Lochby – SusieG Studio

Sketching Progress

I took my pencil sketch and using my permanent gray ink, I sketched over my pencil lines that I wanted to keep. In some areas I straightened out the previous broken lines I had drawn. I also added in more details where needed. After my permanent ink had dried on my paper, I used my kneaded eraser to remove my pencil lines. Right now, my sketch looks flat and almost like a cartoon.

I left my inky sketch alone for a few days while I decided which colors to use for my inky washes.

I came back to my sketch armed with my TWSBI Swipe filled with Thunderstorm and started my pen & ink wash process. Thunderstorm has been my go to black/blue inky color for when I need to sketch something in black and also for creating shadows around and under my object. It’s a lovely color to use and it has quite a bit of personality as you can see in my sketch below.

I was careful to not inundate my sketch by dumping a lot of dark color onto my paper. It’s harder to “lift” dark colors let alone “lift” fountain pen ink off of my paper. With my first layer of color I applied a light or watered down color wash. To avoid creating a flat sketch, I made sure to leave some lighter color or the white of my paper as highlights. I am always looking for my light source. I let the first layer dry completely before attempting to apply the second layer of color.

When I apply my second layer of color, I can now focus on areas that are quite a bit darker. I think about the shadows within my object. Where are the darkest parts of my object. By applying the different values of a color, I can create a sense of “roundness” to my object. I can also make certain parts of my object appear closer to me like the numbered dial on my tension knob, the golden logo patch, or the horizontal light covering in the arm of my machine.

I used Morning Frost on the silvery pieces of my object like the throat plate, parts of the tension dial/discs, thread spindle, stitch regulator, bobbin winding system, and for the hand wheel/pulley.

While I’m creating my pen & ink wash, I have to remind myself to be a bit spontaneous and less controlling with my sketch. There are times when it’s harder to control where the ink color goes. I make the best of it and most of the time I create wonderful inky surprises.

I have also learned to know when to stop. Since I was using a mixed media paper versus a heavier watercolor paper, I noticed my second layer of inky wash was disturbing the paper’s surface. Small areas of my paper developed a “rash” while the paper was still wet. That was my clue to stop work in that area as the surface had been compromised. Once the paper is dry, the rashes miraculously disappear.

In case you’ve forgotten, this is where my pen & ink sketch started from. My quick pencil sketch.

Once I start sketching, I forget about properly centering my object on the page or in this case across two pages. To help remove the white space on the right side, I added the bobbin and two spools of thread. I intentionally left one of the spools half-off the page to balance out the left side where I ran out of space for the machine’s bed extension.

Pens: TWSBI GOs with Stub 1.1 nibs. TWSBI Swipe with Stub 1.1 nib. Platinum Preppy with 02 Extra Fine nib.

Inks: Robert Oster Thunderstorm, African Gold, Steely Days, Melon Tea, and Blood Rose. Van Dieman’s Ink Morning Frost. DeAtramentis Document Grey (Preppy).

Pencil: Pentel Energize mechanical with 0.7mm HB lead

Journal: Stillman & Birn Beta softcover A5 (5.5″x8.5″) 270gsm

Journal Cover: Lochby Field Journal A5 waxed canvas in Brown

Creating Sketches While Traveling

A couple of weeks ago, Hubby and I went on a trip. I made sure to set aside some time to figure out what art supplies I would pack and take with me for our adventure.

I thought about how I wanted to record this journey. Do I bring my watercolor paints and brushes? Or do I bring my fountain pens and inks? Or do I bring both?

I laid out my favorite supplies including my fave Maxpedition case and my new Rickshaw/Nock case. Based on my past traveling experiences I knew these would be the two cases to bring and it would be easy to figure out what supplies will fit in the cases.

After going back and forth between the two mediums, I knew I would not enjoy our trip if I could not decide what main art medium to use to capture our adventures. I decided it was best to bring my fountains pens and inks in my Maxpedition case. I used my Rickshaw case to carry just the essentials when I was out and about with my slender messenger bag.

I carried with me a slender A5 journal and wrote about our adventures each day. I was keeping a daily travel log. I found it was easier to write or jot down key points from our adventures as I sipped my coffee in the morning or while we sat in front of a fire pit enjoying the early evening weather.

I also included my A5 mixed media art journal for my pen & ink washes. Both journals fit inside my Lochby Field Journal.

Each day, I recorded objects and things that were easy to sketch. Sometimes I would have 5-15 minutes to quickly sketch something with my pencil or permanent pen.

In my two page spread (above), I created a variety of sketches from ideas in my head. Each object had Thunderstorm incorporated into the sketch which brought the sketches together or created a bit of harmony.

