Sketching My Art Tools – Pen & Ink Wash

I’ve been sketching on a daily basis. To help keep myself motivated, I’ve relied on several sketching prompts from a few artists I’ve followed. That has been a huge help to me. Sometimes, I’ll come across a prompt that does not peak my interest or might be too challenging and I tend to quickly become unmotivated to create anything. Sound familiar?

I’m excited to share that I’ve been spending some time with a new sketching journal. I found one that holds up to my many layers of pen & ink washes. It’s called Funto cold press watercolor journal and it contains 100% cotton paper. What a joy to use.

I’m about a quarter of the way into using my journal. I’m sure I will have no problem filling it with my artwork and at some point I plan on creating a short video with a flip-through of my creations. That’s also a great motivator to keep sketching.

In the meantime, here’s my initial sketch of my favorite art tools that I use.

From the above picture, you can see the lovely texture of this cold press paper. This thick paper can handle multiple erasures and my many layers of added colors. It’s one of the toughest paper I’ve used so far.

My colorful fountain pen sketch was created with several layers of colors. I made sure each layer of color dried completely before adding another layer of color. Did I mention this paper has given me so much joy?

My art tools sketch took a few days to complete. Sometimes, I would have 15 minutes to an hour to work on this sketch. I was not in any rush and took my time. One day I worked on the fountain pen sketch and another day I worked on the pen case.

I still have a few minor things to add to my sketch like the missing Rickshaw label on my pen case.

This Funto journal is not the typical A5 size that I’m used to using. The size is 5″ x 7.5″ and feels a bit more portable than my Stillman & Birn journals. It comes with about 22 sheets of paper. This equates to 44 usable pages. The front and back pages are glued to the cover which means I can actually create some artwork on those pages instead of leaving it white.

Tip #1: If you get stuck with no ideas of what to sketch, try keeping multiple prompts available on a piece of paper and keep that in your sketching journal.

Tip #2: Know your time limit and set reasonable goals. I no longer get frustrated with an incomplete sketch. I can always go back on another day to finish or add another sketch to the page.

Tip #3: When I start a new journal, I leave the first two facing pages blank and start sketching on the next page. When I’ve finished using the journal, I can go back to the front pages and create a sketch that encompasses the theme of my journal.

Tip #4: Look for 100% cotton paper. It’s a joy to use and I love how my inky colors blend nicely on the paper.

Journal: Funto Watercolor Journal 5″x7.5″ (2 pack) 22 sheets/44 pages, cold-pressed, 100% cotton, 140lb/300gm.

Fountain Pens: Franklin-Christoph 02 Intrinsic (prototypes & Antique Glass/Cathedral trim), Franklin-Christoph 46 (Italian Ice), Pilot Custom 823 with Fine nib, and TWSBI Go with 1.1 stub nib.

Fountain Pen Inks: Robert Oster Thunderstorm, Blood Rose, Heart of Gold, Blue Velvet Storm, and Morning Shine. KWZ/Galen Leather Prairie Green. Diamine Cocoa Shimmer. Van Dieman’s Morning Frost.

Other Tools: Lamy pencil, Pentel water brush in Fine, Faber-Castell kneaded eraser, and ViVa Signature Cloth paper towel.

Case: Rickshaw/Nock Sinclair Model R in New Sakura Teal