Black and White

Posted by webadmin on August 27, 2018 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Black and White

I was told by someone who I thought a fool that liking black and white was a kind of aesthetic? Some people don’t think too hard, never mind, people don’t think most of the time. Starting any artwork requires some drawing: on paper, on canvas, on a computer tablet, on a cave wall, on a toilet wall, whatever. I like using those Chinese brush sets with a black ink (Chromacryl Waterproof Drawing Ink) and a couple of nibs I have had for thirty years. As well, for years I have been collecting etchings and graphics in black and white; considering the politics of the time a little black and white thinking can be helpful.

My choice of paper is cheap. In every dollar shop, reject joint and newsagent can be found inexpensive A3 drawing pads. Of course, I do also use more expensive papers which includes rice paper for lino block printing and rag papers for special works. But they are expensive and framing them with archival mounts under glass has to be considered. For most of the time I use these cheap sketch books and always look to see they are acid free which means that kept in a clean insect free dark cupboard they will last a couple of lifetimes.

It is the spontaneous line work and tone that I enjoy. There is no time to worry about, you are in the moment, working on the spot. Subject matter may vary, perhaps a continuous theme or as in this set just landscapes and still lifes around me, or the inspirations from other artist’s work I have glimpsed. Everything is up for it. I did this book over a couple of days some years ago and put a few of the images in another post; however, I thought to put the whole book into a post as I am continually working on new sets. I cannot understate the marvelous psychological state that can be found in making sketchbooks like this. It relaxes an anxious state, it puts one into the moment, let the future happen, let the past dissolve and of course it is good practice. Use some quality white acrylic as a whiteout – sparingly – better to just keep drawing the mistakes into shadows. Interesting, the sketchbook has a label stating it has 60 pages, but it went to 67, and it cost me $3! Use a hairdryer to speed and secure the drying of pages and prevent sticky spots.

Cheers,

Robert