My day as a journal sketch

I have been wildly utilizing the library links to request books on sketching that are not available locally. Which also means I have been madly reading and keeping notes as I go. One book, "Draw Your Day" by Samantha Dion Baker was loaded with lively and inspiring sketches, but not much how-to information (which is what I feel that I desperately need at this stage). But I was interested in the main premise of the book, which is that you can journal by making a two-page spread with sketches of the focal events of the day. So I decided to give it a try. 
I definitely need practice on this, but publishing my beginning attempts might encourage some others who, like me, feel that their sketches lack any artistic value. Bloggers who have posted their early attempts are the reason I took the plunge into sketching and publishing, so maybe someone will also be inspired by my sketches to overcome that insecurity obstacle.

Day 1: Technology Day. I resurrected a PDA and folding keyboard after 10 years of neglect. 
The batteries had split open and the inside of the keyboard was corroded badly.
After cleaning, it functioned! Briefly. The second time I opened it, it was unresponsive.
Oh well...

Various inks and pens on Artist's Loft journal paper.

Day 2: A Day of Birds. I guess if you look, you can always find a theme. Watching a Roadrunner follow the sidewalk is a rare treat. And the tiny bird that hit my kitchen window gave me a chance to see an Orange-crowned warbler up close. I hear them often in the willows behind my house, but rarely see them.

Orange-Crowned Warbler sitting on my porch after hitting the window.
He recovered and flew away after about 15 minutes (I actually can't tell the gender).

I swear the crows are just playing with the wind as they careen in between the houses in my neighborhood.

Crows sketched with Kuretake Brush Pen. The warbler was inked with Platinum Black and colored with pencils.
Other inks and pens were used, also diluted inks in water brushes. Artist's Loft journal paper.

I skipped sketch day that was just blah...  Day 4 includes a quick sketch of one of the local reservoirs that I visit frequently. What was up with the flies?? One of the blessings of SoCal is the scarcity of flies and mosquitoes so that I leave doors open when I am going in and out of the house. This day of the Flies was bizarre. Then I babysat my grands for the evening. Yeah, I need a lot of practice on people.

Various pens and inks, Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, pastels on Artist's Loft journal paper.

Another frequent location, my local library, has a perforated shade roof over the courtyard. A lovely arrangement with cut-outs in the shape of leaves that I failed to adequately capture. And perspective is a skill I am working on as well.

Library shade structure on top right. Personal present day! The colored pencils and inks that I ordered came in, Oh Happy Day!! Koh-I-Noor TriTone Pencils, Artist's Loft Journal Paper, Diamine Chocolate Brown and various inks, Kuretake Brush Pen

I added a Sailor Fude de Mannen pen to the pen herd and had to test it out. It was surprisingly fun to sketch my sling bag with it! I can't in any way explain my emotional attachment to my pens. It's almost as if they are like pets to me. I loved the Sailor Pen, thinking I preferred it over my Jinhao fude pen, until I wrote with the Jinhao to compare. They are different in the style of the nib, the Sailor is thinner and doesn't have noticeable tipping material. But, maybe I am getting more adept at making lines of different widths with a fude nib, I found that I liked each of them the same. The only downside to the Jinhao is that, being metal, it is heavier than I like in a pen. But the Sailor is made of a cheap feeling plastic that I don't really enjoy so that ends up being a balancing factor.

Sailor Fude de Mannen pen on top, with included Sailor Black cartridge ink.
Shading on backpack is Noodler's Lexington Gray in a brush pen.
Text and box on the bottom was a comparison with my Jinhao x750 fude nib pen.
Ink in that pen is Lexington Gray also. Pens colored with various inks and pencils.
Exceed 100gsm journal paper

Cheap Journal Compare

Top left are Exceed journals; top right are Letterbox journals; bottom is my current journal, Artist's Loft.

