloved Museum Aquarelles, the Supracolors still held their own and would certainly be sufficient for sketching on location. (I did miss that green 719, though.) I was able to cover large areas almost as efficiently as with Museum Aquarelles, and spritzing the foliage areas with water activated the pigments nearly as vividly.

So if I had to choose only one set of pencils, it would be Supracolors. The irony is that they might not be my first choice for anything. If I want to do a detailed, full-color drawing with traditional pencils, I would probably choose Faber-Castell Polychromos or vintage Prismacolors (or more likely both – an ideal hard/soft combo). If I want water-solubility, then I would go to Museum Aquarelles first, then pull in additional colors as needed from among Supracolors and Albrecht Durer. If I’m stepping out the door, Museum Aquarelles are always my first choice. But while Supracolors aren’t ideal for everything, they can do everything well enough with no complaints from me. It’s my most versatile colored pencil.

Move over, Gilligan... here I come!

Colored Pencil Conclusion: One is Not Enough

4/4/17 Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran d'Ache Pablo, Stillman & Birn Alpha

Orange you happy to see something other than an apple?

As you might have gathered from yesterday’s post, my research didn’t result in a single favorite brand that rose to the top as my ideal colored pencil. I didn’t expect it to, and it wasn’t really my goal. My objective was to clarify the pros and cons of the brands I’d been using most recently, and working on these reviews definitely achieved that. More significant for my larger purposes is that I became more critical about how qualities of colored pencils affect a drawing.

The creamy softness of a colored pencil has always been one of the most important qualities to me – tactically, it feels better when applied, and I perceive that it spreads more easily (soft butter on toast spreads more easily than cold butter). What I didn’t realize until I started working with colored pencils intensively, though, is that a soft core flattens immediately, so the pigment is skimming the surface of the paper rather than getting into the valleys of the tooth. More of the paper shows through for quite a while until many layers are applied. (This is a useful quality when I want the paper’s surface to show, but I don’t often want that with colored pencil work.) A harder core can work into those valleys more easily and quickly on the first couple of passes with less paper showing through.

A high-quality soft pencil usually has richer, more intense hues (or maybe it just appears that way because more of the soft pigment is being applied at one time), and softer cores blend more evenly. A-ha – hard and soft pencils both have good qualities – using them together might be a strategic approach!

I did some experiments with this approach in mind, and the heirloom tomato shows the strategy that seems to be working best for me. Using the harder Faber-Castell Polychromos pencil, I made the contour drawing and took the first couple of passes of color, which covered quite a bit of the Stillman & Birn Alpha paper’s texture. Then using the same hues but slightly different shades of softer Caran d’Ache Pablo pencils, I gave the tomato a few more layers. Since the colors are just slightly different, the result is just a bit richer and more complex. The softer pencils also helped blend the tomato’s variegated tones and hues. As a final touch, I sharpened up the harder Polychromos and drew the details like the leafy parts at the top.  

I think this process would work just as well with any hard/soft pencil combo, not just Polychromos and Pablo. But going the other way – starting with softer pencils and finishing with harder – doesn’t work as well. The harder pencil core feels like it is sliding off the waxy, creamier surface, and it’s much more difficult to get through those waxy layers to the paper’s valleys without smashing down the tooth.

Now, if I were planning a trip to Gilligan’s Island (yes, I like to visit Gilligan whenever I need to pare down my sketch kit or simplify my options) and could take only one set of colored pencils, I’d probably choose Polychromos. Nicely balanced between soft and hard, it’s probably the most versatile of all the pencils I’ve tried – it has a full range of colors readily available open stock; and it’s good for both details and coverage. But pairing Polychromos with Pablo or another soft pencil seems to make the final colors more vibrant – and tactically, it just feels nicer. (Ultimately, I’m a hedonistic sketcher: If it doesn’t feel good doing it, why do it?)

Since this was an idiosyncratic review series based on my personal needs and responses to materials, it’s not necessarily intended to serve the public good. Ultimately, each sketcher has to do his or her own research to find the best materials for individual needs. But if what I learned was useful to you in any way, then that’s a bonus. In any case, thanks for coming along for the ride (and enduring daily apples)!

