Roz Wound Up

Just Because the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen Project Friday Is Over Doesn't Mean You Can Stop Using It

Left: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch on that blue paper in the journal from England. Approx. 11.75 inches tall. Cropped a bit from the square original because of scanner size. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Sometimes I finish a pen sketch and I just can't bring myself to cover it up with paint. I'm weak. Maybe too sentimental. Definitely foolish. It isn't always the great sketches I want to save, that's the only thing I can say in my defense.

When you don't want to paint over a sketch you probably should, just because it will be good for you.

But, that said, I think you could just as simply do another sketch, and another, and another, in rapid fire, until you arrive at one you will paint over.

It's a great way to up your sketching production. Always a good thing. Now that's something we all should do.

If you were following along with Project Friday and using your PPBP don't put it away. You work isn't finished here.

(Sketch from a dog park photo of a very old Boston Terrier, up on my computer screen, while I sat back without my glasses.)

Your Own Personal Sketch Out—Sketching in Waiting Rooms

Left: Sketch of an old man across from me in a waiting room. Staedtler Pigment Liner pen in a journal I made with Nideggen paper. (Page approx. 6 x 9 inches.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

One of the advantages of always carrying your journal with you is that you can always take a moment to sketch—especially if you are in a waiting room with other people (or objects—sometimes it's fun to sketch furniture!).

Typically no one notices when I sketch, but on this day I think the man's wife who was sitting at right angles to him on my right, noticed. Just when I finished capturing most of this she got him up and took him out into the hall and left him there, to wait for their transportation. I could see him through the windows which line the hall at the entrance to the waiting room. She came back into the room to continue working on her crossword puzzle.

I kept working for about another minute on my drawing, fussing, making certain lines stronger, darkening some of the shading. There wasn't any point in getting my watercolors out because he was gone—and my ten minutes of sketching were over because I was called out of the waiting room.

It's great practice to try to get something down on paper quickly—it doesn't always have to be a bird.

Go have your own personal sketch out today, wherever your day takes you.

Great Hardbound Art Journals New from Strathmore—Perfect for Visual Journaling

Strathmore paper company has just released its new line of Hardbound Art Journals.

They are fabulous. I have never been this excited about a commercially bound sketchbook. They are beautifully made and contain great Strathmore papers.

I'm most excited about the 500 series Mixed Media books. When Strathmore released this paper in their wire bound journals I was an instant fan. I begged to get it released as a sheet so that I could bind my own books with it. It is now available in sheets and I have bound it into journals myself.

To see some of my mixed media work on this paper see "Great Paper News: Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper Is Available in Sheets." More work can be seen on this paper at these links: More on Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper in Sheets; Still More on Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper…; Even More on Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper…; Another Note about Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper…; Yep More On Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper…; and Yep Even More on Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Paper…. 

However, I couldn't be happier that they have now created such a beautiful book using that paper. Mixed media artists who work with wet media and don't bind their own books, and who don't want wire bound journals can now enjoy this wonderful paper in a hard covered book. 

There are four types of hardbound art journals in the line. One is filled with recycled drawing paper; one is filled with watercolor paper; there's the 500 series Mixed Media paper in the third type; and you can also get either gray or tan drawing paper in the last group of "toned sketch" papers.

The toned papers come in either a 5.5 x 8.5 inch or an 8.5 x 11 inch size with either gray or tan paper. ($17.99 and $26.09 respectively.) Both toned papers have just the right amount of visible fiber inclusions that gives them a lovely look and will enhance the depth of the background of your artwork. The toned papers are smooth enough for working on in ink, but have enough tooth to take dry media exceptionally well. Both are 80 lb. weight papers. (See the end of this post for more details on these books.)

The 500 Series Mixed Media paper is a 90 lb. paper and is available in those sizes as well as an 11 x 14 inch size. (Prices: $20.00, $29.99, and $38.99. Even if I value my labor at zero, my costs for materials to make the 8.5 x 11 inch book using this paper are greater than Strathmore is selling theirs for.)