Hi, my name is Anne and I am a journal junkie. It has been about two weeks since I have purchased an unneeded journal just because it was pretty and a good price. I have a small shelf of pretty, unused journals that I found in clearance bins. I have given several journals to friends as gifts when I find out that they like to journal. So I'm writing a little info on the current, past, and future journals that I actually use. I made some sketches in each of four of the above journals for a comparison. Noodler's Lexington Gray ink laid down with a juicy fude nib has lots of bleed-through (where the ink actually soaks through to the back of the paper and sometimes to the sheet behind), so I made a sketch in each journal as a comparison of how the paper handles fountain pen ink.

Costco carries a three pack of Letterbox journals for $12.99 at selected times during the year. These are the journals I used for my first two years of bullet journaling. They have 80 sheets (160 pages) of cream colored, lined paper. I have a note that the weight is 80gsm, I'm not sure where I got that figure, but it is consistent with my experience with these books.

Things I like:

+Fountain pen friendly - Rarely bleed-through, and very little show-through (the writing is discernible as a shadow on the back side, but the ink does not soak through) with all my pens except the Sharpies.

+Paper color is not quite yellow, but not stark white. Colors show up well.

+10 inch by 7 inch hard cover that is sturdy enough to withstand eight months of daily use and traveling. The three packs are available with various bright covers, or dark shades. The books open flat.

+One ribbon book mark and a sturdy back pocket.

+Did I mention the price? $4.34 each. Unbeatable.

Reasons I have moved on:

-a little larger than is convenient to carry.

-dark lines are a distraction behind the sketches I like to include. I have checked the Spicebox website (where the price is considerably more than Costco) and there are no plain or dotted page options in these journals.

Letterbox journal sketch with Jinhao x750, fude nib.
Ink is Noodler's Lexington Gray. Hand 19.

Letterbox journal, back side of Hand 19.
 Some bleed-through visible.

Michael's craft store carries a line of Artist's Loft journals.

Things I like:

+Hard covers that open flat in several bright colors. The binding has held up well to daily carry for 3 months. Includes two ribbon bookmarks but no back pocket.

+true A5 size (8 x 6 inches)

+white paper available with dotted format. Said to be 80 gsm weight, but it does not perform as if the paper is that heavy.

+Only $5, a great price!

Reasons I am moving on:

-Not friendly to all fountain pens. Show-through and bleed-through with some inks.

-buckles and bleeds with even light washes.

-Platinum Carbon Black ink feathers and that is one of my main inks for bullet entries.

Artist's Loft journal paper.
Jinhao with fude nib
Noodler's Lexington Gray ink.
 Hand 17

Artist's Loft paper, back of
Hand 17. Heavy bleed-through. The ink
actually soaked into the second page.

Walmart stocks Exceed journals in two paper weights, soft and hard covers, and three sizes. In 2018 I bought a large format (7.5 x 9.75 inches), dotted (came also in lined format), softcover journal with one ribbon bookmark and a back pocket for $8.64. The paper is cream colored, 78 gsm with no coating. I use it as my pen and ink notebook. I see show-through and sometimes bleed-through with many fountain pens and inks, so I wouldn't consider it for most journaling or sketching. I generally only use one side of the page when I am using fountain pens, or I live with the show-through behind what I write on the back side of a page. Still, the paper handles fountain pens better than the Artist's Loft journal, with no feathering of Carbon Black ink.

Exceed 78gsm paper, Jinhao with fude nib.
Noodler's Lexington Gray ink. Hand 20

Exceed 78gsm, back of page
Hand 20 showing bleed-through.

In 2019, the paper was changed in Exceed journals. There are now three sizes available with 100gsm, coated paper. I have the new A5 journals which come with 120 sheets (240 pages), two ribbon bookmarks, hard covers, multiple cover colors and a back pocket. They do not lie quite as flat as the lighter paper version, but it is acceptable to me (although I do have to sometimes hold the page down as I sketch). The two smaller sizes cost less than $9, the larger size (soft cover) is around $13. The paper does not have bleed-through, and little show-through with the inks I use. Light, water washes result in a little buckling, but still no bleed-through. 