Pablo (left) combined with Polychromos: A good recipe.

Minimalism

9/24/17 Just paper and pencil.

Maybe it’s when my bag starts to feel too heavy. Whenever I pare it down, the weight gradually creeps up again. You know what I mean. That’s when I start thinking about minimalism – the smallest sketch kit I could possibly use, or which Field Notes I would take to Gilligan’s Island. It’s more complicated than it seems, because the drawing implement I take depends on the notebook I choose.

Dime Novel, the latest edition of Field Notes, is slightly larger than the standard format, giving me just a little more page space, and the pages are blank, making them ideal for sketching. In addition, the 70-pound white paper holds up to most of the sketching media I typically use – brush pen, graphite, colored pencil (though not my favorite Sailor fude fountain pen). It can even take a light swipe from a waterbrush. And with more pages than a standard Field Notes, I could stay longer on Gilligan’s Island. (You can read my full review of Dime Novel on the Well-Appointed Desk.) I decided to put the Dime Novel to the test.

With creamy white paper, it’s tempting to take along colored pencils – but then, of course, I’d need several colors. I could grab a single brush pen – that would be minimal. But “minimal” isn’t just about the number of implements – it’s also about simplicity. What’s the simplest, most basic sketching tool I have? 

Last Sunday, a lovely sunny day, I walked up to Maple Leaf Park with nothing but the Dime Novel and one Blackwing. As much as I love exploring lots of different media, sometimes all I need is paper and pencil.

Tina’s 2018 Top Products (Plus Fails)

Top product of the year: My custom-made sketch tool organizer!

Looking back at my Top Products lists from the past 6 years, it’s interesting to see the gradual shift I’ve made from almost all liquid media (watercolor, ink, markers, brush pens) to almost all dry media (colored pencil, graphite, ballpoint). The changes were not what I had planned or thought about, but they happened organically as I continually practiced and explored. I’m sure the products I discover, experiment with, use most and eventually reject will continue to change over time, and I look forward to seeing how this list evolves. It’s one reason I publish this annual post – it gives me an opportunity to look back and see how I’ve changed.

The products that make it onto my list are those that I found to be indispensable this year in supporting the way I prefer to sketch – on location, often outdoors, often standing, in a limited time. They are high quality, versatile, convenient, compact or otherwise have qualities that earn their keep in my bag.

Here are links to all my past Top Products lists:

Tina's 2017 Top Products

Tina's 2016 Top 10
Tina's 2015 Top 10
Tina's 2014 Top 10
Tina's 2013 Top 10 
Tina's 2012 Top 10 

And these are my Top Products for 2018:

• My custom-made sketch tool organizer easily tops my list this year (see top of page). Handmade for me by Etsy vendor Brynn James, the organizer makes pens, pencils, waterbrushes and other items easily accessible and upright in my bag (colored pencils have their own case, which was at the top of my list last year). Although Brynn used my pattern, she improved the design, and I appreciate its utility every day.

The Palomino Blackwing: It's (almost) all I need.

• Palomino Blackwing graphite pencil with the original “soft” (ungraded) core. This pencil was mentioned in my list last year as one of several graphite pencils in rotation. Although it’s always nice to have at least a couple of pencil grades for both details and dark shading, in a pinch, this is the only pencil I need. Often I finish a whole sketch with nothing but a Blackwing, even if I have other grades at hand. Unlike most pencils in my bag, it’s hard enough to write with, so I often grab it for quick notes, too. The Blackwing is so versatile that I’d take it to Gilligan’s Island.

No, it's not a slug. . . it's a kneadable eraser in a crayon box.

A kneadable eraser. This has become an essential tool with graphite – not so much for erasing mistakes as for “drawing” the lightest value. I haven’t been using one long enough to have a favorite brand, but the one from Faber-Castell that I’ve had in my bag since the Porto symposium is serving me well. It took me a while to figure out the best way to store this in my bag without it picking up lint, pencil shavings and other debris. Putting it in a small plastic ziplock bag was a bad idea (it sticks firmly inside), and most boxes are too bulky. My ideal solution turned out to be the slender hinged box that Daniel Smith watercolor crayons come in. Its long, skinny shape fits perfectly in a slot in my sketch tool organizer (above).