For people who like to use pen and watercolor in a casebound book that is in PORTRAIT format the 500 Series Mixed Media line is just the book for you!  

The watercolor paper version of these art journals comes in the two larger sizes as well as the small version which is bound on the 5.5 inch side to create a landscape format. (Prices: $20.99, $29.99, and $38.99.) The 140 lb. weight Strathmore 400 series watercolor paper is used in these books. This paper is going to stand up to the abuse and use from watercolorists whether they are sitting in their studio, sketching downtown, or sitting in a forest.

The recycled drawing series comes in all three portrait orientation sizes. ($17.99, $26.09, and $29.99) The paper is an 80 lb. weight.

I was sent a prototype of the watercolor book (which has a different covering than its final covering) and have seen all the other subgroups now as well. I have been working with the watercolor book and I am pleased that the glue joins between the signatures have stayed together and not pulled apart. 

All the books are bound cleanly and tightly with Smyth-sewn bindings that will stand up to use in the field. The spines are beautifully formed with decorative headbands at the head and tail. The books open flat so that you can work easily across the gutter—which is what you should be able to do in a sewn journal. 

One of the best things about these books is that in all four categories, paper surfaces have been matched across the spreads so that you will be working on the same type of surface all the way across the spread. (I've tested several commercially bound journals where this isn't the case.)

My only quibble about these books is that I really had hoped Strathmore would use bookcloth over the cover boards. That just is my personal preference for when I hold books in my hand and work.

Yet as I work in these books, I admit I'm being won over by their covering which is a chocolate brown synthetic latex-saturated paper embossed with a leather-grain pattern. The matte finish on this covering paper adds to the deep richness of the texture while making the books comfortable to hold. They are neither slippery nor sticky. There is no chemical smell associated with any component of these books. (As you know that would be a problem for me.) There is just the wonderful Strathmore paper smell.

Note: A couple days after I published this post a reader wrote in wondering about the latex process on the cover so I requested more information. It is indeed as I assumed a synthetic latex process. Allergies should not be an issue. I have included the word "synthetic" in the above paragraph to clarify for new readers.

Since I have only had the books for a couple days (except for the watercolor one) I don't know how well the covering will wear. I'll definitely report back on this aspect as I work my way through them. The covering appears hardy and the color and texture both seem selected to minimize marring and scuffing, so I'm very optimistic.

The advertising/product label wraps around the front cover and is easily removed, leaving the cover unmarred or discolored by any residual adhesive.

Besides being so wonderfully well-made each book contains a great Strathmore paper. It's truly a great new line of hard bound art journals. When I opened the box the delicious Strathmore paper smell was right there. 

I have been told that these books will be shipping to stores over the next 3 weeks. You should be able to get them in all the usual places. Call your local vendors to check on when they might be arriving locally.

If you are looking for a commercially bound art or sketch journal I cannot recommend these books highly enough. You really need to select one of these journals that works for the media you like to use, and run it through its paces. If you are a non-bookbinder your quest for a great journal might be over. 

But Wait, There's More—You Know I Had To Do This…

While the journals made with the Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media paper and 400 Series Watercolor paper are made for wet media, you can't really believe that I would get a journal with toned-paper and not try to experiment with it did you?

Left: Here's a PPBP sketch of Gert, on the gray paper. I then painted her using gouache, sometimes in watery washes (bottom portion of her body), sometimes with heavier washes. I did a little restating of the lines near her facial features. You can see that the water caused this dry media paper to buckle slightly, but it is totally within my tolerances—the page is not deformed and you can still work on the backside of the page. Please note that you can see the flecks of the paper in this scan, but you will also see blue paint spatters which were added by me. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Almost as soon as the books were out of the box I was sketching Gert with my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (PPBP). Those of you who work with this pen know that it gives bold, rich black lines.

