 
The incomplete graphic novella poetica. Hoping to complete it this Spring and publication by year’s end if not before. The drawings are 90% direct observation while out sketching in public and urban environments. The poetic text is mine. Medium in various inks and Ballpoint, fountain pens as well as  pigmented pens on several different stock, ledger paper, Tomoe River paper.
What an evening of music! Went to the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on Northwestern’s campus to hear the Contemporary Music Ensemble perform music by Steve Reich with Mr. Reich performing in the first piece, Clapping Music, accompanied by Co-director Alan Pierson and members of the ensemble. Also performed, City Life, and the trance inducing Music for 18 Musicians. Perfect to draw along with.
 
 
Back working in a Seven Seas Tomoe River Paper sketchbook. Brought along the usual suspects, a couple fountain pens gassed up with Platinum Carbon ink, and the full range of greys by Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens.
 
 
 
Recent addition to the dinning/cafe scene. Has good affordable food, including better baked goods tha the corporate alternative, coffee and tea and beer. Good daytime and nighttime lighting. Wifi. Comfortable seating for groups, communal arrays, and individuals at tall tables, lower dining tables and lounge seating. I’ve been hanging out here to much lately. The overhead potted lights create great light-dark contrasts. Varied crowds. Faber-Castell Pitt Pens of all sorts, different white pens and several fountain pens all using Platinum Carbon Ink. Strathmore a Tomoe River Paper.
Just some heads. Some witnessed and drawn on site. Some started in public and finished later. Some are from sculpture. Some just made up. Various inks on various sketchbooks.
Broke fast at Prairie Joe’s in Evanston this morning. Caught Marshall at work behind the counter. Back from SCAD where he focused on sequential art, Marshall looks to ply his skills in tattooing if not animation. All the best young man.
There are faster mediums besids felt tip markers; watercolor, for one, can prove quite expedient in capable hands. But I return to ink not only because I love it’s presence on paper, that it’s minimal aqueous nature means I can give fairly heavy coverage without buckling and over saturating the paper, and the range just within the shades of grey, that lend dramatic value statements, plus the bold and subtle stroke potential can convey the mark vocabulary of medium such as charcoal, graphite and grease pencils, especially when working on on a wide array of drawing surfaces.
Over the years on this blog and in my posts on Facebook and other blogs, I have demonstrated that versatility especially when incorporating my hands to manipulate and broaden the mark making capability of ink mediums. When felt tip markers are combined with ink from ballpoints, gel pens, and fountain pens (a personal favorite) on paper where sizing and texture can be taken advantage of, the range becomes rich enough to suggest charcoal, watercolor, crayon, and helps articulate and imply surfaces as diverse as shiny metal, weathered wood grain, fabric, leather, beard stubble, satin shirts and silky hair.
I personally enjoy drawings that not only capture the look and feel of different surfaces and optical effects, but evidence the means by which the human hand plays a role in delighting and convincing the eye.
The above sketch, drawn from life, was executed with Pitt Artist Brush pens – Cold Grey IV, Warm Grey IV, Cold Grey VI, Black, and White. Fountain pens Pelikan M205 medium nib, Pelikan M215 bold nib, Platinum Carbon ink, Â on a Strathmore tan sketchbook.