It was handy to have my Rickshaw case filled with my essential supplies as I was able to create quick sketches on the go. Yes, that meant I had to narrow down my choices to six inky colors to take with me.

Waterbrushes, Nahvalur Original Plus, Pilot Custom 823, Platinum Preppy (02), mechanical pencil, and TWSBI pens in my Rickshaw case

My Pilot Custom 823 was filled with Hailstorm. I used this ink for writing in my journals. It’s a dark green color that leans more towards blue.

For this trip, I decided to fill a Preppy with a permanent Grey ink color. I used this Preppy mostly for the outlines in my sketches. I do like using this lighter color for my outlines versus using the bold black Carbon ink color.

For my peach sketch, I did not have an orange ink color with me. I used Blood Rose and African Gold and blended/dabbed the colors a bit on my paper. Again, Thunderstorm makes another appearance in each of my sketching scenes.

Here’s an example of a quick sketch I created in my art journal. I had about ten minutes to sketch a few things and not enough time to add my fountain pen inky colors to all of my sketches. I find it’s okay to leave out the colors and add them back in for another day. I can also go back into my travel log and find other things to add to my sketch and add the colors when I have the time.

I know the pages in my art journal looks a bit bare and there are quite a few blank areas in between my sketches. They are my invisible placeholders for when I will go back and write a story about my adventures.

Pens: Pilot Custom 823 in Amber w/Fine nib. Nahvalur Original Plus in Melacara Purple w/Stub nib. Platinum Preppy (02) Extra Fine nib. TWSBI Swipe w/Stub nib. TWSBI GOs w/Stub nibs.

Inks: DeAtramentis Document Ink in Grey. Van Dieman’s Ink Hailstorm and Anna’s Hummingbird Wing (shimmer). Robert Oster Sydney Lavender, Steely Days, Melon Tea, African Gold, Blood Rose, Sydney Darling Harbour, and Thunderstorm.

Cases: Maxpedition Beefy Pocket Organizer in Olive Green. Rickshaw Nock Sinclair model R in Black/Aqua.

Other: Pentel Energize Mechanical Pencil with 0.7mm HB lead. Pentel Water Brushes with small and medium size tips.

Art Journal: Stillman & Birn softcover Alpha A5 (5.5″x8.5″)

Acorns!

In the early evenings, Hubby and I have been sitting outside and watching our neighborhood birds visit our bird feeders. The wrens and the finches enjoy sitting inside our caged feeder while the wood peckers, black caps, cardinals, and blue jays like come and go. Grabbing their food and flying away quickly.

Our weather this week has finally changed and it’s quite a bit cooler in the late evenings and early morning hours. I’ve started to notice an additional sound outside.

Our neighbor has a huge oak tree and the acorns are dropping. They are especially loud when hitting the pavement and sometimes getting it just right and hitting the top of their car. Hahaha!

This morning I felt inclined to sketch something fall related and acorns came to my mind.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I’m still trying to use up the remaining Robert Oster inks in my GOs. My Van Dieman’s Inks are patiently waiting for their turn. Can you tell I’m enjoying the Eucalyptus Regnans ink color? It’s showing up in many of my pen and ink artwork. Gorgeous green color.

Pens: TWSBI GOs with Stub 1.1 nibs

Inks: Van Dieman’s Ink Eucalyptus Regnans. Robert Oster Honey Bee, Toffee, Melon Tea, and Thunderstorm

Journal: Stillman & Birn Beta A5

Journal Cover: Lochby Field Journal in brown

My Favorite Journal Cover by Lochby

I keep several journals on hand. I may not use them everyday, but they are available for my writing and sketching adventures. I prefer to keep my journals inside a cover for protection and for throwing into my backpack and basically not worry about it. I’ve tried various ones from plain covers to zip arounds and from poly-made to leather-made.

You might have heard of the Lochby brand from my previous post about my favorite pen case. Well. Lochby also makes journal covers. In the same waxed canvas fabrics and same colors. They call it the “perfect planner, journal, and sketchbook cover” to hold A5 size journals. They also include a complementary thin dot grid refill (72 pages) with Tomoe River Paper in 68gsm inside the cover. To get you started.

I fell in love with this cover before receiving it in person. This cover checked all the boxes of my journal cover requirements. Here’s my lovely journal cover in brown. It’s quite rugged looking.

My Lochby Field Journal cover. Made of waxed canvas. Comes in two colors: Brown and Black

First off, do you see the metal hook in the picture? That’s aircraft grade aluminum metal. The strap that contains the hook is adjustable. Which means I can add additional journals, papers, etc and still be able to close the cover. I can tighten the strap and safely carry the contents without worries.

There’s a generous pen loop made of durable elastic. I can actually put my chunky TWSBI GO or my Estie OS Sparkle in the pen loop.

