Left: Sketch on gridded paper using the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. (This is a character actor on "Perry Mason.") Click on the image to view an enlargement.
A lot of my journal pages have bits of gridded paper collaged on to them. Alternately I have a lot of sketches I do on gridded paper which I then tear or cut out and collage onto journal pages.
I'm always getting questions about what type of gridded paper I use and why I do this.
As to why—well that's simple, just because. Because I can. I really like pattern on paper (big hint: I like to prepaint backgrounds on to lots of my journal pages and this is just an extension of that).
But also I think it goes back to being a child and keeping journals in lined "diaries" and other such commercial books because my allowance and experience didn't yet stretch to quality art paper alternatives.
I also like the way there is a "vibration" between positive and negative spaces when you draw on gridded paper. You essentially have several routes to take. Leave the "outline," paint the background, paint the interior. Whatever you do some of the grid remains and influences the perception of the whole, and I love it. It's one of the reasons I sometimes do entire journals on gridded paper. You can see one here, my 2009 International Fake Journal Month Journal.
So working on gridded or lined paper is like comfort food for me.
And when that paper is smooth and slick like the Quattro 8 x 8 grid padded paper it's just heaven to work on with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.
I have several pads of this paper in different sizes, some squarish, some narrow. This sketch was on a sheet trimmed down to 8.5 x 11 inches for a special project.
My stock of gridded paper doesn't end there. I have standard office supply issue gridded pads which are toothier and great for pencil work. Recently I discovered a delightful Japanese notebook at Wet Paint: "Life Vermillion" is what it says on the cover. It's small about 4 x 6 inches and has the most delightful red grid lines.
There is a vast range of Japanese school notebooks that I use—you can find a selection at Wet Paint and some others at JetPens. All of the papers have some interesting line or grid pattern that is fun to sketch over. All are relatively lightweight paper so they are easily collaged onto other pages.
Also on hand I have some soft-covered Moleskine notebooks with tear away gridded pages; some Clairefontaine gridded page notebooks; and Clairefontaine science/lab gridded pages. (I usually don't tear the pages out of the two Clairefontaine books but use them as is. And they are smooth papers that are lovely for ink brush or pen.)
In the meantime, keep your eyes open for gridded note paper and booklets that you might enjoy incorporating into your sketching and journaling. Just because you can.
