Sketchbook as collection of ink and pencil drawings
My sketchbook is large 24 x 18 inches or 61 x 46 cm. It actually feels big and heavy. The tiny pocket-size sketchbooks don’t work for me. Why? If I get a good sketch and it has potential to be turned into watercolor or acrylic painting, I just trace the outline onto the respective surface. The initial sketch serves as a fantastic reference with all shadows, perspective lines and mood, as well. Much better reference than photo. As you might know, color is secondary, and values are primary when it comes to painting. Therefore, my huge sketchbook becomes a great collection of potential large size art. Some of this art is practically a finished artwork.
Advantage of ink and pencil drawing
Drawing is relaxing and it doesn’t require proper timing which is absolutely necessary for watercolor or acrylic painting because correct timing directly affects the result. For example, you squeezed out a lot of paint in order to paint for a few hours. Something happens, and the painting session is cut short. Paint dries and cannot be rescued and you will need to paint over a few areas, but sometimes – the entire surface. With ink or pencil drawing in our sketchbook, nothing dries out, nothing needs doing over, so you just pick up where you left it before. I consider this a big advantage.
Best subjects for drawing
I’ve always loved drawing buildings. And still life. Flowers are fine, as well. My huge sketchbook has numerous drawings of these subjects. For me, it’s important that I don’t need a photo. I rather construct the subject and add whatever needs adding as I go. I call that artistic freedom. I have a complete control over what I want to be on my paper. That is why my subjects often involve only things which I see around and have in the garden or house. Simple, easy and very manageable. Buildings, still life items, landscapes, flowers: they all can be made multidimensional on a flat paper.
We can do well without devices
Since technological advance has been immense, people do manual drawing rarely. They don’t have to manually write either, so the ability to re-create our idea, vision, imagination and reality is declining. The correlation between devices and use of camera is very clear when it comes to manual drawing. The more devices somebody uses to create their art, the less of observational drawing ability they have. I suppose, our brain dismisses everything we don’t engage. Why to stress out if you don’t have to?
Maybe try it
I can make these conclusions because I’ve watched how people go about manual drawing for many decades. What are their strengths and failures, how they tackle dimension, values and shapes. Devices have advanced a lot, but humans? Humans not that much. We delegate anything we cannot do well to devices since there’s a wide choice of them. However, manual observational drawing is an extremely rewarding experience. Large drawings in a big sketchbook can become the best artistic experience.
Large size makes all the difference
It’s the most fantastic feeling. We have the blank sheet of paper. I prefer large one for many reasons. We just play around and implement whatever we feel like. Using soft lines, then moving to stronger values and lines. All of a sudden, the image emerges. Just some shades of black and grey and the white of paper. That’s all it takes. Sometimes it becomes a fantastic drawing where one can literary participate in the scene. If you want to learn drawing, trust me – go big. Use the 24 x 18-inch sketchbook. Want to advance faster, draw large images. I also used Micron archival ink pen.
I hope you enjoyed this article!
LOVE your sketches…..beautiful work!
Thanks very much! The winter landscape is now an artwork which can be framed, but the garm will be used for maybe watercolor painting.
Have a good weekend!
Oh I do love ink drawings!
Thanks!
I love ink and pencil, and all kinds of other drawing, too. Basically, I couldn’t get good photos from pencil drawings, so I had to switch to ink pen.
They are large and make really strong impact when viewed in real life.
Have a good weekend!
Your sketches are superb Inese!
Thanks very much Susan!
Drawing has been my forte ever since I got a pencil in my hands, and that would be more than 5 decades ago.
It is what I’m saying: back then in Latvia, I didn’t have cameras and printers and other things which people have used in North America for a long time. That left me to observe, sketch and draw. Eventually, I could draw faster and faster and every time more effortlessly.
It’s fun, very relaxing, very calming and very stress-free. So, yes, I love drawing with whatever I have. That includes pen, ink pen, simple pencils, watercolor pencils, pastel sticks and so forth. I used to do pastel paintings also, but the sound is very irritating, so I do them rarely.
Have a good weekend!
You have a good weekend too.
Thanks!
Cold weather starting, lots to do about this old place.
Your ink drawings are gorgeous. I love the winter scenes. Thanks (as always) for sharing.
Thanks very much Jo-Anne!
Drawing brings out special features of subject, and it’s just dark and light areas and lines, but they take shape and they turn out as something recognizable.
It’s a great process going from the blank paper to something which can cause emotional response.
I hope you have a good weekend!
Inese – you are amazing!
Thanks very much Rebecca!
It’s good to hear that!
You are amazing, too, and I wish you a nice and good weekend!
Thanks for your advice, Ines. It is so hard to draw small after learning to draw figures on butcher paper attached to a 5’x3′ masonite board while standing at the easel with brush and ink in hand.
