The story behind this drawing is that just as every snowflake is different, I have to believe that every raindrop is too. Each raindrop plays an important role in the survival of our planet. Without water, we would all surely perish.
Although I am not an extremist in any way, I do believe that if everyone cleaned up after themselves and worked on their own footprint, we would be way better off.
Since it is the month of February, I thought I would work on two pieces that celebrate love. The one above is colored and the one below is black and white. The first piece was done with Staedtler pigment liners and Staedtler Maximum Gel Pens. I loved adding some color to it because it just flows so well!
The piece below was done with Sigma Micron pens only. It was just a decorative idea that I have had fluttering around in my head and it was nice to finally get it down on paper.
This piece was so delightful. For those of you who don’t know, I am a long time player of World of Warcraft, a mmorpg made by Blizzard. I have been playing since, what we like to call, vanilla wow, which simply means, World of Warcraft before any expansions. Along with playing the game, I have also been a long-time Horde player, which is the cause for the symbol below. I’m sure I could do better if I drew the symbol more, but I think this is pretty good for my first time.
I used several pens and color pencils for this, all of which were Staedtler. Staedtler pigment liners for the black, Staedtler fineliners for the red dots, and Staedtler color pencils for the symbol colored in.
If you also play WOW, I would love to know! Let me know in the comments below.
Depression and anxiety are two things that a lot of people don’t understand can go hand in hand. I may seem outgoing and happy, but dying on the inside. I love having people over to my house, but it is nearly impossible to get me to go party anywhere else. I’ve made my environment comfortable and to step out always causes such anxiety.
I wrote this poem the other day. Its something that has been gradually coming to me. It almost dictates how someone with depression and anxiety may feel overwhelmed by circumstance. I have days where I wanna be left alone, but I don’t ever want to feel lonely. There is a difference.
Just Leave Me Alone
Do you ever feel like you need to get awayfrom the hustle and bustle and day-to-day?
Do you ever want to push everyone further,
and inside yourself, crawl and whither?
Do you ever love your family so deep,
That you try to save them from this heap?
A heavy burden your carry within your heart,
so heavy from inside it rips you apart?
Leave me be, don’t come any closer,
The anxiety runs over me like a dozer.
The intensity of co-existing with another,
Is too much to take, I feel smothered.
Inside the quiet space, I’ve made for my mind,
Is the only sanity, I fear I can find.
I’m screaming inside, do you hear that?
The pressure is holding me down flat.
I can’t breathe, I can’t make a complete thought,
The darkness is overwhelming making me rot,
Let me fight this insanity in my solitude,
Or inside me will grow this feud,
And overwhelm me until I expire,
Maybe only that will put out this fire.
I encourage you to listen to those around you. I’ve heard that it is often most the happiest people around you that have the worst battle with depression. Sometimes a little compassion can go a long way.
Just as a disclaimer: I am not suicidal, nor do I wish to perish. Its my belief that everyone has a battle with darkness inside them and how you decide to fight that battle is as individualized with the battle itself. We all need a moment to be ourselves in the still, in the quiet.
Do you suffer with depression and anxiety? Do you know someone who does? Do you have any tips or pointers on how to deal with stress playing a role in the severity of that suffering? Comment below and lets help the world become a better place together.
I do not have a lot of experience with gel pens as I find that they tend to smear and skip often. While walking around Target today, I came across these Yoobi Gel Pens for about $15 for a 24pk. This puts each pen around $0.63 each. As far as gel pens go, these came with several options, color, glitter and metallic.
I tried each pen out. I took off the cap and just started writing. As you can tell on a few of them, they all started writing well before I finished the Y on Yoobi. I really enjoyed writing with them but I would say that my most favorite were the metallic ones. Not only did they write the smoothest but the color was very vibrant. However, Metallic ones were the ones that smeared the most. Even after the others were dry, they seemed to be still wet in certain areas.
I would like to say that the one thing that caught my eye was the meaning behind the brand. Every year teachers, who don’t get paid a lot as it is, use their money for supplies for their classroom. Yoobi gives supplies to schools so that the teachers don’t have to use as much of their money to supplement the needs of their students. I believe this is a wonderful cause and definitely worth noting. You can see the video on the target link above.
Final Thoughts:
I think that these are vibrant and the thick tip allows for you to cover more area. I will definitely be using these. There is minimal bleed through and I can’t wait to try it out on a coloring book. This review was done on everyday printer paper. I would recommend this gel pen to adult coloring enthusiasts.
I’m not sure how I feel about this one. I literally just did it so that I could test out how the Staedtler neon triplus fineliners worked with the black ink. Surprisingly, I felt it held up nicely. The yellow had a little bleeding, but other than that, It worked out surprisingly well.
On this piece, I used the Art-n-Fly pens that I reviewed earlier. They worked out pretty nice. The smaller tips were perfect for the bubbles. When I first started this piece, I started with just a flower. However, I have just fallen in love with tentacles on flowers, It makes them seem like something out of a sci fi movie. So, Of course being the sci fi fanatic that I am, I just had to add it all in. After I finished the tentacles though, I really felt like something was missing. The bubbles seemed like the most natural answer to the blank spaces between the tentacles to finish out the piece.
I would love to know what you think about this piece. Let me know in the comments below.
Prismacolor Premier Assorted Markers can be found on Amazon here, for about $13, which is approximately $1.87 per pen. This makes the most expensive pen compared to Sakura Micron, Art-n-Fly, and Staedtler Pigment Liners. I have always thought of Prismacolor as the elite of the elite art supply, which is probably why this is my first and only art supply with that brand name. But I knew that I just had to review it. First off, this does have Archival ink, which is water proof and fade proof. I would expect nothing less from Prismacolor.
