Ball point pen...

 I write here so little and I am sure this page is viewed just as little but here I am anyway. I was thinking an

Bout my drawings. These last few pages I have return to ball point pen. I am using bid pen refills inside pens I have made from wood. The drawings are mostly a combination of spirograph and stencils. I look back to what is always loved to make as a kid. Art or not. Not art that will make me wealthy or an internet star, ( which seems to be what many people desire).  i don't think I ever Left the world of op art.

Roller Ball pen

 

For years and years I have drawn almost exclusively with a rapid o graph pen. Over time I have become tired of the expense an hassle with the pen. This week, a vacation week, I have been using a baron fig squire roller ball pen. I am not totally sure I like the look of the wider line but I stick with it for more pages and see if it can be my regular drawing pen.

Lines

 I have been working to capture a particular line pattern l have seen on some creative instagram posts. I have wanted to develop my own take on it.  Since I started this post this Morning I have run some errands and prepared four vanity drawers for painting. So back to my note book and coloring book.

 

These are the two Images are samples. l think that the ballpoint pen lines are more successful or at least more what I wanted than the sepia fountain pen lines. l keep working on finding I want what I want with the fountain pen.

Colouring book page

 I am trying handwriting mode on my new fire tablet.

This is a current colouring page. Ballpoint pen gel pen.

On the opposite page is a drawing around a spirograph image a stencil shape. l have been using this colouring book as a sketchbook. Finding ideas and ways to blend my work with spirographs and stencils and line work.

return

Gift

Hand carved wood vessel

The gift of the pandemic has been a wish come true. I can stay home all day everyday. Unlike so many I still have a job and can work from home. I am so grateful that it has slowed the pace of my days. No more crowded bus. No more forced social interaction with co-workers. A visit on the zoom meeting is enough. It has given me time to meander through projects, space for thought, and some peace. I pray that this is my normal.

Restoration of 1976 Schwinn Stingray

Stencils

Today's meandering is about stencils and my notebooks. I wonder if I can be considered an artist when my drawings are rooted in stencils and found objects as stencils. If I don't draw from my imagination are my drawings less original? 

I don't see junk when I look at these objects I see patterns waiting to be drawn. They are all shapes looking for an opportunity to be traced and repeated. My eye likes the clean edges a traced shape makes with a black line. Sometimes a critical voice sneaks into the creative process and asks questions about the value of what I do. Is it real art? What is real art if it is not bought and sold? I try to ignore that voice and simply keep doing what I am doing.