Special Deliveries!

When we send Parcel Post packages to friends during the holidays I like to decorate the front instead of using a mailing label. I hope the deliveries look fun for the little recipients!

Pentel brush pens (JetPens) and Blick colored pencils work really well on cardboard boxes. Stabilo Colored Marking pencils (from Blick) are excellent for white highlights. The Kum two size sharpener (from Jet Pens) is also very handy.

The Pentel Brush pens have terrific line variations and work smoothly even on the cheapest cardboard.

Sometimes I'll do a quick sketch before hand. This is a Rhodia Dot pad (from Goulet Pens) and a Ohto Comfort 2mm lead holder from Jet Pens. I love these little pencils! An inexpensive leadholder with click advancement, a sharpener on the top and awesome colors too. I also have a green one.

 I try to obscure any previous mail info with something decorative. I turned the blacked out address into a present.

 It's usually a hectic time of year, but it's always worth it to take the time to personalize something special.

Pentel Color Brush and Indian Folktales.

Pentel Brush pens are one of my favorite tools; in fact I've had one for close to 20 years that I use as a dip brush. I don't know how the brush stays in such great shape at all times... it just does. They're always reliable and pretty economical considering the mileage you get from one cartridge. It also gives you a wide range of line values; I go easily from wide to fine lines and back again. You can find them in different brush sizes at Jet Pens and in different colors at Blick. 

I used them in combination with Calli ink to create a piece for a traditional Indian dance company. THRESH was performing a modern version of "The Absent Lover," an Indian folktale and wanted artwork for a backdrop. This piece illustrates the whole story with vignettes and symbols from the story.

I made thumbnail sketches throughout the script.

The imagery in the story needed to be illustrated in an
all inclusive backdrop design.

These brush pens give a wide range of line values.
They're clean and a breeze to use.

The final art was a projection throughout the performance.

This "Tree of Life" piece is a combination of Pentel Brush pen and Calli ink with a dip brush.

I got the parchment paper was from Blick Art Supply in NYC. They have a terrific paper department.

What you carry with you...

Tom Stoppard said,  “If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” I gotta believe he's right. If I cannot carry at least one drawing tool with me at all times, I'm out of sorts.
I thought I'd share the contents of my every day go-bag; the stuff I don't leave the studio without. When I have it, I know I can do all the dumb stuff I gotta do...

I've got a Black Paw messenger bag that is pretty roomy and presently holds the following:

• 3 Moleskine sketchbooks (1 soft cover, 1 storyboard, 1 watercolor)
• Canson Mi-Teintes pastel pad (9x12)
• Strathmore 80lb Windpower Drawing pad (8.5x10)
• 60 lb Strathmore Sketch, 100 pgs, (9x12)
• A Niji roll with one set of Blick colored pencils
• A Windsor Newton travel watercolor with 14 mini pans
• A set of 12 Diane Townsend pastels (the fat stubby kind)
• A Nomatic PE-08 Easy pencil case (red). I'll show the contents in a future post. (JetPens)
• A Lihit Lab Teffa Pencase (brown). Again a future post. (JetPens)
• A Pleple Choco pencil roll case, great for brushes. (Loew-cornell 4,6,8,10) (JetPens)
• A set is Stablio point 88 mini markers
• a bottle of Higgins black drawing ink (a Ziplock bag is a MUST!)

All not too heavy or bulky. It works well for on the run and in the studio. Naturally I can't carry it everywhere; my solution to that in a future post...