Well, I started out as a kid drawing on anything which allowed for that, even walls and wrapping paper. I didn’t have any drawing paper and so on. It was soviet times, and we were short of everything. Anyway, I taught myself because there were no art teachers where we lived out of small town. No nursery schools, no kindergarten, nothing like that.
However, as I was drawing in our garden or sitting on the roadside and trying to capture some landscape, I noticed that using as big surface as possible, helped enormously.
In later years, I won all kinds of competitions and supported myself during university drawing large portraits on paper. Sometimes just sketch-type ones. That was at the beginning of 80-s. Life wasn’t easy for me, but after 2004 when I moved to Canada (with 1 suitcase), I could finally spend longer hours on art along with medical writing.
So, I was always drawing, and like you’re saying, in different creative situations, sometimes impossible ones.
I know you like drawing a lot, it’s just different style.
I hope you have a good weekend!
These are so wonderful Inese!
Thank you very much Cindy!
I do lots of large drawings, it’s just so that I don’t always have time to publish them
Good luck with your travels!
Yes, ink does reproduce well. Your drawings are beautiful.
Thanks for your comment!
There are special effects which only work with ink, and then, some things work better with pencil. I just couldn’t get good pictures of pencil drawings, therefore, decided to complete a few drawings using Micron archival ink pen. It works beautifully.
I am loving your sketchbook of pencil and ink Inese, those snow scenes are just astounding. And love the shading and the way you’ve created movement within the water..
You are so right, about Devices… While I am sure there is a skill in of itself in creating Digital art, it has never appealed to me.
And while I do not play down the skill involved in Digital creations, I always feel its in a way cheating oneself of your own artistic talents.. For its only via practicing putting pencil to paper or brush to canvas we begin to perfect our own skills.
I have always admired your great talent as an artist Inese… and using a large sketch book as you have suggested makes sense in helping creating your sketch later upon canvas…
Many thanks again and hopefully now I have pressed the new posts via notifications I will not miss any new updates…
Sending Love and well wishes… As those Colder days arrive… <3 <3 <3
Thanks very much Sue! So nice to hear from you.
While digital creation involves personal aspect, it pretty much depends on other apps and software and ability to manipulate these tools. I mean, anybody can do that assuming they try hard enough and want to go this direction.
When it comes to manually created art, I always go for something which actually nobody can copy exactly or repeat. To be honest, manual art depends even on creator’s mood and ambience, and so many other factors. That is why I also don’t create all the way abstracts. I feel that there is not enough challenge. Somewhat realistic view comes with its challenges, such as proportion, scale, perspective, aerial and linear, value transitions, contrast and finally shapes and lines. That is apart from using color. I adore that, the more challenging, the better.
There’s also the aspect of being able to feel the energy from manually created art. It’s definitely there. I know that taking a picture and placing the image online, depletes this energy. When we have the chance to stand in front of manually created art or take it in our hands, it’s very different from the flat energy of printer which makes the print also flat. The live lines, the touch which remains in paper, that is only present in the actual artwork.
People have so many choices nowadays as never before. It would be silly to assume that only one choice works for all. Therefore, we have digital and virtual and computer-aided and all kings of other creations.
Thanks you for your wonderful comment and all the best to you with your own creative discoveries!
Thank you Inese… I agree, I just like the connection of creation, I have tried on a primitive source within Paint in Windows! 😉 .. Not one of the modern art ones you download… I found it too difficult and not at all soul satisfying .. Which Is why I said it does require skill to be proficient in digital art.. And I know I have some blogging friends who are very good at creating things this way… But its not for me… I really need to pick up my brushes again… I have swapped them out for creating with Yarn in recent months… Which has been very satisfying ..
My pleasure Inese….. Sending love and well wishes my friend <3
Oh, I know Paint. We have now 3D paint, too. I was using it for fun while traveling. I cannot remember, but I think it was on a plane because my flights are very long. That’s really the absolutely basic app. I’m not surprised it didn’t work with you. I personally prefer real brush and pencil. Also, for reasons I mentioned before: you get not a printout, but a real drawing or painting which exists and lives on its own.
I have tried knitting maybe twice, and I find it very slow. I am good at sewing, and that allows getting a new outfit very quickly. As I was always in rush. In Latvia where I worked at high schools and some colleges, we tried to wear something new every day. I had little money, but was best dressed. If one is good at sewing, they can easily beat any designer outfit. Again, moving away from the subject.
Basically, it’s all a personal preference. For me, it is genuine, true, unique, all the way my own. Original manually created art is just that.
Whatever makes you happy is fine, as long as it satisfies the demands of your soul as you were saying.
