Tools of the trade

When I started my drawing project I thought I would use a fountain pen with black ink to work with. I didn’t like working with ink as much as I thought I would, and I quickly shifted to using a pencil. I think the pencil – and eraser – offered a compromise between the Super Critic in my head (“all this work should be chucked in the bin”) and the person who just wanted to be able to stick to the three self-imposed rules of the project. Being able to erase obvious errors in my drawings meant I could have some comfort in what I was posting every day.

At the early stages of the project I did debate with myself about whether to go digital and start using Procreate on iPad, because that’s what all the cool kids are doing these days. I quickly told myself to stop thinking about that and to stick with the plan and keep it simple: use a pen or pencil and draw in my sketchbook every day. My problem is that I love acquiring ALL THE THINGS and the danger would be that I would get the iPad and need (“need”) all the shiny things to go with it, including courses on using the digital tools, and on and on and that would distract me from the actual drawing.

I’m glad I stuck with the plan and kept going with the paper, which I have really enjoyed. Those of you in my close circle will know I have a bit of a thing for fountain pens and graphite pencils, so this enabled me to indulge my enjoyment of these tools, while being creative.

Towards the end of the 100 days I did give in and buy an iPad and I have started trying to draw on it. I am a complete novice with digital drawing tools and it’s possible that if I started using these as part of the project I might have quit in frustration.

I like the routine of getting up every morning and sitting with my sketchbook and thinking about what I will draw today. Some days (rare, unfortunately) I wake up with an idea I just have to draw. Most days I have no idea what will result. I might think about what I saw the day before, or what I did. This morning I thought about how I have been feeling and tried to draw that.

I am drawing on the iPad occasionally but am still mostly sticking with my pencil and sketchbook (am on book number 3 for this year). The iPad is kind of fun and I’ll probably keep playing with it.

One nice thing about drawing digitally is that it’s so much easier to share your work. My photos of my sketchbook are pretty sketchy (sorry!). I will keep trying and experimenting.

Speaking of tools, I need to do some work on this blog. I’m glad it’s all still working despite having been neglected for some years – nice when you pick something up on an whim and it still all runs as you need it to. If you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with me!