The ubiquitous (and essential) Bic.

• Bic Stic ballpoint pen. This year’s InkTober changed my whole attitude about the modest, ubiquitous Bic. Something about that sticky, oily ink makes it draw almost like a pencil, and by the end of October, I loved its sketching potential enough to make it a permanent part of my sketch kit. The link above goes to Amazon, but I’ve never purchased one – I just get them from hotel rooms. The Zebra F-301 ballpoint has a retractable point and better body than the Bic with the same type of ink (not all ballpoints are the same; in fact, most do not have inks with the subtle shading properties of the Bic).

That’s it – a short and sweet list. In fact, the list is so short that I’m adding a bonus: Products I tried this year that I eventually stopped using because they didn’t earn their keep or otherwise failed me:

• Spectrafix fixative. My growing interest in drawing with graphite led me to explore fixatives to prevent the transfer and, to a lesser extent, smudging I was experiencing. Spectrafix, a nontoxic, alcohol-based product that spritzes rather than sprays (thus reducing the overspray in the air) worked well in terms of keeping the graphite from transferring and smudging. But spritzing applies so much liquid to the page that it was making the paper buckle irreparably. Lately, I’ve been simply skipping pages so that graphite transfer is no longer an issue. Smudging is still a potential issue, but in my hand-stitched signatures, the pages don’t shift around much, so the problem is minimal.
• Tombow Fudenosuke Gray/Black Brush Pen. With black ink on one end, gray on the other, both waterproof, this compact pen came so close to being perfect that it broke my heart to take it out of my bag. But the way I use gray ink for shading, the brush needs to be wider than the Fudenosuke offers. I switched back to my trusty Faber-Castell Pitt Big Brush Artist Pens.

Lessons Learned: Sketch Kit Review and Fresh Tizzy

Items used daily: 9 colored pencils, 1 waterproof brush pen, 1 waterbrush

After every major trip, I review my sketch kit to look at what I used most and what I didn’t use at all (for more kit reviews, see my posts after Portugal, Chicago, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Brazil, Barcelona/Germany). The prep before Holland was easy – everything in my bag was the same as what I carry every day – but I still considered each item carefully before I left it in. (I took out only two items.)

Shown above are the items I used most – every day, in fact. Not surprisingly, except for Verdigris green (Caran d’Ache 182), the colors and tools are all items that I use most at home, too. I often think about what I’d take with me to Gilligan’s Island, and while some of that thinking is mostly hypothetical, the photo above shows the practice instead of the hypothesis. These are my bare essentials, and I’ve proven that I could probably be happy for a long time with nothing but these items.

Never used.

A few things (at right) I never used even once: * the Bic ballpoint pen (I had a feeling I wouldn’t use it, but I admit I brought it mainly to show off), the vermilion/blue bicolor pencil and the white Derwent pencil. (I knew the latter was unnecessary – I didn’t bring along a toned sketchbook or even my usual red Field Notes, so I had nowhere to use it – but my reasoning was that my symposium swag bag could contain toned paper as it did another year, and then I’d want a white pencil.) I thought I might make a bicolor study at some point, but the only time I did, I used yellow and purple instead. In retrospect, I should have known to leave it at home, since I always carry enough colors that I could still make a bicolor study without the vermilion/blue pencil. However, all three items added very little weight or bulk to my bag, so I don’t have deep regrets for having taken them along.

(*Edited after taking the photo at right: I discovered a sketch in my travel journal that I had forgotten about, so I did use the ballpoint pen after all. Sketch will be shown in a future post.) 

Another few items (below) were used infrequently – in fact, the graphite pencil and related eraser and tortillon were used only once – but when I did use them, I was happy I had them, because nothing else I carried would have substituted for them. The brush pen containing water-soluble ink came in handy several times when used in a classic way: shading with a quick swipe of the waterbrush. Though I haven’t used this tried-and-true technique much lately, it’s still handy in a hurry (which I often was in Amsterdam’s heat).