Exceed 100gsm paper; Jinhao with fude nib;
Noodler's Lexington Gray; Hand 18
No bleed-through or show-through on back

Exceed 100gsm paper; Platinum Carbon Desk Pen;
Platinum Carbon Black Ink; Wing Sung 6359 pen with
Diamine Chocolate Brown Ink; Faber-Castell watercolour pencils
with water wash.

Exceed 100gsm paper. Back side of Butterfly entry. No bleed-through and very slight show-through
 of green leave wash on left.
Minimal buckling of paper.

In summary- for my usage preferences: 
Text journaling: Letterbox journals- good paper; acceptable for fountain pens; bargain price. 

Sketch journaling: Exceed 100gsm, A5 size, great paper; fountain pen friendly; accepts light water wash with minor buckling; reasonably priced.

Unacceptable for journaling (according to my usage): Artist's Loft journal; show-through with all my pens and inks except Pigma Microns; bleed-through and feathering with fountain pens; using a water wash makes for heavy bleed-through and buckling.

Mental Health Day

One of the things I love about the place I live is that so many things are within easy walking distance. I was feeling emotional Saturday and decided to go walking and stop for some tea and sketches. I have a nice collection of pu-ehr teas which are especially soothing when steeped using a Gong-fu ceremony. So I packed up my favorite tea (2014 Silver Needle), a gaiwan, a thermos of boiling water and walked to the community park. There were boys practicing on a ball-field and a bunch of tiny tots in bright orange shirts running back and forth between two soccer goals. I thought the tiny orange shirts dotted over the grass would make a great sketch. Wouldn't you know, as I took my seat all the kids left the park and maintenance started dragging the dirt in the baseball field. Oh well! It was the mid-70s, breezy and sunny. At least some crows showed up to add some life to the sketch! I need to learn how to brush in shadows better.

Ballfield in Community Park. Noodler's Lexington Gray in water brush, Noodler's Black ink in Jinhao Shark pen. Sakura Koi watercolors, 140lb. Canson XL paper.

After the tea was gone, I walked to the public library to pick up some sketching book requests, went to Michael's and then picked up a quick pizza. The closest outdoor tables to walk to were in the City Hall courtyard. I went there to eat, read and sketch the courtyard. The complexity and perspective of the tables and chairs were frustrating. Must learn to simplify and focus my sketching.
I spent most of the day, but walking, tea and sketching were just the ticket to bring me back to my happy place!

Hall Courtyard. Noodler's Lexington Gray in brush, Noodler's Black in Jinhao Shark pen, Sakura Koi watercolors, Artist's Loft journal pages.

Fountain pens for sketching

Three fountain pens came in the mail today that I have been wanting to try for sketching. All three of these pens have the capability to draw from thin to thick lines depending on the pressure, or the angle, at which the nib is used.

1. Kuretake Fountain Brush Pen - from eBay ($8.95). The plastic that the pen is made with has a cheap feel to it, but the real brush (as opposed to a felt tip that is used like a brush) lays down a rich, gushy line. I need some practice, but it is exciting to use this brush to get a quick sketch with fewer details.

7/16/19 Sydney hamster, gestural study. Kuretake Brush Pen with Kuretake black ink.

The black ink cartridge that was included was deep black, and appeared to be water resistant as it did not wash well even when fresh.

7/16/19 Hand #13 Kuretake brush pen, Kuretake black ink.

2. Jinhao X750 with a Fude nib installed - from eBay ($3.56) The eBay description is a calligraphy nib because this nib lays down a thick to thin variable line depending on the angle of the nib to paper. It is used in Chinese calligraphy. I need more practice with this nib also, but I was really happy with the results. The ink goes down very smoothly. Noodler's Lexington Gray ink is water resistant, but if I put a water wash down first, it makes acceptable shadows.

