Friday, July 21, 2006

My New Friend


I hope everyone is having a great Summer! It is time to start gearing up for the upcoming Art Ministry! I hope everyone has found time to sketch. I have read about a sketchbook that alot of my fellow artist have been using. It is called a Moleskine. Now this may be new to you, but it has quite a history.


"MOLESKINE IS THE LEGENDARY NOTEBOOK, USED BY EUROPEAN ARTISTS AND THINKERS FOR THE PAST TWO CENTURIES, FROM VAN GOGH TO PICASSO, FROM ERNEST HEMINGWAY TO BRUCE CHATWIN.

This trusty, pocket-size travel companion held sketches,
notes, stories and ideas before they were turned into
famous images or pages of beloved books.

Originally produced by small French bookbinders who
supplied the Parisian stationery shops frequented by the
international avant-garde, by the end of the twentieth
century the Moleskine notebook was no longer available.
In 1986, the last manufacturer of Moleskine, a family
operation in Tours, closed its shutters forever.

“Le vrai Moleskine n’est plus” were the lapidary words
of the owner of the stationery shop in Rue de l’Ancienne
Comédie where Chatwin stocked up on the notebooks.
The English writer had ordered a hundred of them before
leaving for Australia: he bought up all the Moleskine
that he could find, but they were not enough.

In 1998, a small Milanese publisher brought Moleskine
back again. As the self-effacing keeper of an extraordinary
tradition, Moleskine once again began to travel the globe.
To capture reality on the move, pin down details, impress
upon paper unique aspects of experience: Moleskine
is a reservoir of ideas and feelings, a battery that stores
discoveries and perceptions, and whose energy can be
tapped over time.

The legendary black notebook is once again being passed
from one pocket to the next; with its various different page
styles it accompanies the creative professions and the
imagination of our time. The adventure of Moleskine
continues, and its still-blank pages will tell the rest."

Quoted from the official Moleskine site

The above sketch was my first in my brand new 5" x 8" Moleskine.
You do not have to travel to Italy to get one. You will find a large selection of them at Barnes and Noble. They are very affordable and have a high quality paper in them. They even have a small pocket in the back to keep loose pieces of paper. This size sketchbook and my small travel watercolor case makes the perfect compact combination!

The pages take watercolor and different media well. I started the above sketch by just throwing some watercolor on a page and letting it dry. I then drew the old Brownie camera from my collection in waterproof black ink. I then went over that with more watercolor.

The Moleskines are nice and compact, so you could even bring it to church and whip out a quick sketch during the sermon!

In the coming weeks I will post some step by steps of my sketches. My hope is that you will sketch along with me, and learn some new techniques.

Some other cool Moleskine sites include:

Moleskine Art

Moleskinerie