Pen and Ink

To change things up a little, I switched to drawing in Pen and Ink, and also started using a smaller sketchbook. Since the sketchbook is much lighter, it is more convenient while standing and drawing. It allows me to quickly pull it out of my bag when I see something good I want to draw and I always keep my pen attached to it so I don’t have to search for it. I have missed good opportunities because by the time I got my sketchbook out and found my pen the person had left or moved. I loved my other sketchbook, but because it was so heavy and bulky my hand would cramp from holding it, so I’m trying to use that one for when I’m sitting down and doing longer sketches. I’m using the Moleskine brand because it is very thin and streamline. I’ll admit I didn’t like it at first because it’s not regular sketch paper, it’s more like thick poster board which is not good for pencil but it’s working fine with pen and ink. I recently found some really unique leather bound journals in Borders, they are from Italy and are really beautiful, unfortunately most of them had lines and the ones that didn’t were too bulky. I feel the pen and ink is great for very quick sketches because the pen moves quickly over the paper and since I can’t erase, it’s very spontaneous. Most of these drawings were done either on the Long Island Railroad or subway.