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Another fast sketch in the new chess sketchbook from antaresnox! This morning, I was walking when I saw this very large flower growing from a crack in the asphalt! (I kind of regret not getting that crack into the picture, but the plant was too large to draw the whole thing while getting any level of detail.) Different pens this time: the very professional (LOL) art technique is called "grab some pens from the bottom of your bag". I don't use markers very often but I really enjoy these ones: they each have two sides with shades of the same color, one dark and one light, which makes shading and blending easy.

In case you were wondering: yes, of course I occasionally sketch on white paper, too! You know I'm mainly whining about the constant lack of sketchbooks with toned paper that is not brown or grey, but that's not because I dislike white paper. It's just that I can walk into any art supply store (and even most stationery shops) and get a very nice sketchbook with white paper (not as nice as a handmade one, obviously, but at least one I can use); no whining needed. I really like having a book with different paper colors for different occasions!

This time, I actually managed to destroy the paper: it takes acrylic pens fine, it takes the markers themselves fine as well, but the spots where I used the white Posca to draw highlights over the marker-colored areas kind of dissolved. Interesting! XD (No matter how nice the paper, there's always some way to damage it, and I usually find it very quickly. LOL)



Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a white page this time
- Copic Multiliner, black, 1.0
- Markers: Kuretake ZIG Brushables in spring green and hyacinth
- Acrylic pen: Uni Posca PC-5M in white

...and I mean, shocking in a good way, but I was definitely shocked when I opened that package.

Like... Maybe you remember the lovely little handmade sketchbook that antaresnox had sent me? You remember how super happy I was? Well. They did it again. Only this time... uh.



Yeah. That's a HUGE PILE OF HANDMADE SKETCHBOOKS and I totally did not expect this. I mean, they had told me there's more where that first sketchbook came from, and asked me if I was interested (which, I mean, HELL YEAH), but I was thinking it would be, like, two or three maybe (which would already have been extremely generous, considering all the work that goes into something like this!) not... um... THIS.

It's a fascinating assortment of different papers, too - a lot of them have toned pages (which is my personal preference for sketching), but there are also some books with watercolor paper (including some papers I don't know yet but am very excited to try) and "normal" sketching paper for pencils or fineliners - in short, everything an artist needs! (I imagine this will actually keep me busy for a while...)

Now, there's a bit of a dilemma: of course, I want to SHOW OFF all those pretty sketchbooks, but I guess you guys don't want to look at sooo many pictures of paper all at once! XD So, uh, let's just start with the first of these books I'm going to use. (I will show the others in more detail when I get around to using them.) And, of course, I immediately grabbed the CHESS SKETCH BOOK WHEEEEEEEE!!!! ....ahem. Can you tell I'm excited about this?



Look at this! It's a button hole stitch binding, with a chess pawn as the button hole, and it's AWESOME!!!



Roughly postcard size (a bit smaller), toned paper in various colors inside, and I LOVE IT!!! (It's an extremely eller-y product - antaresnox knows my taste extremely well!) And the best thing is, antaresnox mentioned something about wanting to make the other 15 pieces as well, which... O_O Uh. I mean, I have no idea what I did to warrant that kind of effort, but, um, I'm hardly going to complain, right? XD It's in my bag now, so, I suppose you'll get to see a few sketches on toned paper in the next few days... (Yes, that was a threat.) I can already tell this is going to be soooo much fun! I always love handmade things, and the book lies completely flat when opened, which means it's going to be perfect for my purposes. Happy Eller is happy! :D

So, um, someone not on this site asked me a very interesting question, and because I believe in not wasting a carefully typed text, I'm also posting my answer here. The question was...

Do you recommend everyday carry (of knives) for women?

Sure, if reasonably possible. That is, I firmly believe wearing a knife is generally a good idea, and it’s entirely gender-independent (though the choice of knife is going to depend on biological sex, among other factors). The main purposes of a knife are food preparation, craft and repair work, and everybody should be able to do these things. Carrying a sharp tool is just practical. [Legal note: there are some types of knives that fall under the weapon law, and some situations and places in which carrying any kind of blade is inappropriate and/or illegal. Of course, I recommend knowing and keeping the laws in your area.]

Personally, I don’t wear knives literally every day (not least because, when I’m in the city, there are so many ‘no-knife’ zones scattered everywhere that finding a legal way of getting from A to B without having to cross one can be difficult), but I do so when it's possible. I also definitely wear knives when in the countryside (with bonus points for field trips) and when camping, because not having a knife can be dangerous. Fortunately (in this aspect at least), my hands are so small that all the knives I can reasonably use have blade lengths well below 12cm, which would be the German legal threshold for weapons, meaning that my knives are all legally tools. (There are some other ‘weapon criteria’, but, well, I don’t own anything specifically ‘tactical’, I don’t hunt, and of course I stay the fuck away from illegal weapons anyway, so it’s not an issue.)