Drawing and painting is living for me. Same thing. So, I do that, although, there haven’t been any meaningful financial gains. Well, art doesn’t expire.
Sending you hugs and artistic inspiration!
Well said, ” Drawing and Painting is living for Me”…… And that is how doing something we love should be..
I used to sew a lot… and worked in Textiles within Design rooms and Sample garments for retail stores before I changed career paths into Supported Living Caring for Adults with learning difficulties, I would make blouses, dresses and dresses for my daughter when small.. So I fully appreciate your skills and talent Inese…. And nothing beats the uniqueness in creating our own garments and artwork…
Have a beautiful weekend <3 Much love and Hugs x
It’s also the only way at the moment, apart from writing and doing the daily chores.
Where am I going to go in this suburban town? There’s really nothing much these days. More and more small places are closing down, and just like I said about 5 years ago: if we won’t stop buying from huge retailers like Walmart, via Amazon and so on, there won’t be any choices in the near future. Here in Ontario, there’s already abnormally limited choice. The tiny cafes, the unique bakeries, the interesting antiques stores, small book stores, that’s all going away. We also lost all art stores in the Greater Toronto Area and in Toronto. Gone. Trip to an art store on its own was a pleasure.
Generally speaking, I do online shopping extremely rarely and only for 1 health product which is not available otherwise. I principally do not buy anything from Amazon because I care about the small and local places.
So you were also dealing with designs and outfits and decided to turn to more human-related occupation. I think helping people is in your nature, so making life easier for people with learning difficulties is probably a rewarding thing for you.
Generally speaking, not much going on. I don’t know how to make things work any longer because everything is so much dependent on the payment we make. Which is called promotion. So, if you cannot finance your promotion, you’re like getting nowhere.
Take care and I hope things are ok!
Excellent! 👌👌
Thanks!
🙏
These are truly spectacular, Inese!! Such an incredible talent you have. I loved to read about your ideas on hand drawing vs. electronic art. Your work is so beautifully detailed!
I hope you are well and creating more and more beautiful art!! <3
Thank you very much Lorrie!
Everything is good. I’ve always loved drawing and it’s a very significant part of all I create. I have the drawing mind. I mean when I look at something, I immediately analyse it as shadows, contrasts, perspective and color combinations. That’s a very natural way of seeing things for me. Pencil or ink pen capture that perfectly.
I hope you’re well also. It’s such a dark time until we get back to light.
All the best to you!
Thanks, Inese 😊 I love how you explained how you “see” things. Always with the mind of an artist. You always inspire me to create something!!
I am well, thank you so much. I do not particularly like this time of year when the days feel so short and darkness seems to pervade. Buy I must say I handle it much better now that I live in a warm climate year round!! I just can’t stand to pair the darkness with the cold!
Sending all good energy…
Nice to know I inspire you to create something new!
I feel the same way about the dark and short days. It’s dark before I get done much, and, unfortunately, I cannot paint with artificial light. The color shifts are just too strong to grade them correctly. The other thing lack of light disturbs is taking pictures. Once again, shadows and artificial light cause problems.
I was just thinking today: what’s the point to change daylight hours when it’s dark all day long anyway?
I so wish I could spend winter in a warmer climate! This cold, breezy, rainy and snowy weather affects me, just like many other people, in a bad way.More pain than usual, less energy for sure. I wrote once on the other blog that due to winter I’ve lost years.
It’s so great you relocated to a warmer climate, when it’s warm, darkness is quite tolerable. Definitely more tolerable than together with cold and nasty darkness.
Not sure where exactly you are, but I believe you’re now fine and everything is better.
I was hoping to publish a new post, maybe I can do that still tonight. I will see.
Thanks and all the best!
Ah, you bet, Inese. All good things your way too! I understand about how the cold can affect the body! I do much better in hot…HUMID…weather. I am very blessed to live in south Florida where it is exactly that much of the time.
I know what you mean about the waning light not being good for painting…or photography! I think you are pretty far up north…so it is cold and dark…sonsorry! 😉
Anyway…you still manage to create some pretty INCREDIBLE art!!!
And yes…I am well…thank you! I am feeling very blessed…and very grateful for that!! Hope you got to post…if not…tomorrow! 😊💜
Well, we are just across the Ontario lake, NY is on the other side. So theoretically, it’s not very far North. And it’s called Southern Ontario, ha, ha, so it should be warmer, but we get some cold masses which come in from the far North.
I’ve been to Florida, we stayed there for a few weeks sometimes. Certainly nice in winter.
I hope too, to post something, always the small things in the way.
I understand, Inese. And to me…you are FAR NORTH!! 😉😉 Stay warm…and create beautiful things!!
Yes, that’s true. Just about to publish the new post.