7/16/19 Hand # 14 Jinhao X750 -Fude nib; Noodler's Lexington Gray ink; Artist's Loft journal paper

I have several other Jinhao X450/750 pens. They are metal bodied (brass, I think) pens that I find to be pretty, but too heavy and unbalanced. The nibs are medium width, which is very wet and gushy, so I expected that the feed on a Jinhao X750 would be able to keep up with a fude type nib. I took pictures of the medium nib and the fude nib side by side. The tip of the fude is bent (which gives fude nibs the thick to thin line variability) and does not have the "iridium" tipping ball that I see on the medium nib. Otherwise it looks the same to my eye.

Jinhao fude nib on the left, Jinhao medium nib on the right. The style and lettering are the same.

Jinhao fude nib on the bottom, notice the bend upward and the lack of a balled tip when compared to the Jinhao medium nib on top.

3. Jinhao X750 with a Zebra G flex nib installed. eBay ($4.50) Zebra G dip nibs are popular for drawing Japanese Manga comics. They flex very widely and easily by putting light pressure downward on the nib. I have used these nibs as dip nibs with a holder, and found the spidery thin lines and the wide flex to be great for lettering, but I don't like how frequently I have to dip the nib when using fountain pen ink. There are YouTube videos on how to hack the nib to fit in a Jinhao pen, but my attempts to hack pens have not gone well for me. So I ordered this pen, hoping the wet feed would be able to keep up. The result was initially beautiful, but soon had major railroading (the two track lines) even though I went painfully slow. I will NOT be drawing Manga, or any other sketches, with this pen!

Comparison of Jinhao Fude nib pen with Jinhao Zebra G Nib pen. Noodler's Lexington Gray ink in fude, Diamine Oxblood ink in Zebra G. Notice the railroading in the word "Zebra". Rhodia #16 paper.

I...LOVE...the...FOG and I cannot lie...

I lived two thirds of my life in central Michigan. According to some statistics I have heard, Michigan's percentage of cloudy days is on a par with Seattle. So water is in my DNA. When I wake up and see a white blur out my bedroom window, my heart sings. I live sandwiched between hilly open space trails on the south and a permanent creek on the north. Photos can't capture the depth and luminescence of foggy days so it seems like a great opportunity to sketch the scene. Last week, I woke up to just such a milky day, but the fog was so thick I couldn't see anything past the houses across the street. An hour later, I could at least discern the greenery on the hills. I tried to sketch it in my thin papered journal with ink and wash, but the essence of the fogginess didn't come through.

07/11/19 Foggy morning looking south. Herbin Vert Empire Ink, Krishna MYC custom red ink, De Atramentis Silver Grey ink with water wash on Artist's Loft journal paper.

This morning I woke again to that wonderful cottony sight and sound. I hurried around trying to get my new watercolor set and inks together to do the back yard before the fog burned off. I still haven't got it. Some of the green inks washed blue! I will figure out how to get the effect of fog on paper, but maybe not this year. We don't have that many foggy mornings. The fog burns off by 7:30am and is an indication of a hotter day to follow.

07/15/19 Foggy morning in back yard. Various inks and watercolor on 140lb Canson XL.

Will the REAL Lamy Al-Star please stand up?

The LAMY Al-Star mixed in with it's illegitimate siblings. 

If you don't understand the title reference for this post (and that matters to you), Google "What's My Line" game show.

Fifty percent of my readers requested a blog post comparing my journals, fountain pen sketches and prices (thanks Sis!). I already had in mind a post about my LAMY Al-Star and its illegitimate family. The rest will be for future posts.

The LAMY Safari/Al-Star pens are German made pens designed for those who are starting into fountain pen obsession usage. The Safari is the lower priced plastic version, the Al-Star is the aluminum version. I am not as attracted to plastic. It's not as shiny and smooth as aluminum. At least, not to me. The nibs are easy to swap out with other LAMY nibs. The nibs come in EF (extra-fine) to Broad widths as well as stubs for calligraphy and a left-hand tuned nib! They have a triangular section (where most people grip the pen) that people generally either love or hate. It felt awkward to me at first, but now I do love it. I rotate pens toward me, and the grip helps to keep the nib aligned at a smooth optimum for my writing style.

