Scratch, scratch
Posted: June 18, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized 20 CommentsI spent a glorious half hour sitting outside after breakfast, reading David Gentleman’s book My Town and admiring the wonderful variety of his sketches, the wit in his writing and the glimpses of London that he captures in so many fascinating ways. I limit myself to only a few pages at a time so that I can properly read the captions and absorb the details of each sketch. Some are quickly drawn with a minimum of strokes, others are more elaborate — created as private commissions or for commercial use — but all are worth studying, for their composition, use of limited colour, and most of all — for the way he uses line. When my daily dose was complete, I was inspired to pick up a dip pen and make some marks of my own in a small sketchbook. I used an ink that I now realize was not permanent, so the thing is a bit of a mess, but what I enjoyed the most was deep black of the ink and the scratch of the nib on the dry paper.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Nice work! I use an 1800s dip pen and steel nibs to write with. I do love a good pen, good ink, and the whole experience. Color and ink are delightful, and starting with ink, moving to watercolor and then back to ink, has a dancelike element to it.
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You’re so right about that dance. And Mr. Gentleman does it so well!! Sounds like you have a nice pen for drawing too.
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I do have a nice pen. Sterling silver repousse! And homemade iron gall ink. I love using old things as this. Don’t know why. 🙃
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And Alice got in the painting, too!
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She sure did. She’s always somewhere at my feet.
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Beautiful work!
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Thanks so much Beth!
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Nice work. If I ever figure out how to do it I will post my work on Instagram
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I am unable to reply to your page any more. I wanted to tell you that David Gentleman and Paul Hogarth are two of my drawing heroes.
Lee Kline
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Lee, you just replied so it works! I had a feeling you would be a fan of David Gentleman too.
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Glad to hear the scratching was from the pen and not Alice ….
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That’s what I was expecting too.
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I thought of that as I was writing the title to the post. Alice gets meds to avoid all of that mess. A skunk was bad enough for this year. We don’t need fleas or ticks!
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Another excellent book by an artist is Graham Green Country by Paul Hogarth. Paul travels to the locations of the Graham Green novels and gives his impressions and does pen and wash sketches. Available cheaply second hand. Highly recommended.
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I looked up his work Doug. Amazing stuff and I am going to took for his books too. Thanks so much for sharing this!
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Good Afternoon dear Shari,
Very beautiful sketch and very colorful. Also thanks for sharing knowledge about David Gentleman’s book My Town.
Your sketches are always pleasant to look at and inspiring too.
Blessings
Uma
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Many thanks my friend.
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This book is an excellent find, thank you for sharing! I have been studying Treasury of American Pen & Ink Illustration 1881-1938 by Fridolf Johnson. I too have enjoyed slowly reading just a page or two a day with my morning coffee and really seeing how these masters use line and stroke to great such vivid expression.
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That sounds like a great one too. I will have to look this up!
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Nice sketch. I decided I’m gonna do some plien aire acrylic paintings of my Hostas and Garden. Monet had Water Lillies, and I have Hostas. They are both very beautiful distinguished plants.
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