Also, on the purely philosophical level, a knife is the most intrinsically human object that exists. I mean, if you ask people what sentience means, sooner or later someone is going to mention the ability to use tools. The knife (or, if we go far enough back in history, the rock with the sharp edge) is the tool that renders humans able to interact with their environment on a level that’s not purely reactive. As such, everyone should have the opportunity to use a knife. I also believe children should learn this skill as soon as reasonably and somewhat safely possible, not just for improving hand-eye coordination but also for the mental health aspect of it. (A knife does so much for connecting a person to their surroundings! I’m not going to discuss the full philosophical, cultural, and spiritual impact of what it means to wear a knife – that would have to be a lengthy and likely quite boring wall of text – but the philosophical purpose of knives goes beyond making sandwiches.) You only learn a skill when you practice it regularly, so, sure, having and regularly using a knife is a good idea.

However, if we’re talking about the specifically American interpretation of ‘everyday carry’, with the idea of having a knife for self-defense: NOPE. That’s a terrible idea. Knives are not defensive weapons. If you get robbed in the street, a) you won’t have the time to take out your knife, and b) it’s a lot safer to just hand over your money. [Technical note: yes, I know there’s a radius within which a knife has better winning chances than a gun, something like 6-7m for trained men and 5-6m for trained women, but also, there’s still a pretty high chance of dying, so, in practice anyone sane is going to hand over their money anyway unless they know for sure the other person is planning to kill them.] If anything, wearing a knife openly increases your risk of being shot if the would-be robber doesn’t want to take the risk of you jumping them. It’s just stupid all around. DON’T DO IT.

Because the question was specifically about women wearing knives: umm. Of course, I’m aware that some people will hand pocketknives to young boys but not to young girls. THAT practice is shitty and sexist. I believe in equal opportunities. (I don’t believe in pocketknives because I’m firmly a fixed-blade girl, and I don’t believe in mass-produced factory knives because those suck, but that’s another matter entirely.) However, there’s no woman-specific knife use. As far as I’m concerned, that’s really a unisex thing.

This time, the questions are from ilyena_sylph. As always, the readers can comment if they want to continue the meme five questions from me. (Also, I think I still owe questions to someone; will do those later.)

1. What well-known person do you think does the most good for the world?

Um. That's kind of loaded, because what's good for the world is not necessarily good for people, so I suppose I'd have to name some genocidal war criminal type of people here?!? After all, anything that kills people is technically good for the planet... Also, plenty of worthy candidates. ;)

Kidding.

If I take the question as "does good for people", that would be those who do important research, like for example Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, who came up with a fun method that can be used to heal millions of people and fight world hunger; what's not to like? But I'm also very optimistic about the potential of AI - of course, it's impossible to name one single famous person when that's the work of thousands.

2. What’s your favorite way to spend time outdoors?

Interesting question. XD But I guess I have to give the adrenaline junkie answer: take a walk crawl in the bog. A while ago, someone told me she'd never seen a will-o'-the-wisp in real life, so, uh, we took that trip. Just for fun. And it was fun. But then, the North German bogs are my favorite landscape type anyway, you all knew that, right?!? It's kind of difficult to describe, but everything feels different in the bog - the air pressure, the humidity, the way sound travels - and I guess I just feel at home there. It's where I'm calm and relaxed.

NOTE: children, don't do this at home. I'm serious. The areas with enough swamp gases to produce fun light effects are not solid ground, and they're very very very deadly. There's a reason any and all folklores of any and all people from areas with bogs strongly warn against running after those lights, and nope, I'm relatively sure it's not evil spirits. (If you absolutely have to chase bog lights, take a local with you if you find one a) who's not superstitious, and b) ideally, has a degree in geosciences. Also, update your will before the trip.)

3. What was your best vacation?

Vacation, what's that? XD

Um. A good memory was summer holidays back when I was still at school, and one year, Dad and I traveled the Camino de Santiago by bicycle. That was AWESOME though of course we were pretty much the only people around who were not hardcore religious. I really enjoyed the scenery, though! (I understand that cycling in the Pyrenees isn't everybody's idea of fun, either, but...)

4. What was something you thought would be easy until you tried it?

Getting the contents of a first-aid kit back into that tiny red suitcase thingy after taking them out. I'm serious - do these things come with an extra dimension or something?!?

5. What scene in a movie always gives you goosebumps every time you watch it?

With the caveat that I don't watch many movies: every meaningful scene from every Andrei Tarkovsky film?!? I mean, it's not a secret I'm basically a hardcore fan. XD If I have to choose one - the scene in Solaris when gravity is off. But then, I simply love that movie - as far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect movie - so the answer is probably worthless.