There are many posts (such as this one) from people who love this pen for writing and for sketching. So, of course (shiny collectible things, remember?), I wanted one. However, my pen budget runs in the range of less than $10 each. That is quite limiting. Then I saw an Al-Star (with a fine nib) on eBay as an unused return from a stationary store. I paid more than $10, but less than the usual price. 

I stumbled onto a video that gave a very positive review of Chinese made imitations of various popular pens. I blush to say that I have been corrupted by cheap Chinese goods off eBay. Did I mention my frugal (read income-limited) lifestyle? If I was still working, with the wide disposable income I had at the time, I would buy all my pens from Goulet Pens, because I am enamored of Brian's wonderful and informative videos. And I have purchased several pens, ink, tuning supplies and samples from Brian and the crew, so stop giving me that look! I ordered several Wing Sung 6359 pens (the LAMY Al-Star imitation) from eBay for less than $2 each. But wait! I learned that there are Chinese counterfeits of the Wing Sung imitation LAMY A-S! What?! Of course, I then had to order two pens that I could tell were genuine Wing Sung 6359. After this long introduction, I will try to quickly give my assessment of each.

If you can't tell which pen is the LAMY and which two are genuine Wing Sungs, here is the reveal picture:

Notice the brand imprint on the barrel of the three farthest left. There you see the most obvious differentiation. 

Here is a sample of hand-writing for each pen in order top to bottom of the above pens from left to right.

Comparison of the LAMY Al-Star and imitations. They are listed by color, brand, nib size, price and my assessment of how they feel when writing. Each pen is inked with a different ink. Rhodia #16 paper.

The LAMY Al-Star with fine nib: initially I didn't like it. The German version of the fine nib lays down a thicker line than the Japanese version. For writing, I favor a finer line, preferably comparable to a Pilot G2 0.38 gel pen. The nib felt scratchy to me (remember I am left-handed), not as smooth or as fine as my Platinum Preppie fine nib. So I decided to try the Left Hand nib, ordered from Goulet Pens. That nib has about the same line width as the fine nib but has become smooth and juicy as I have learned to keep it in the sweet spot. Now I like the pen much better.

The "Wing Sung" counterfeits with EF nibs: The four that I have are all very smooth writing, some of my favorite pens. The ink flow seems medium wet so they keep up well when I am writing quickly. I rarely have a problem with dry starts (that is where no ink comes out when first uncapping and writing with the pen). The only exception is the gold colored pen, but I think that is the ink. It has Herbin Vert Empire ink, a naturally derived color. I have not tested the ink in any other pens, but I think it is a dry flowing ink. In the writing sample, it leaves a visibly finer line than the other pens. However, I love the color and it works well in sketching because I move the pen more slowly than when writing.

The genuine Wing Sung 6359 pens with EF nibs: Both pens are disappointing in fit and finish. Each one came with curls of plastic hanging off the outside of the section and mold seams on the section threads that interfere with smooth removal of the barrel. One pen writes smoothly, but one pen (the purple colored) is scratchy to the point that I feel like it is catching on the paper. In addition, the smoother pen, the coffee colored, came with a dent in the cap, which came off the barrel with such difficulty that after few days, the barrel came free from the glued in section. I then could see a stress line in the inside of the metal that indicated it had been squeezed at some point. I Gorilla-Glued it back together, but now the nib leaks big blobs of ink when I am writing.

Here is the coffee colored Wing Sung showing the dent in the cap and the Gorilla Glue that squeezed out of the repair.

In summary, I like the counterfeit Wing Sung 6359 pens the best of the family. I am adapting to the LAMY, and I like the sturdy build. I will not be getting more of the genuine Wing Sung 6359 because I feel the quality is disappointing. Well, really, I don't need to get any more pens anyway...

Today's sketch is a meta-sketch (a sketch of sketching materials) of the hand-made mug and some of the pens that live in it (none of which are LAMY or Wing Sung).