On the back spine there’s a durable web strap for those of us who need to grab our journal and go. On the backside of the cover is a velcro pocket.

I wanted to share this picture with you. There are times when the hook makes a noise by moving around my desk or dangles. I have found a solution in the following picture. I place the metal hook into the pen loop. It stays in place until I unhook it.

You can see the metal hook is out of the way

So now, let’s take a look at the inside of this brilliant journal cover.

A lovely bright orange interior. Lots of space to hold journal booklets, stickers, blotting card, papers, a piece of shop towel, rulers, etc. I have my Stalogy 365 A5 journal in this cover.

I’ll let you spend a fews minutes with the above picture.

There are strings for holding your journal books. There’s also two bookmark strings to keep your place in your journal(s). Pockets galore are located on the left side. On the right side is a sleeve to hold folded papers or a journal like I have in my configuration.

I actually prefer to slip my Stalogy journal into the back sleeve. There’s enough room to include the clear journal cover I have over my Stalogy.

Remember the back pocket I mentioned? It’s a nice deep pocket that has a velcro closure. I could easily place a thin journal or folded pieces of paper here.

This brown journal cover is actually my second Lochby cover. The first one I bought was the black waxed canvas version. That one has a tan interior and basically the same identical cover. This brown cover reminds me going on a rustic adventure and so I plan on using this with my art journals. The black cover will house my regular journals for daily writings.

Lochby has A5 journal refills available in: dot grid, plain or blank, narrow ruled, and wide ruled formats. I can easily slip these refills into the cover’s strings.

This field journal cover is made well, rugged, and durable. Everything a sewist in me enjoys seeing and appreciates. It’s extremely functional as to how I can organize my journal(s). I can have one thick journal or several slims ones depending on how I configure and place the journals in the cover. Lots of storage pockets for my accessories and papers. Durable strap and closure to keep things secured. I have to add. That metal hook is an awesome idea!

Here are pictures of my Lochby Quattro pen cases (slideshow). Enjoy!

My Favorite Fountain Pen Carrying Case

I wanted to write about my favorite pen carrying case. I have tried several different brands and styles and they perform different functions for me. I actually classify my fountain pen cases into two different functions: pen storage and pen carrying.

Today, I will share my favorite pen carrying case. Quattro. Made by Lochby.

The front of my Lochby Quattro cases. Pilot Metropolitan in Turquoise Dots and Champagne Gold.

From Lochby’s site here’s their description: “The Quattro fits your favorite four pens for when you’re on the go. Lightly padded, fully zippered, and wrapped in our dry waxed canvas.”

I first purchased the black waxed canvas case as they were sold out of their popular brown version. Once I received the case in hand, I was immediately impressed with their product. The quality and workmanship and especially functionality. You already know. I’m all about product function. As a sewist, I always look at workmanship and how a product is sewn together. I was surprised at how thin this case was when zipped close. It’s not at all a chunky case.

On the outside, there are pockets galore. You can see from my first picture that I have my Pilot Metros in the narrow front pocket. In the flat pocket I have my Robert Oster Blotter Card which is similar in size to a business card.

On the backside of the case, there’s velcro pocket. Here I have inserted my tiny Rhodia booklet (3″x4.7″).

There’s a nylon YKK zipper that zips around the case to hold my pens safely inside. You can see the double stitching and bar tacking. A rugged and sturdy case.

In the next two pictures, I show the interior of each case.

The black case has a beige interior. Notice I have the two pens stored upside down on the right clipped into the slot. That way the pens don’t fall out when I open the case.

Why is this pen case a favorite of mine? I mentioned in a previous post that I prefer larger pens. This Lochby case can accommodate them.

The two pens on the right are a bit girthy and requires a wider slot for the pens to slip in. Lochby took care of this in their Quattro case. (Cross Peerless 125 in Titanium Gray, Esterbrook Estie OS Sparkle in Montana Sapphire, Montegrappa Elmo in Blue Cross Gentian, and TWSBI Diamond 580ALR in Prussian Blue)

My Opus 88 Omar (2nd from the left) is the largest pen I own. For awhile this pen sat on my desk because it would not fit in my other pen carrying cases. Now it has a home. (Pineider Avatar UR in Angel Skin, Opus 88 Omar in Clear, Platinum 3776 Century in Chartres Blue, and Visconti Breeze in Plum)

There are two negatives I have come across for the black case. My black version is prone to showing lint as you can see in the above pictures. Also, I wanted to let you know not to store any light colored pens on the external pockets. The black dye from the canvas can transfer onto the pen. It has not happened to me, but my blotter card is showing black around the edges.

I love my black Lochby Quattro so much that I added the brown case to my collection. Now I don’t have to worry about where to store my girthy pens.