Spilled Ink
There is one more reactionary post sitting unfinished, but after two such posts back to back I feel like the wind has been taken out of my sails and I'd rather spend more time on things I find joyful so today's entry is a grab bag of art ramblings. I spent the weekdays working and the weekends sick (very gracious of the body to break down after and not during) so I couldn't paint as much but the mini pad I decided to start turned out a lifesaver. Only two sheets left and I'm sure as hell will try to make time this week now that I have energy to actually sit down.
With pads, my current approach is to use the reverse side to list the supplies I used for the painting and a short review of my intention vs. the final result. At first, it felt like a waste of good paper. However, the notes had proven useful for me to review and keeping the notes and paintings together makes it so much easier to reference. I don't bother writing notes and reflections for my doodlebooks because they're meant to be quick and casual. They should stay easy to get in and out of.
Broken record section aka things I've written time and again: getting good quality items when you know you like the activity and you can afford it is a worthwhile investment because these supplies last a long time. I have finished a couple books and the paint pans still look full. However, I'm still adamant that you can start with whatever just to get a feel out of it and not being too precious about it. Acquisition of supplies should go along with the practice, not done before starting. Having liked some things that don't necessarily have good reviews, I keep getting reminded that every person has their own preferences. Do your homework, but also take online reviews with a grain of salt. If you're near any store with an "experience center" approach, take advantage of it and feel everything with all your senses before committing to a purchase. I like to keep things small but decent quality so you can learn what you have. Decent, not top!
As for the travel kit: having spent more time with the mini palette, I discovered that the palette itself didn't bother me as much as I thought. It was the mini brush. How little paint and water it could hold frustrated me so much. Switching to a waterbrush solved it. The mini brush will stay as a detail brush on my desk. As my current travel sketchbook took to watercolor pencil way more than it could handle watercolor, I might have to reconsider my approach. I replaced two pens with a double-sided brushpen. It's normally too long but apparently it fits in this pencase. Sadly, no travel commenced in the last two weeks as I was almost bedbound, so whatever adjustment I made could only be tested on the field this weekend.
Being busy and sick sent my mind wandering to many random places. When I was young, I was an overly serious child who hated what I perceived as adult's perfunctory praises. Whatever you show them, if not dismissed entirely, was met with generic "nice" comment of no real value. I used to be a harsh critic and my art club liked me for that (ha). Look at us little insecures! We really did believe it wasn't a real criticism if you're not getting torn down. Now that I'm an adult juggling ten thousand things on my plate, I would sincerely praise whatever you bring me because it's a miracle that a piece of art gets done at all. Especially in the age of LLM, that you spend time and energy making something by hand is a cause of celebration in itself.