Pens and Inks: Pilot Metropolitan (stub nib) with Krisha MYC 5Y+1B
Wing Sung 3008 (fine nib) with De Atramentis Silver Grey
Iraurita Brass Pen (F) with Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pilot Petit 1 (F) with Pilot red cartridge

Hands 2 to 10

I have completed the first ten hands in my one hundred hand challenge. I sketch with fountain pens and fountain pen ink, so I don't erase. Sometimes I redraw a line that is out of whack, referred to as "restated". I have a large stable of fountain pens, and I want to be able to compare their capabilities so I usually note the pen and ink I used in each sketch. Many inks are water soluble and I am learning to add depth and shadow by washing the sketch with water to blur and shade. I currently use the paper in my bullet journal which is not heavy enough for water so bleed-through is common from the sketch on the other side of the page. When I am done with this journal, I will move on to watercolor paper for my sketching.
Note: EF stands for Extra Fine nib

Hand # 2 (the dots at the top were my attempt at background- it didn't work)

Pen and ink: not recorded

 Hand #3 Pen: Platinum Plaisir (03 nib) Ink-Colorverse Lights on Ceres - more pink than itscanned. Ignore the note about Emerald of Chivor ink in upper left.

Hand #4 

Pens and Inks: Lamy Al Star (left handed nib, fine) with Lamy green ink was used to start.  

Restated lines with Wing Sung 3005 (fine nib) and Waterman Blue ink.

Shading with Platinum Preppie (05 nib) and Robert Oster Thunderstorm Ink

 Hand # 5--Pen: Vintage Sheaffer Tuckaway (Triumph fine nib) Ink-Visconti Blue

Hand #6 pen-Pilot Metropolitan (Fine nib) ink- Waterman Blue mixed with Waterman Purple

Hand #7
pen- Wing Sung 6359 (EF nib); ink -Diamine Chocolate Brown

Hand #8 Pen-WingSung 6359 (EF nib) Ink-Noodler's Lexington Gray (water resistant so it didn't dissolve to wash. I added gray watercolor paint)

Hand #9 Pen-Monteverde Monza (OmniFlex nib) Ink-Diamine Ultra Green

Hand #10 Pen-Wing Sung 6359 (EF nib) Ink Krishna MYC red #8

About those Hamsters

I like having pets. I have lived on a farm, then our homestead, then in a succession of rented houses and apartments. Someday I may write about all the pets, livestock, and dogs over the last 45 years. I distinguish dogs from pets in my life because from the first dog as a senior in high school, I trained my dogs to do a job. I've always had working dogs, especially Australian Shepherds. My last dog, Chynna, was the epitome of my dog experience. She was trained in obedience, agility, assistance work and rudimentary scent work. She died almost three years ago just short of her 15th year. I don't feel like I have the time or energy to properly train a dog at this stage of my life. 

But the house felt too quiet and empty with no other living things. I wanted something that required minimal cage upkeep, relatively quiet, cute and fun to watch. I raised fancy rats for years, they are great and interactive companions, but needed to have the cage cleaned frequently and do not fare well with the heat in my usually unconditioned home. I wanted a desert animal, but gerbils (used to raise those too) are illegal here in southern California. 

Enter the dwarf hamster. From the deserts of Siberia, they can take the heat (up to 85 in my house) that my rats had suffered from. They urinate much less than rats and will use a litter box so their cage does not get very smelly. They are so small and adorable to watch and look at. I started with 4 robo hamsters (adopted through Craigslist), unbearably cute and tiny but not interactive. They really didn't seem to notice my existence. The next adoption was of two sister Campbell dwarf hamsters. Not as tiny, but they react to my presence. 

My first hamster study:

The top three are of Sydney, she loves to climb on the bars of her cage and sometimes wave her arms through the bars to try to get treats.

The bottom two sketches are Paris, only seen from above because she lives in a large plastic tub. I intend to do more hamster study sketches because they are so much fun.