Freshly Stamped
As with many things I enjoy, I ended up sharing the sketchwalk sessions with friends. "Halfway-dragging" might be the term some of them would use, but thankfully they did welcome the notion and we had fun scouting our sketching subjects. Our local chapter is now official, so I snagged my first USk stamp! I've always preferred outdoor sessions as I have enough sketching opportunities indoor, but Show and Tell at the showdown is always nicer indoor if only because you could actually hear what is being said.
Currently back to a ballpoint and ink-filled brushpens setup. I don't really enjoy fountain pen sketching as the pen I have don't produce line variations (it is, however, very smooth for writing). I have half a mind to try bringing acrylic markers outside because I've been enjoying it a lot, but they're really inconvenient. I can't see myself hauling a box of markers as I weave through crowded streets. Nah, they'll stay in my studio.
Now with some sketchwalk sessions in the bag, I know why people are obsessed with a bag setup allowing you to carry your tools upright. Digging into your bag in the middle of the road is no fun.
In my earlier sketchwalks I only did one spread a day, but later on I started averaging around three, so the sketchbook I thought was too thick got used up fast enough anyway. Phew!
So, general art updates: Acrylic markers are fun, though this set my friend gifted me has only two dark colors out of 60. To mitigate it, I've been using it on black paper. From my cursory research, this problem plagues almost all cheaper brands because they use white paints to add bulk and opacity. The colors really pop though, so I imagine this is not an issue if your style matches.
I've found a reasonably priced brand with open stock options, so once I've used up this set I'll get that. They seem to have more dark colors, though not significantly many.
I have slowly used up my initial supplies and it makes my heart swell. Not only I'll get to play with new toys soon, every stick of marker used up and every ink cartridge I have to replace are proof that I have somehow drawn enough to drain them. I've been really careful in keeping my supplies manageable, roughly one set of each medium I intend to explore (alcohol markers, acrylic markers, gouache paints, watercolor paints, colored pencils, watercolor markers. The number of individual colors in each set varies), though I have an abundance of water-soluble media (in the form of paint, marker, and pencil). Having these different forms allow me to do touchups really easily, which is kinda nice (but totally nothing mandatory if you've just started).
My (almost but not) daily painting sessions started out as random doodles inbetween activities, which slowly grew into 20 mins pockets before sleep, and lately about an hour as I wind down for the day. The more I paint, the familiar the mediums are, the more my confidence grows, the easier it is for me to enjoy it. But it's never the failed drawings that frustrate/scare/haunt me. The more I succeed, the more I have to tamp down the growing ambition within me, the little brain goblin fed on Asian immigrant values.
My studio is the best investment I'd made this year. I welcome friends to come by and use my supplies. Many of them have abandoned traditional media due to the costs associated, and I relish in their joy as they rediscover how nice it is to have a tactile connection with their works. In this tough time, this is what little I can offer.