I love my fountain pens

It's been a while since I have really used my fountain pens to draw and it's a shame. I picked it up for figure drawing this morning and it felt like I was hanging out with a long-lost friend. Looking back I really love everything I do with them. I recently read a book called "Drawing from Within" by Nick Meglin. I highly recommend it for those who want a fresh perspective on drawing. Nick is a former illustration professor at the School of Visual Arts in NY. From day one in his classes he makes the students use an Esterbrook fountain pen. Initially they hate it. Drawing with ink keeps an indelible record of every mistake. If you draw the line wrong the first time, you have to redraw it the right way next to the wrong one. Your brain eventually teaches you to slow down, observe more, and draw it right the first time. In the book Nick writes:

"Learning anything is an experiential process. Children learn to walk and talk through experience, not from a book" "Learning to draw is a similar natural response."

If you really want to draw better, you have to recognize your mistakes, and nothing shows off your mistakes better than permanent ink. No erasers, no white out, just you, a pen and your subject. Try it sometime. And Don't forget who you are drawing for...yourself. It's your sketchbook. Think of it as a book of beautiful mistakes.

One more quote from Meglin sums it up:

“…I tell this to my students—I taught drawing for twelve years—if you don’t want to be told you’re a lousy artist by someone out there who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, don’t draw. Don’t fill a white page with lines, because once you do it, you’re at risk. But if you are going to do it, put everything you can on that page, everything you are or what you feel, what you think, your perception, you alone, not what you’ve seen, not what you think you’d like to do. React to that model, be at one. You’re the only artist in the world drawing that model tonight that way, in your way. No one else can do it.”

“Bet the whole roll and put yourself at risk. If not, you’ll never win. You may not lose, but you’ll never win. Go down swinging. Lose trying. But put yourself at risk. And that’s what creativity is.”



Pray for the Gregory family

As many of you know, I have been a huge fan of Danny Gregory's books. His first book Everyday Matters is about how creativity and journal-keeping got him through a horrible time in his life when his wife, Patti, fell in front of a NY city train, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Danny and his wife inspired so many people to begin drawing as a regular part of their daily routine. His first book was so well recieved that he released one of my favorites: Creative License--a book which motivated me to begin drawing again. In 2008, his books had touched so many people that he released An Illustrated life, Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers. If you haven't read these books, you are seriously missing out on some great stuff.

Tragically, Danny's wife Patti, passed away this weekend at age 50. I won't go into the details. You can read about it here. Please take a moment to pray for Danny, their son, Jack and extended family.

More about Danny, his art, and his books can be found on his website: http://www.dannygregory.com/

Scoot-a-que 13 Design

The Scoot-a-que 12 "Senior Prom" theme was such a hit the club decided to make this year's event prom-themed as well...but this time with zombies. I'm hoping to get these screen printed for this year's event. I'll have to see if we have it in the budget. See it larger here.

More to come...

wood type jackpot!

I received a very nice gift from a friend today: a moving box 3/4 full of random wood type blocks. I plan to clean and sort them to see if there are any complete alphabets. I can't wait to print with them. Thanks Mark!