Well I'm excited to tell you that both the tan and the gray toned papers have great opacity, even when you are using bold dark ink. There is no bleeding into the paper, and no show through of lines when I turned the page. I can use my PPBP to my heart's content on these pages without a care. 

But of course I then had to experiment further.

Strathmore states clearly that the Toned Sketch Art Journals are for use with light and dark media "including graphite, chalk, charcoal, sketching stick, markers, china markers, colored pencils, pens and white gel pens." 

Strathmore makes no claims that these books are for wet media.

Left: Another sketch of Gert, using PPBP on the tan toned paper, followed with many layers of gouache, just to push and see how much I could work the paper—which was a lot, as long as I didn't scrub the paper when wet. You'll also see that I'm trying out colored pencil—top left. There you can get a sense of the grain texture of the paper through the pencil strokes. Also I tested the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Calligraphy pen. Typically ink sets up from this pen faster than any I use. On this paper if I scrubbed it immediately with my waterbrush I could get a little bit of the ink to lift. This didn't happen with the PPBP lines. If you sketch at a moderate speed your favorite waterproof ink pens will probably be dry and set before you do anything as silly as paint on a dry media paper. Writing on either of these papers was not a problem—the ink dried and did not smear even if I moved my hand across the ink lines almost right away.

So of course I painted on them with gouache. Just because a manufacturer doesn't specify something can be used on a paper doesn't mean you shouldn't try. You should always try. You may be pleasantly surprised. And I was.

The paper, at 80 lb. weight is going to buckle when it gets wet, and you can see that it did from the scans, but the paper buckled far less than I expected it would as a drawing paper; and far less than several art papers I currently paint on all the time.

I found that I could make light translucent washes or heavier applications of gouache with no problem on this paper (beyond that little bit of buckling). By managing my layering, and by working when the paper had a chance to dry a bit before going in for additional work (and by "dry a bit" I mean I was working on other areas and came back to this area in under 2 minutes), I found that there wasn't any disruption of the paper surface.

Left: Reverse side of the tan page on which I painted Gert with lots of layers of paint. Here I painted some freehand clouds. First I painted over and over the area with a light peach color. Then I went back in with blue and white. In the bottom left of the cloud section where I repeatedly moved across the paper while it was wet and the paint was wet you can see some pilling is beginning. The paper surface lasted longer than I thought a drawing paper should, and it's easy to back up from that point now that I know where that point is. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

It was only when I repeatedly stroked or scrubbed an area, or applied wet on wet paint layers multiple times that I got any pilling of the surface paper.

Additionally the buckling from wetting did not prevent me from working on the reverse side of the sheet.

Left: A PPBP sketch of Gert with colored pencil additions on the gray toned paper. I didn't start with a color plan (which I usually do when I work in colored pencil). Instead I just started layering on the colors seeing how they would blend, and how many layers I could get the paper to accept before the tooth of the paper refused to accept more color. The paper was exceptionally receptive to more and more layers. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I also tried out my acrylic Montana marker on the toned papers. Originally the pen wasn't working well on the tan paper—because I didn't have the ink flowing yet. But once the ink got flowing the lines made wonderful marks on these papers. (That's the red lettering you see in the images.)

My beloved Staedtler Pigment Liner also loves working on both these toned papers—even in the smaller nib sizes. I didn't have any skipping, just smooth writing.

So if you don't mind a little buckling, and want a commercially made sketchbook with toned paper that you can use with light washes of gouache (and you know how to control your water and paint or just enjoy experimenting) I can tell you that there is some fun to be had with these toned paper books.

If you're only interested in dry media then you should have no hesitation about buying these toned paper books for use with all the media Strathmore recommends. I found them particularly fun for working in with colored pencil.