 

Although these items weren't used often, I would have been unhappy without them.
From left: eraser, graphite pencil, tortillon, water-soluble brush pen.

Although my intention has been to quit the gray marker grisaille habit, I still brought one along as a security blanket. As I happily reported a few days ago, Holland helped me to wean myself off it, so I used it only a couple of times early in the trip. I have removed it from my bag permanently!

More than half the colors I carried were not used often, but when I did use them, they were essential (such as red and blue for the flag of the Netherlands). 

I'm disappointed with Faber-Castell's Dark Red. My current replacement is
Derwent Inktense Red Oxide.

I was continually disappointed with one colored pencil, however, and I’m now looking for a replacement. Caran d’Ache’s Museum Aquarelle palette doesn’t include a brick red, which is essential in most European cities I’ve visited (and often at home). For a while now, I’ve been using Dark Red in the Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer palette, which is acceptable when dry. But as soon as I activate it, the hue changes to nearly magenta, which is too bright for old brick. Sometimes I don’t mind – the sketch I made of Amsterdam’s skyline during the heatwave, for example, seems to express the swelter I was feeling! More often, though, it’s not the red I’m looking for. For now, I’ve replaced it with Derwent Inktense in Red Oxide.

All my sketchbooks served me well -- and taught me the biggest lesson of the trip.

As for sketchbooks, they all served me well in different ways. I filled only three of the six signatures I had stitched from Stillman & Birn Zeta paper (I made fewer sketches on this trip than expected, due to the extreme heat). But I also made four spreads in the landscape-format Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook, so it was well worth taking along. I even made a few postcard sketches and gave them to friends – something I always intend to do but rarely do. A win! (The pocket-size Rhodia journal was also just right; I’m going to cover travel journals in a separate post.)

Lesson Learned: Paper

Overall, I’m happy with my everyday-carry and travel sketch kit. As expected, the items I used most are ones I use most anywhere. If I had followed my hunches about things I probably wouldn’t need, I would have had no regrets, but my bag wouldn’t have been significantly lighter. The net result is that it’s easier to keep materials as much the same as possible, which reduces surprises and annoying results.

My biggest lesson from the trip is related to paper – and what I learned has left me in a new tizzy! After much hemming, hawing, testing and regular use the past several months, I thought I was happy with Stillman & Birn Zeta. While it isn’t perfect, I saw it as the best compromise in meeting all my media needs: smooth enough for graphite, ballpoint and markers and adequately (but not ideally) sized for wet media.

Oh, Zeta. . . I had hoped you could be everything to me.

Shortly before I left for the Netherlands, though, I started having doubts; a sketch in a S&B Beta book reminded me how much I’ve missed using paper with a bit of tooth and, more importantly, sizing that brings out the best in water-soluble colored pencils. Each time I used the Beta landscape book on the trip, I was reminded again. Beta paper is a joy to use with watercolor pencils: The hues look vibrant, and water behaves nicely on its surface.  

I’ve known all along that Zeta’s sizing leaves my watercolor pencil pigments looking a bit flat, and I miss the texture, but I had been resigned to the compromise because I need a smooth surface to use the “Eduardo graphite technique” that I so enjoy.

But guess what? At least on this trip, I used graphite only once! I might have predicted this; graphite used in this slow, methodical way takes more time than I’m usually willing to commit when I’m on familiar territory, let alone while traveling. The 47 other pages I filled on Zeta paper were all done with watercolor pencils and/or brush pen.

What does that tell me? Perhaps a Beta book should be my daily-carry (and Beta paper made into signatures for travel). The medium I use most often, watercolor pencils, would be ideally served. For those occasional graphite (or even rarer ballpoint) sketches, I could carry a thin signature of Zeta paper. The tizzy I’m in, of course, is that I would be back to using multiple books simultaneously, and the sketches would not be bound in chronological sequence as I prefer.

I have only a few pages left in my current Zeta book. When it’s full, I’m going to switch to a Beta book as my daily-carry. If I continue to enjoy the paper after a month or two of consistent use, I’ll tackle the tizzy. (Edited 10/7/19: Full review of S&B Beta published.)

My Holland sketch kit