ARTIST: Vin Ganapathy, United States
ARTIST STATEMENT: I used a red ink induced water brush and to create a background. When it dried, I drew over it with white ink, Japanese Brush pens and gouache to create the image. The piece was my reaction to society’s willingness to accept masks and facades, complacency with […]
PICK OF THE DAY AT WET PAINT – ST. PAUL, MN. Thank you to Meg and the rest of the wonderful staff at Wet Paint (St. Paul, MN.) for selecting Stillman & Birn as their Pick of the Day. Meg writes, ““My go-to sketchbook is the Zeta by Stillman & Birn. The extra-heavy weight, smooth […]
Artist: Tim Smith, United States Artist statement: Like all sketchbook junkies, I get charmed by those little corners of the world that no-one seems to be looking at. The dappled thing, the tool handle worn down by calloused hands, the first dandelion. I’m nagged by the suspicion that right in front of my nose is […]
Artist: Pira Urosevic, Canada Artist Statement: This piece is born of a monthly personal challenge I present myself with. Using only inks sent in a sampler pack by an online shop, I combine the colours in a single drawing that is based upon their selected theme. This month it was ‘Farmer’s Market’. I use an […]
Artist: Jean Mackay, United States Artist Statement: I went out with a friend one evening to sketch at a beaver pond that is surrounded by woods. The water was dark and still, trees were lay crossways in heaps where beaver had felled them, and a large mud lodge rose on the far shore. But what […]
Artist: Adrian Rosario [ @lioninc_ ] Artist Statement: I feel like drawing is a simple task: just put a pencil on a paper and try to make sense of an image. I start by sketching and trying to fit everything and make the proportions I want to accomplish. Then I add detail, still sketching with […]
Artist: Suzie Mattos Irby, United States Artist Statement: The first thing I drew in life was a little bouquet of flowers when I was about 3 years old for my grandmother to take to my grandfather in the hospital. She saved that for many years. The latest painting was from a photo taken by Irini […]
Artist: Suppachai Vong (lllouis), Thailand Artist Statement: I am a Thai artist, living in Bangkok. On Sunday afternoon I went to Siam Square, the heart of Bangkok’s shopping and entertainment district. I stopped at Lamune, the upscale stationery store, where I bought a Beta Series sketchbook. Then I went to the nearby Starbucks, got an […]
Artist: Leigh Reyes, Philippines Artist Statement: My drawings have words and my words have drawings. I “callidoodle” – many of my drawings, incorporate calligraphic strokes, for directional texture. My preferred pens are fountain pens with flexible nibs.
For this drawing, I appropriated this pose from a picture of me many years back, but it’s really […]
Artist: Nat Nattapan, Thailand Artist Statement: The beautiful Greek island of Santorini is my most favorite place. I created this drawing with a Lamy fountain pen loaded with carbon black ink and then added Winsor & Newton watercolor. It took me one hour do to do the sketch and then another hour to do add […]
CARSON COTTAGE Architectural illustrator Andrew Banks created this pen and ink study of a small, historic building situated in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. “This is a building I have had my eye on for quite a while but only until recently got around to sketching. Carson Cottage, a Victorian era building, built in 1888 sits in […]
Illustrator Jeff Nelson explains in this post that he likes to do calligraphy drawings to accompany the books he’s reading. This one is a tribute to Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915 – 2011), who was regarded as England’s greatest travel writer and “a cross between Indiana Jones, James Bond and Graham Greene.”
“My name is Jeff […]
SCI-FI TEMPTRESS Illustrator Trev Stair has a great has a collection of interesting portraits in his sketchbooks .This one is of the character Rachael, the femme fatale character in the 1982 film “Blade Runner”.
Trev’s report: “I’ve always been a fan of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”, so it was really fun to draw Sean Young’s […]
Missouri-based designer and watercolor artist Don Gore sent us this sketchbook study and artist’s statement: “I am first and foremost an admirer of art. I have great respect for anyone that works with their head, hands and heart to “create.” Watercolor paintings specifically speak to me in a unique and compelling manner.
I am currently […]
British artist Emma-Jane Rosenberg recently posted this multidimensional study of a sunflower. We asked Emma-Jane to explain her vision in creating this artwork and this is her report: “Though I have no formal art background, I have always felt compelled to draw. I would describe my paintings in oil pastel and soft pastel as colourful […]
Artist Erik Davis published this drawing on his blog and sent us this write-up about it: “Right now my passion is for old barns, sheds, and trees. I think the barns and sheds come from my childhood. My grandparents had a small farm with lots of little sheds and a barn. Many days were spent […]
Designer and art educator Ellen Ward has written an informative blog post contrasting inking on the Alpha and Epsilon Series. (Alpha is white and has a medium grain surface; Epsilon is also white but has a smooth surface.)
“Ink is a catalyst for seeing. It is definite and for the most part indelible. By drawing […]
Janette Meetze, a sketchbook artist and tapestry designer, posted a drawing of a classic hotel a few weeks ago that captured our attention. We asked Janette to send us more details and she sent us the following write up: “Sketching the 1886 Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas has been on my mind since I […]
Alki Beach is the most western point of Seattle, a peninsula jutting out into Puget Sound. It was the site of June’s Urban Sketchers’ workshop in which graphic artist Mark Ryan participated. This is one of the drawings Mark created at this location and the following is his report: “I enjoy sketching, drawing and painting […]
The entrance to the Copley Square subway station (“head house”) is one of a kind, a structure of filigree flowers and curlicues in cast iron, much like the Art Nouveau kiosks of the Metro in Paris. Constructed in 1912, the head house endured decades of neglect and then was beautifully restored in 2009. Laura Sfiat […]