Note: I am not an employee or paid spokesperson of Strathmore. I've used Strathmore papers all of my working life. Strathmore creates dependable and elegant papers (not everyone can do both) that perform with predictable and delicious results time after time—something you learn to appreciate when you have a deadline. I am a fan of their papers. I am a fan of the care, craftsmanship, and attention to detail they have put into this new line of journals. They listened to what artists wanted in a journal and responded to those needs and wants. I'm excited to tell you about them. Seek Strathmore Hardbound Art Journals out and put them through your creative paces.

Hairdos, Noses, Ears—You Know: Everything about Sketching

Above: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch with gouache layers on blue paper (see left side of image for paper color). Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Have you ever noticed how on TV some shows, even shows that you believe must have a large budget EVERYONE has the same hairstyle? Sometimes all the actors, regardless of gender look as if they've walked through the same wind tunnel.

I know some of this is related to what's in style in the broader culture at the time. But part of this phenomenon is also simply "the" style of the leading stylist. Sometimes instead of giving everyone a haircut based on what their character would do a stylist gives the hairdo he or she think is needed. It's not the same thing at all. 

I'm was watching one of those shows the other night and when I started sketching yet another man with the same hairdo I couldn't stop laughing. 

But then I guess it's working because the spiky hairstyle is what got me to stop and want to sketch in the first place—that and noses and ears.

In our final memory drawing class we did a slew of stuff, but one thing we did was play a "parlor game" where you have a folded sheet of paper and someone draws a nose on the first panel and passes it left. That person has 30 seconds to look at the nose, fold over the panel and redraw the nose from memory. Then the sheet of paper gets passed along again. This time the only reference for the next participant is the previous participant's interpretation of that nose. And so it goes. (There were 9 of us each starting a sheet and passing it on.)

Well when asked to draw a nose, any nose, of course I asked, "should there be any context? any part of the face?" It was left up to us.

So when asked to draw a nose of course I drew Adam Goldberg's nose. (At the link scroll down to the final images of him in profile, that's the nose I drew.) After passing through eighteen 30-second interpretations the nose derived from the nose I drew didn't even look like the nose on the park ranger in Yogi Bear!

It's a fun thing to try.

But I'd rather draw real noses—speaking of which Adam Goldberg is on a new cop show "NYC-22" which is on Fridays I believe. I'm not sucked into it yet after only a couple episodes (and too many characters for me to care about) and it's nothing like the fabulous show he was in called "the Unusuals" that was cancelled (where all the characters were immediately interesting), but I will continue to watch. I love opportunities to draw noses with character. Or ears.

Get a long, long sheet of paper and fold it into panels so that all the folds peak on the same side of the sheet (and therefore each panel can just be folded away out of view). Have everyone start a sheet with the leftmost panel and pass it on. After 30 seconds the "reference" has to be folded out of view and a remembered nose is drawn on the next blank panel. Then pass it to the next player. Keep the drawing simple, with bold lines. (A thick pen or the PPBPB would be ideal.) See what happens. 

Another Portrait on Blue Paper

Right: A loose Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch covered with even looser layers of gouache, on blue laid paper. From an approximately 12 inch square journal. Clipped in scanning to save time. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Here's another example of working with opaque layers of gouache in the blue-paper journal I got from England. The man's face at the left shows you what the ink looks like on the paper without paint.

I'm using this journal to experiment with color combinations I don't usually use (like greens in flesh tones). It's as if I'm taking a vacation.

During this time I was also doing my fake journal for 2012 and I painted a lot of clouds, directly with gouache on Niddeggen. This makes a nice switch.

Below: A detail from the page showing how the paint was applied on the face, allowing some of the texture of the page to come through. This is the back side of the sheet so the texture is a rough felt-like surface which you can see in the unpainted portions, specifically the man's face. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Why I Love Toned Papers

Right: Sketch of a birch tree on the outdoor plaza near the University of Minnesota Alumni Association plaza. (Approx 6 x 9 inches, Nideggen paper, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist's Calligraphy pen and washes of gouache.) Click on the image to view an enlargement. 

