Illustrations, Sketches, and Art Supply Reviews


  • Kitaboshi 9500 HB Pencil Review

    Kita-Boshi 9500 HB Pencil and Sketch

    I have gone very, very far down the wooden pencil rabbit hole these last few months. I just purchased a box of “Super Drawing” Kita-boshi 9500 HB Pencils (love that they mention drawing, most just say some form of writing), and they’ve been pretty darn great for drawing and sketching thus far.

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  • Möbius+Ruppert Grenade Brass Bullet Review

    M+R Brass Bullet Handheld Pencil Sharpener Grenade Granite 0604

    I’ve really gotten into pencils lately. First I started playing around with different sized mechanical pencils and leads (0.5 mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9 mm of the Pentel Sharp line mostly), then to 2mm lead and lead holders, then re-discovering Prismacolor Col-Erase Colored Pencils, finally to just embracing the grand daddy of them all, the simple wood encased pencil. I blame this mostly on Caroline Weaver (no relation), the owner of CW Pencils in NYC, and the book she mentioned in her shop, The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski (who also just happens to be a professor at Duke University here in Durham, NC).

    I got a bit obsessed, and I’m just barely getting out of being obsessed. In future posts I’ll go over a few of the different brands of pencil I’ve been using, but the thing I’ve used the most (and kind of fine the most interesting) has been the Möbius+Ruppert Grenade (sometimes called “Granite”) Brass Bullet.

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  • Balloon Girl

    moms know best meme girl balloons

    This is a study, apparently from a meme. I just thought it looked pretty cool, awesome color palette. I wanna grab a whole set of colored pencils now, I’ve really been digging using them lately.

    Took a photo of this because my scanner is insanely awful for color, especially subtle color.

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  • Shelly Johnson

    shelly johnson from twin peaks sketch Mädchen Amick

    This sketch was based off a photo of Mädchen Amick in Twin Peaks. I’ve never actually finished Twin Peaks, and I wanna see the third season and that made for TV Movie.

    This was done in my LEUCHTTURM1917 Plain Journal mainly with my Pentel Pigment Ink xfp5m brush pen, but I added some Prismacolor Col-Erase color since I barely used any white out. If I mess up and have to use white out you can’t really color it anymore.

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  • LEUCHTTURM1917 Plain Journal Review

    LEUCHTTURM1917 Plain Journal Front Cover with Paper Sleeve

    It’s time to try something different in the search for the perfect sketchbook. I want one that’s less a finished art piece, and more a combination of doodles and sketches and just playing with the media. More like a true sketchbook, really. My thoughts were if the paper was thinner, and there was more of it for the price, I’d get a little more out of it and be more willing to put whatever on the page. I’ve had a plain Plain Classic Moleskine Journal before a few times, and I kind of got this effect, so I thought I would try out the LEUCHTTURM1917 A5 Plain Journal.

    There is a LEUCHTTURM1917 Pen Loop attached, this is sold separately (more on that at the bottom of the review).

    It’s got 249 pages, which is 145 more pages than the sketchbook I have been using recently: the Moleskine Art Collection Sketchbook, Large. Assuming you can get each sketchbook for around $22 (that seems about my average at shops) you’re getting an extra sketchbook and a half of room in the LEUCHTTURM1917, right? Well, kinda.

    LEUCHTTURM1917 Plain Journal Back Cover with Paper Sleeve

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  • Frankensteins Monster Head

    Frankenstiens Monster boris karloff Head Sketch with Deleter Screentones

    This sketch of Frank turned out really cool too, so I need to post it as well. Also has Deleter Screentones applied for the halftone effect. For sketches I use the little bits and bobs that I’ve already cut out for other illustrations, it’s about the only way I can allow myself to use them for just a sketch.

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  • 04-12-20

    sketch doodle ink moleskine

    I added a little screentone to this skethcbook page. It seems weird to even do this, almost as a waste since it’s just a sketch. Didn’t remove the redline either, I’ve been using Col-Erase Carmine Red pencils. Going back to wood feels fun, I don’t even hate it yet.

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  • Heads and Graphite

    heads and graphite sketch on moleskine sketchbook paper

    My scanner is awful for pencil rendering sadly, its mainly only good for inks.

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