If I have to choose a particularly impressive scene from a movie I didn't love that much overall: the one from The Thomas Crown Affair (in the original 1968 version). Like... the film isn't bad but overall mostly forgettable, except for that one scene. You know. If you've seen that movie, you know what I mean. The glider. But then, "The Windmills of Your Mind" is my favorite movie soundtrack song, so... XDD (Seriously. It may even be one of my favorite songs, period, and it's not even a music genre I particularly like... It's just that good.) I remember seeing (and hearing) THAT for the very first time, and yes... Goosebumps.

So, today I found out that Mom runs into Coach (yes, my old chess coach, you know, the guy who taught me when I was an annoying little chess!kiddo) more or less regularly these days and stops to chat. O_O The thought is horrifying. Also, apparently, they gossip about recent players - Mom doesn't actually enjoy chess (though she knows the rules, obviously: it's impossible to avoid in this family) but she's kind of emotionally invested and wants to know all about chess-playing kiddos. She was asking Coach about L. (the 9-year-old girl who's strong enough to play on the adults' team), something like, "so, she's a likeable girl?", and apparently Coach was all like, "LOL NOPE SHE'S GOOD AT CHESS!"... Um... Perfect thing to say to a 'chess mom', I guess.

Soooo, these are the paints I put in the wonderful handcrafted watercolor box fromyhlee!





Can you tell I'm a botanical artist? XD The colors are not 100% accurate, unfortunately - I have no daylight here right now...

( Comprehensive review of all the paints involved behind the cut. )

Ahem. Okay. That got nerdy...

Just something quick I drew for someone on Postcrossing - the person likes hippos, but unfortunately, I didn't have a hippo card in my collection, so I made one. I had to use lots of references for the animal because I simply don't see them very often. (Fortunately. I don't particularly want to encounter one...)

I'm mainly posting this because I (finally) took the opportunity to use one of the Schmincke supergranulating watercolors I was posting about a few days ago. All that grainy dark blue that brings out the paper texture is done with layers of Tundra Blue (PB29, PBr7) over the other colors. I think it's especially noticeable when you compare the earthy shore (no supergranulating layer, just ochre - ironically, my favorite ochre is a very cheap one but I love the tone - and some purplish PR102) to its mirror image in the water (same paints, but with a layer of Tundra Blue over it).



Materials I used:
JAXON watercolor postcard paper (approx. A6 size)
Copic Multiliner in 0.4 and BM (brush)
Watercolors: BLOCKX Blockx Red (PR254), Michael Harding Yellow Lake (PY180), Phoenix Yellow Ochre (PY42), Nila Colori Armenian Violet Ochre (PR102), Mijello Bamboo Green (PG36), Daniel Smith Jadeite Genuine, Daler Rowney Manganese Blue Hue, Schmincke Horadam Tundra Blue (PB29, PBr7), Rembrandt Spinel Grey (PBk26)
FlySea Acrylic pen, white, fine

Walnut bread with honeycomb.



One of my favorite small pleasures in life. (But then, I'm a serious honey addict, and processing honey and filling it in jars doesn't improve the taste...)

How aggressive can botanical illustration get? YES! (It's all in the composition: triangles for the win.) Plus, of course, the most important design element are the thorns. :)



Materials I used:
Stillman&Birn Zeta Series sketchbook (270 g/m²)
Watercolors: Michael Harding Yellow Lake (PY180), Winsor&Newton Transparent Orange (DPP), Blockx Blockx Red (PR254), ROSA Gallery Magenta Rose PR(122), MaimeriBlu Faience Blue (PB60), Mijello Bamboo Green (PG36), White Nights Burnt Umber (PBr7), Rembrandt Spinel Grey (PBk26)
White gel pen (Pentel)

A few days ago, I got this set of ten lovely handmade watercolor dots (second picture in that post) from Nil - of course, I immediately had to try them out! So, yesterday, I used a watercolor sketchbook (near A5 size) that was a gift from Glitzermond (and, for that matter, fineliners I got from Risto) for the very pragmatic reason that it has a plastic folder in the back where I can safely store the dot card with the paints.

So, uh, this is a place in Hamburg, near Beim Schlump. Not one of the important sights, merely one of the old pretty houses - some of those are left. What else was I going to do with an earth tone palette but paint some yellow and red clinker, right? XDD



Okay, okay, I never draw architecture, and there's a reason for that. F*ck perspective, f*ck straight lines... XD But, I mean, it was fun. It's very different from what I usually do, and I typically don't use colors that are not psychedelic levels of bright, either. It was an interesting experience (and everything shimmers, because clearly, the world needs glittering earth tones.) The paints are actually very good, it's just that I'm not used to these pigments.