The other day I was walking home from the Bell Museum. It was late in the day. A rainy day had turned into a brilliantly sunny one. The light bouncing off the side of the trees struck me. I had to stop.

Even though I didn't take time to really push the white (by letting my pan of white get softer so I could apply more paint) I fee that the paper and paint contrast enough to easily remind me of what I saw. And I could do this in only a couple minutes.

I love that about toned papers.

More from the Blue-Paper Journal

Left: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch and gouache on blue laid paper. From an approximately 12 inch square journal. Clipped in scanning to save time. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

This paper in the English journal is thick enough that you can paint on it without the paper buckling, even though it isn't a wet media paper. It's fun to paint on even though there is a lot of drag on the brush because of the paper's texture.

THe blue in the eyes and at the very edges and base of the page are all the original blue of the paper. The other blues are added paint.

I was working with Schmincke gouache except that I had M.Graham titanium white already out.

I was using a filbert brush to make flat strokes, turnning it on its side to make more rounded strokes.

Some of my black in lines are still visible (see the outline of the iris in each eye. But other times I'm covering the ink as in the collar where I decided I didn't like the "plaid shading."

Catching Up on My Blog Reading: Bill Sharp

Bill Sharp is a painter who posts paintings (including watercolors) on one blog (Bill Sharp—Paintings) and his lovely watercolor and ink sketches on another blog: Sketchbook Meditations. I suggest you take a your next visual break with Bill. (Visual Breaks are those times when you can't stand working at the computer one moment longer and need to see something human, and don't want to look at videos of YouTube Cats!)

In the best of times I get to visit few blogs. I'm always rushing to finish some work on the computer, write a blog post and then get on to the next job. I much prefer to look at art in books.

In the past several weeks I've been having problems with my internet connection. This week when I got back on line I ended up back at Bill's blogs. I love seeing how he handles space in his landscapes and manages to turn a jumble of vegetation into a recognizable visual design (landscape painters always inspire me).

But I also love his simple pen and watercolor sketches which seem to be effortless and not fussy.

That's my word for today, well two words, "not fussy." I'm going to go try and "be" that right now.

If you have some time today for a visual break go check out Bill's work. He has a lovely white dog named Miki. I don't think Miki gets drawn enough.

OK, so maybe that's just me…but you'll find lots of lovely work to inspire your own "not fussy" day. 

(I added him to the blog list at the base of the left column to remind myself [and you] to visit Bill more.)

Outsider Art: James Edward Deeds

Christina Trevino sent me a link to the Electric Pencil video on James Edward Deeds. It's a fascinating recounting of how the drawings of this mental institution inmate survived being tossed in the garbage. The drawings are haunting, the background details leave you wanting to know more. This is really outsider art to the tenth power. It is an interesting little film and worth spending the 15 or so minutes it runs. Deeds worked on ledger paper from the asylum he was at. He was institutionalized at age 17 and lived there until he was released to a nursing home for the final 10 years of his life. (If I did the math correctly he died at age 79 after spending 52 years in the asylum and 10 years in a nursing home.)

I found it interesting that he didn't draw contemporary fashions on his people. Well, that's just one thing I found interesting. Most touching, and the important thing that comes through in this short video, is the need for a creative mind to keep producing, despite other constraints. Check out the video to learn more.

Project Friday: Getting Used to the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen—Part 5 of a 5 (at least) Part Series

Left: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch on Gutenberg paper with acrylic paint over the sketch. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Today I wanted to write a little bit about using wet media over your Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (PPBP) sketches.

I've written a ton of posts on this topic because I do this all the time so I have plenty of examples to show you. Some of the images I'm showing today (or giving links to) you've already seen, but I wanted to call your attention to them in the context of the current series of using the PPBP.

Why paint over the brush lines and obscure them once you have gone to the trouble (actually it's no trouble) of working with the brush pen to begin with?

