Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Raining Cats and Dogs


Here is my second sketch post of my Sketchbook Project sketchbook art. You know how I said this was a place to "be myself"? Well, one of my favorite things to draw is cats and dogs. That is one of the reasons why I was so excited to grab that theme. When I saw it there, staring at me, felt a pinch from the universe to take part in the project. It could not have come at a better time because I really need a little bit of inspiration-renewal right now.

On a whim, I went to Utrecht yesterday, to pick up a second Moleskine notebook, one just like the Sketchbook Project sketchbook, in order to use it to double-up these mighty thin pages. Well, they did *not* have the Moleskine size that I needed, but I *did* happen to visit during a BIG 3-day-only, 40% off EVERYTHING in the store, Back To School Sale! And I just so happened to have a gift certificate card which was so generously given to me by my step-mom-in-law oh about 8 or so months ago! Since I've been working mostly digital this year, I haven't had the need to hit up Utrecht in the past few months. Plus, I'm generally a stock-piler when it comes to art supplies. I'm pretty faithful to my brands and products, so I like to keep extras of my staples around. It felt all breezy and fun to have an excuse to go!

I had such a great experience! And I *did* find something new, which was exciting and unusual for me. I found these Copic markers I'm always hearing about, and the extra-tiny ones (called Multi-Liners) were just perfect to use for the drawing above! You get a line similar to a Rapidograph with it, but the ink flow is way under control with these markers. There's no seepage into these pretty delicate Moleskine pages. I was able to draw over pencil lines, and then erase the pencil without any issue. They worked out great, and earn a thumbs up. I'm usually such a Rapidograph snob, but these are a really nice choice. I think I will keep these in the rotation.

16 comments:

Nina Crittenden said...

How wonderful! I picked the same topic! We can be Sketchbook Twins! haha

Jannie aka Chickengirl said...

Really? No seepage? I must look into it. Right now I'm using microns and they are seeping through for sure. Cats and dogs theme is perfect for you. Beautiful pages!!

Tamara Henderson said...

I really love this sketch! Wonderful work!

Angela Matteson said...

My fav is these sweet kitties! I love your delicate sweet linework.

I bought my dad a Copic pen for his renewed art interests, and was impressed by the quality. I need to get one for myself.

Sara Carns said...

This is absolutely fabulous!!! LOVE your pages!

Wendy Wright said...

Super awesome and fun! Thanks for telling us about the Copic Markers. I am going to see if I can find some today. :)

Diandra Mae said...

Oooh! I have a Blick gift card and was contemplating pens and markers for this project since I can't paint on that thin paper. Nice to have a recommendation based on personal experience!

And I am loving what you're doing w/ these pages. They are so whimsical and fun.

You and Jannie are both spurring me to get to work! Hopefully I can post some of my pages tomorrow. :)

iHanna said...

Hi, I can tell that the theme you picked is a perfect fit, it's actually raining cats and dogs in your sketchbook! Wow! :-)

And 40% sale, wow to that too! Love your drawing, found you via twitter! :-)

Deb said...

Oh, soooo cute!!! Love it. You are my go to person now for art supplies/software. Been using Corel sketchbook (free download) and loving it. Will try the markers. Your work is so appealing Kath. Really great stuff!

Ginger*:) said...

Joyful!

Gina Perry said...

Love, love, love it! And those markers sound divine. Nice work Kathy, can't wait to see what's next!

Loni Edwards said...

Love it! Thanks for the tip about the pens. I usually use Micron, but I will look into purchasing these the next order. I love shopping for art supplies! :)

Unknown said...

Wow, you guys thanks for all the feedback! I'm sure happy that everyone enjoyed my chit chat about the Copic pens. To be honest I never used them or even saw them in person before I saw them in the store. Apparently there are a few types of Copic markets, and the ones I have are the Micro Liners (*or something like that).

Jannie, I double-checked my pages for seepage for you! They look good, but there was just a little tiny bit of seepage. It can happen when you are making a nice dark dot or line. So that was not entirely true. But that said, these are the best pen I've found for these tissue-thin pages. I don't think anything aside from gluing another piece of paper to the other side will correct the fact that you can see right through the page. I'm going to do that myself, once I can find this size sketchbook in stock somewhere! :)

laurie said...

they are wonderful! they remind me of richard scarry books, only waaaaay the heck better!

christine grove said...

I seriously love this!

Jane Massey said...

Great characters!