Playing ketchup

A running joke with my students is our MUSTARD DAYS. Not Catch up days, but Mustard. Get it?! So this post will be me play catch-up. Things get a little nutty around the holidays, so posting to an art blog isn't too high on the priority list. 

1. I have been following and reading about "vintage flexible nib pens" on instagram and the interwebs. I was determined to find a pen that was cheap, old, and had some super-flex to it. It just so happens that there is an antique mall about 2 miles from my house that houses, no joke, 1,000 different dealers! There are aisles and aisles of cases containing just about everything, including vintage pens! I picked up this guy, which is a 1930s (maybe) Gold Bond, 14K nib pen for $40!!! It's too cool! The flex is a amazing and I am dying to take it for a spin. 

2. We had a "last-day-before-break-holiday-sing-a-long-assembly" and of course I had my sketchbook. The kids were all wearing some sort of holiday hat which made for some fun sketches! I wish the songs were a little longer so I could have captured them better. 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, red Inktense watercolor pencil, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

3. Same day as #2, but this was kindergarten playing with the blocks. The colors and movement were fun to see but hard to capture! 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a Pilot Brush pen, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, Inktense watercolor pencils, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

4. Since I have gotten into sketching one of the best things is waiting. Waiting in the doctor's office, waiting for a friend in a coffee shop, waiting in a mall, waiting in an airport (which is sketching gold) or just waiting. I can whip out my sketchbook and capture something. I was waiting for some friends at a new trendy, hipster restaurant, and sketched some of the glassware. They weren't necessarily in a neat line, but that is the beauty of sketching--do whatever you want! 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, a Pilot Brush pen, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

5. Some more waiting! This time for a delicious burger from 5 Guys. After this sketch I realized that we are a VERY unshapely group of people.  

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a waterbrush with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, Inktense watercolor pencils, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

6/7/8/9. Lamberton Conservatory! Rochester's best kept secret. I told myself that I wouldn't sketch the turtles because I do every time I am there. But I couldn't help myself--they make great models!  

[namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, a Pilot Brush pen, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

10. A quick sketch of the dishes as dinner sautéed on the stove! My new favorite subject. 

[a Pilot Brush pen, a brush pen with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

11. "You should mount a M60 on a tripod--no one would come on to your land then!"--um yeah. Exactly what is wrong with our country. A sketch of some hillbillies at a local diner. 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a waterbrush with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

12. "Santa! I know him!" Right next to my abode, there is Santa's house! Seriously, Santa. The real deal. It was a balmy 60 degree December day so I sat and sketched the people in line to see Santa! I was trampled on by a family of 5 kids, saw a woman almost pass out for no reason and watched at least 4 kids cry about 4 different things--mostly not wanting to leave the presence of his almighty Santa.

[namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

13. More waiting! 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a waterbrush with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

14. And more waiting! This time for delicious, overly and un-necessarily salty Chinese food! 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a waterbrush with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

15. Another assembly at school and I got stuck in the storage room running the AV system so I sketched the crowd! 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, a waterbrush with water and J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

16. More waiting at the local diner. 

[Uni-ball vision ball point pen, in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook-landscape]

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Lamberton

The Lamberton Conservatory is a hidden gem in the city of Rochester. For $3 you get to explore room after room of plants and animals. 
My girlfriend wanted to take some photos of flowers and I wanted to sketch so this place was a perfect fit! I parked it on a bench for a while and watched the turtles fight over rocks, the mini-Quails fight over the seed and weird people talking about things you shouldn't talk about in public! 

[namiki falcon with DeArtementis Document ink, D+S watercolors in a S+B Epsilon Series sketchbook]

conservatory creepin'

The Lamberton Conservatory in Rochester, NY is such a great retreat from the 3 degree temperatures and 10 inches of snow. This past sunday about 9 sketchers from the sketching group got warmed up in the 80 degree 80% humidity greenhouse. I always tell myself "let's sketch something besides the turtles". And then when I get there--I sketch the turtles. 

My sketching buddy Genine and I decided to work on our black and white and only sketch with black, and a gray if needed. I opted for my J. Herbin per noire ink which is water-soluble. So when water hits it, these beautiful grays appear. I also tried out a new wooden dip pen that holds 2 nibs--one at each end. I loaded up a very small nib and a super-flexy nib that gave me some bold blacks and sometimes too bold blacks. 

This was also my first time taking a Stillmand & Birn Zeta sketchbook. I am a huge fan of S&B sketchbooks, but this thing makes me a super fan. I equate it to a tank! You can throw anything at it! No bleed through, no smearing--nothing! And the smoothness!! Ohhhhhhh. 

[dip pen with J. Herbin Pearl Noire ink, water brush filled with J. Herbin Perl Noire ink and water, all in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook] 

Lamberton Conservatory

we had a meetup this weekend at the Lamberton Conservartory in Highland Park. it's a wonderful old building that has a ton of different plants in giant greenhouses and rooms. there are also quail running around and my favorite, the turtles. i sat in the 80 degree room for a few hours sketching my non-moving cold blooded friends. i attempted to capture the progression of my work with some snapshots along the way. while my first painting was drying, i attempted another sketch in my toned book and was very pleased with the results. 

[watercolors, watecolor pencils, pilot falcon w/noodler's black eel ink all in a stillman & born sketchbook]

[pilot falcon w/noodler's black eel ink, pitt warm gray markers in a toned strathmore sketchbook]