First, some people like to work in pen and ink and I wanted you to know that with the PPBP you can work with wet media over it. You'll want to keep in mind that on various papers the sizing will float any ink for a little bit (and some for a very long time indeed) so if you are going to paint over your PPBP lines, whether or not you want them to still be visible, you need to take the paper you're working on into consideration.

If the concept of how sizing impacts your sketching and use of wet media with ink is new to you please read "It's Not Waterproof until It's Waterproof."

Because papers vary so much I suggested you do your initial PPBP experiments in a Fabriano Venezia journal. I use this brand of journal for my studio journal and it is a great surface to draw on with this pen, but it is also fun to paint on. The ink of the PPBP dries almost immediately on this paper and you're good to go to start painting in watercolor, gouache, or acrylic. I knew you would have the best chance for early experimental success on this paper—and not have to worry about what other factors might be getting in your way.

You can see partially finished gouache paintings that are built up on a base of PPBP lines at this link. My goal there was to use the gouache to completely cover the lines. The lines were only meant to be a "skeleton" or guide for my later painting.

Often when I set out to do this type of work I fall in love with the lines on the paper and don't want to cover them with paint. If this happens to you consider working in transparent watercolor and retaining your lines. Alternately you can simply take a photograph or scan of your original line art before you dive in with the paint.

Over time, I do encourage you to dive in with opaque wet media just because it is so much fun, but also because it's good to let go of our line drawings sometimes. We can always make more! It's a good way to get over being precious about your work.

Painting with opaque media over you brush pen lines will also free your sketching up. You will come to understand that you can "correct" or adjust even the most awkward of bold ink lines you might have placed on your page. You'll sketch more boldly knowing you can go to paint. It gives you more options.

Today's Project 

For this weekend, or week if you can, I'd like you to keep making your sketches, but to keep in mind that you will be painting over the sketch when you are done. Do this with watercolor, gouache, or acrylic—whatever you are comfortable with.

Here are some questions to keep in mind as you work, and some exercises:

1. Think "Which lines can I leave out because I'm going to come back in and add painted areas?" Review my comments about the gargoyle sketch at the bottom of Part 3 in this series. In that image you'll see areas of watercolor which I repeatedly darkened to create shading, areas not enclosed by pen lines. 

2. Review the image I painted of the angry woman in the first post of this series. You'll see that I'm not trying to add any shading lines (crosshatching or squiggles) in that sketch at all. I have some pen lines indicating segments of strands of hair, but all the other lines in this image are simply the edges of features I wanted to be hard. I have only the thinest suggestion of a partial ink line of the cheekline to the ear, because I knew I was going to add paint there in shading. I could have scaled back even more in my lines, omitting the lines under her eyes for instance, but I really wanted the hard edge there to accentuate that she was wrinkled. As you sketch, when you know you are going to use transparent washes, plan what you can leave out. One of the bits I think works best in this sketch is the left side (our left) of her nose, where there is no line down to the lip, but only color for shadows.

3. Experiment with simply stroking color over the pen lines as I did in this dog sketch, and then adding some additional shading with light washes. Note the lips on this dog, how I bring the shadow up around the lip. It would be too "strident" to have pen lines shading here, so instead, knowing that I'm going to paint, I omit any lines there and make the paint do the work. I am suggesting you broadly stroke color over your pen lines in random ways because it's fun and you can have the experience just playing with the paint and seeing how the lines stay put. You could of course work with the PPBP on a pre-painted page. The bold lines the pen makes totally hold their own on a variety of backgrounds.

