Friday, April 21, 2006
We've been quiet, we know. Our excuse is that we've been moving our apartment yet again! Yes, we're tried of moving. We've moved the business 4 times and our home 7 times all in the last ten years. No wonder we're tired! That's not even counting helping my parents move out of their old house, where they lived for 30 years, into their new house, which was horrifying enough. And, just before landlord told us we must move out, we "helped" (meaning, we did it) my parents clean out their garage.
Enough with the moving and the spring cleaning already. I just want to stay put and be messy for a while.
However, one good thing about moving is that you're forced to straighten, clean, and be reminded of art supplies you own but haven't played with in quite some time. I packed away all the art supplies for the big move, then was hit by an overwhelming desire to draw. The irony! The dismay! Where are those colored pencils of mine packed? In one of the million boxes marked "art supplies," of course. The one supply not packed away was my Parallel Pens.
I love Parallel Pens, as you may remember. They are a calligraphy tip cartridge pen that you can use as a calligraphy point, or you can draw with the edge for thin fine lines. They take any kind of fountain pen ink, but they'll also draw with thinned watercolors, walnut ink, even, I'm told, thinned acrylic paint. I haven't tried the acrylic paint, yet, because I just am still in love with the way they draw with plain and simple drawing ink. I love to blend the colors in the nib or on the paper, and add a bit of water for a sketchy look. Want to see a recent Parallel Pen doodle of mine?
This was done on tracing paper, so the colors blend nicely together without becoming a big blobby mess. Then, I like to collage my drawings on top of found papers and failed collages, using that background as an active surface.
So, if you haven't played with your Parallel Pens lately, pull them out and give them a refresher session. Remember how wonderful they feel to draw and write with? And, if you haven't tried them yet, you really must. You'll like them, I'm almost sure of it.
What kind of paper works best with ink drawings? Well, I love vellum and tracing paper, but sometimes that translucent look just doesn't feel right.Plus, the ink does take a long time to dry on these slick papers. We've discovered that the paper we use in our own Tree Hugger Save the Earth pads is just wonderful for pen and ink drawing. We use the same paper in our Tree Saver Hard Bound Journals and in our Tree Hugger Journals, too. It's a nice paper for just about any media I've tried: pen and ink, pastel, colored pencil, charcoal and even light watercolor wash. And, the paper in our Save the Earth pads and our Tree Saver Journals is 100% post consumer recycled, too. (The paper in our Tree Hugger Journals is 50% sugar cane, 30% post consumer recycled, 50% recycled.)
So, what have you been making with your art supplies lately? If you've been using any supplies you purchased from Turtle Arts, like collage supplies, rubber stamps, and other goodnesses, we'd love to see what you're making. We'd like to start featuring art by our customers on our blog. If we use some of your art on our blog, we'll send you a free gift to thank you, and give you a link on the blog to your own personal or business web site too. To submit art, email me a URL where I can go see, or if you don't have digital files, perhaps we can borrow your art, photograph it, and safely return it to you. Of course, if you're making books, we'd also love to have the chance to consider them for dog eared magazine, as well. (Issue 16 is being prepared for mailing right now, in case you've been wondering!)
Well, we'd better get back to packing and cleaning. You'll have to do the artmaking for us this week, so have a happy and creative end of April!
peace and art,
Kerrie (and Scott)
www.turtlearts.com
and www.dogearedmagazine.com
Enough with the moving and the spring cleaning already. I just want to stay put and be messy for a while.
However, one good thing about moving is that you're forced to straighten, clean, and be reminded of art supplies you own but haven't played with in quite some time. I packed away all the art supplies for the big move, then was hit by an overwhelming desire to draw. The irony! The dismay! Where are those colored pencils of mine packed? In one of the million boxes marked "art supplies," of course. The one supply not packed away was my Parallel Pens.
I love Parallel Pens, as you may remember. They are a calligraphy tip cartridge pen that you can use as a calligraphy point, or you can draw with the edge for thin fine lines. They take any kind of fountain pen ink, but they'll also draw with thinned watercolors, walnut ink, even, I'm told, thinned acrylic paint. I haven't tried the acrylic paint, yet, because I just am still in love with the way they draw with plain and simple drawing ink. I love to blend the colors in the nib or on the paper, and add a bit of water for a sketchy look. Want to see a recent Parallel Pen doodle of mine?
This was done on tracing paper, so the colors blend nicely together without becoming a big blobby mess. Then, I like to collage my drawings on top of found papers and failed collages, using that background as an active surface.
So, if you haven't played with your Parallel Pens lately, pull them out and give them a refresher session. Remember how wonderful they feel to draw and write with? And, if you haven't tried them yet, you really must. You'll like them, I'm almost sure of it.
What kind of paper works best with ink drawings? Well, I love vellum and tracing paper, but sometimes that translucent look just doesn't feel right.Plus, the ink does take a long time to dry on these slick papers. We've discovered that the paper we use in our own Tree Hugger Save the Earth pads is just wonderful for pen and ink drawing. We use the same paper in our Tree Saver Hard Bound Journals and in our Tree Hugger Journals, too. It's a nice paper for just about any media I've tried: pen and ink, pastel, colored pencil, charcoal and even light watercolor wash. And, the paper in our Save the Earth pads and our Tree Saver Journals is 100% post consumer recycled, too. (The paper in our Tree Hugger Journals is 50% sugar cane, 30% post consumer recycled, 50% recycled.)
So, what have you been making with your art supplies lately? If you've been using any supplies you purchased from Turtle Arts, like collage supplies, rubber stamps, and other goodnesses, we'd love to see what you're making. We'd like to start featuring art by our customers on our blog. If we use some of your art on our blog, we'll send you a free gift to thank you, and give you a link on the blog to your own personal or business web site too. To submit art, email me a URL where I can go see, or if you don't have digital files, perhaps we can borrow your art, photograph it, and safely return it to you. Of course, if you're making books, we'd also love to have the chance to consider them for dog eared magazine, as well. (Issue 16 is being prepared for mailing right now, in case you've been wondering!)
Well, we'd better get back to packing and cleaning. You'll have to do the artmaking for us this week, so have a happy and creative end of April!
peace and art,
Kerrie (and Scott)
www.turtlearts.com
and www.dogearedmagazine.com
