These images show pages from one of my sketchbooks. I worked from a small piece of wood, found amongst the larger pieces, stacked for winter and the wood burner. I didn’t want a detailed pencil drawing, more an atmospheric sketch, so I have used a home made bamboo pen and a small stick dipped into ordinary fountain pen ink. For the first drawings, I made some base colour with pastels and sprayed a thin layer of fixative over it before drawing. On the second page I used bits of a brown paper bag and a small bit from an old ledger (a flea market find) to draw on to.
Laying a base colour in one way or another, removes the pure white paper that can be intimidating, and also adds an extra dimension to the drawing. The “waste not want not” saying that I apply to my fabrics, also plays a part in my use of paper. Paper bags, envelopes and any other packaging, magasine pages, wallpaper, shopping lists and old notebooks can all have a part to play.
jmartandstitch 