Left: Here's a page in my blue paper journal where I worked in PPBP and then went over the image with some basic gouache layers, just to add a couple more layers of value and to test how white the white would appear (too white with this range of values, but that's why I experiment). The background was painted in to obscure a previous sketch that wasn't working and to isolate the head. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

4. Experiment with toned papers. You can pre-paint your pages first with acrylic inks or diluted acrylic paints (you want your paints diluted enough so that you don't have an acrylic film on your page which will repell the ink of your PPBP). As you've seen in recent posts from the blue-paper journal the PPBP can stand on its own on even a dark surface, but it's also really fun to paint over the lines and have the color cover the ink.

5. Make your line drawing simple and then add only shadows with transparent washes. This is a good way to get familiar with adding paint to your sketches. Do several sketches like this in rapid succession, pausing only to use a different color for shading. At the end of your session look over your pieces and decide which cool temperature color mixes you like for shadow work. From those colors you can work up an entire mini-palette of colors with which to do more finished pieces. You'll find triads and complementary pairs that you enjoy working in; color families you can't live without.

6. Experiment with other media such as watersoluble pastels. I do a lot of sketches with the PPBP which I then cover with StabiloTones or NeoColor IIs. You can find my method by looking under "StabiloTones" and "colored pencils" in the search engine for this blog. There are tons of examples of what I do with these items.

Left: A sketch of a bantam that you've seen on the blog before. I started with a PPBP sketch and then worked up layers of StabiloTone over the ink lines. Very few of the internal ink lines are left visible, but I do allow the black lines to appear at any edges where I need crisp contrast because I typically don't use black pigment. This is in a journal I made with Gutenberg paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

7. Experiment with a variety of brushes on a favorite wet media paper. You want to use a paper you enjoy working on with wet media. Then you want to make your sketch with your brain editing back the lines that you put down because you know you are going to add paint. Then when you go in with paint use brushes that you normally don't use. If you always use rounds, use a flat. If you never use a fan, pick one up. The idea is to do broad washes, not fussy ones. Mix your value on your palette and hit it with one line (see the first link example of the lab image in the next exercise). Broad bold brush strokes that define form and provide local color and shadow but don't necessarily "stay within the lines" work great with the boldness of the crisp ink line the PPBP provides.

8. Experiment on a variety of paper types. In this PPBP sketch of a lab on Stonehenge you can see I've added a little bit of color. While I enjoy painting on Stonehenge it is a printmaking paper and not a watercolor paper. It might not be a paper that suits every watercolorist. Gather a selection of papers on which you enjoy working. If you've already done the experiments suggested in Part 4 of this series you've already gathered and tested some papers with your PPBP. Now you'll be testing your favorite wet media on those papers, over the PPBP lines. Make a sketch and immediately go to paint over it. Do the lines bleed at all on the paper? A lot? A little? Only in certain areas? If the ink bleeds at all set the drawing aside for a couple minutes and keep coming back to it to test the lines with a clean wet brush every 2 minutes or so. In that way you'll discover how long it takes for the ink to dry on that paper. Two minutes? Ten minutes? Longer? What is acceptable to you? For me, because I sketch quickly and want to go to watercolor or gouache immediately I need papers that absorb the inks I use quickly. As you read in the "waterproof" post I provided a link to earlier, some of our favorite papers may change from batch to batch. And some may have idiocyncracies with which you can live. You'll only find this out by doing these experiments, working the way you want to work, in the conditions you typically work in (e.g., a dry environment, a humid environment, etc.).

That's quite a lot of experiments for a weekend or a week, so I know this will be something that you can come back to over time. What I would encourage you to do is to try your favorite wet media with the PPBP for several days in a row before switching to a different wet media (or watersoluble media). Spend a good hour or more each day for 5 or more days just focusing on how you can best use the PPBP with that favorite media before you go off to explore another wet media with it. You want to see what you can do with a medium before you move to the next one. 

In this way you will develop a familiarity with your tools and media.

Have fun with the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it.

I had hoped several weeks ago to make a video of me sketching with it doing some of the things I have been writing about. It just wasn't possible. But I still have plans to do that and will keep you posted. In the meantime keep working with that pen!