As you can see here, there are seven different tips that came in this set to include Chisel, Brush, .08, .05, .03, .01, and .005. This is a complete set and even offers one up, meaning the chisel tip, than the Sakura Microns in exchange for the .02 tip. One of the first things that I noticed when I opened this package is that these pens were a lot thinner than the others I have reviewed. They are also longer as I have pictured below next to the Sakura Pigma Micron.
The second thing I noticed was that these pens, just like those comparable to it, have the sizes of the tips printed on the caps as well as the side of the pen. I love that both are noted instead of having one or the other. However, a con right off the bat was the fact that it actually was difficult removing the cap from the pen. I am not sure if this will get better with time, or if it is the fact that the caps get thinner at the tip, which makes it hard to grasp with the clip running the same size the length of the cap. Of course, this is just my initial observations of the pen.
As you will notice, there is a B for Brush Tip and a C for Chisel Tip, in with these other sizes. And the size seems to be actually engraved into the tips. The only other pen I have reviewed that had this feature seemed to be the Staedtler Pigment Liners. To me, this says higher quality.
Writing with each of the tips was interesting. The chisel tip I decided to write with the smallest point of the tip and then underline with the wider point to show the variety of ways that it can be used. I am a fan of the Chisel Tip and I would like to have it in the set over the .02 that are in other sets.
The brush tip was way better than the Micron one in my opinion simply because there seemed to be more control in the tip of the marker. I still need a lot of practice using brush markers, but now that I have a few to play around with, I will have to work on that. The ink was really smooth though and I had no skips or angles which it skipped.
Each of the other tips .08 through .005, were equal to the Staedtler Pigment Liner tips. The longer metal guard seems to help easy my mind on the amount of pressure I am applying. It does seem to be a reoccurring theme that the smaller the tip requires the easier the pressure applied. Regardless of the pressure, the ink flowed extremely smooth and it was very comfortable to write with.
The bleed through actually surprised me. It seems to have the worse bleed through the thicker the tip, but then the smaller the tip, you can barely even see it coming through the paper. As a disclaimer, I am using the everyday printer paper for each of these reviews to level the playing field.
Final Thoughts:
After reviewing this product, I was both sad and happy. First off, I was happy that I finally took the time to compare this product to the others. It is my believe that the art supply doesn’t make the artist. This pen is a high quality pen that does live up to its name. The bleed through doesn’t bother me too bad as I only draw one-sided anyways. So keep this in mind when you are figuring out what paper you are using. I would recommend this product to artists out there.
If you have any tests you would like to see or if you would like for me to perform a specific test, please let me know in the comments below.
I had a friend of mine decide she wanted a tree of life tattoo. Well, although this isn’t her tattoo, it did start out that way. However, I decided to make this one colorful! As everyone knows, I hate coloring my own art, but this one wasn’t that bad. The orange didn’t show up as bright in the scan as it is in real life, but you get the general idea. I used Staedtler fineliners for the lines, which includes the colored lines, and Staedtler color pencils for the coloring in.
Enjoy!
Here we have the Staedtler Pigment Liner Pens, which you can buy on Amazon here, for about $11 for the set. This equates out to approximately $1.83 per pen. Comparing the price to the Sakura Micron and the Art-n-Fly, the Staedtlers are more expensive by about $0.20 a pen. Please keep in mind that the testing of this product was done on everyday printer paper, which is thin. I will say that this pen doesn’t claim archival ink, instead, it claims indelible ink, which is sorta the same thing. The definition says “that cannot be removed, washed away, or erased.” The ink is waterproof as well. I’m just not sure about fade proof.
The first thing I noticed about this pen set is that they come in a very sturdy case that doubles as a pen stand. I don’t use the stand and honestly, I prefer putting all my pens together. The feel of the pen is more cushioned than that of the Sakura or the Art-n-fly, as there seems to be almost a rubber coating of the pen. This makes using this pen for long-term easier.
On top of having the size printed on the caps, it is also printed on the pen themselves, which I love. You will also notice the “18H cap-off” printed on the pen. This means that the pen can be left for 18 hours without the cap and without drying out. I don’t think that I have ever left a cap off my pen that long, but its nice to know that you can, especially when you have toddlers running around that love to try to grab my pens sneakily and run off.
I wrote with each of the sizes that came in the box and I will have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the supportive metal tips. They seemed a little more sturdy than both the Sakura Micron and the Art-n-Fly tips. The entire feel of the pen seemed more comfortable in my hand than the other two. I did run my finger over the ink immediately after drawing a line and there was no smearing.
Another thing that I was very impressed with was the fact that there was even less bleed through than the Sakura Micron pens. Keep in mind that I am using everyday printer paper with this review. I wanted to make sure to give each pen review equal coverage.
Final Thoughts:
Although these pens seem to be more expensive than both the Sakura Micron Pens ($1.50) and the Art-n-Fly Pens ($1.67), I find the quality worth the extra coins. I have been a long time user of the Steadtler products because the quality has always been unmatched. Using these pens for the first time made me want to switch from the Steadtler fineliners I have been using to these pigment liners. The overall look, feel, and quality of the ink seemed to surpass my expectations. I would definitely recommend this pen to any artist for multiple projects.
If you have any tests you would like to see or if you would like for me to perform a specific test, please let me know in the comments below.
So, today, I had a few minutes before returning from lunch, so I quickly sketched up this doodle. After looking at it for a while, I became very proud of it. Its not any bigger than a fourth of a page, but for some reason it intrigued me. So when I got home, I decided the only thing it needed was a finishing frame around it.
All I used was a sharpie pen and regular printer paper, nothing fancy, nothing expensive and yet I truly feel like this is a piece of art. Let me know what you think about this in the comments below!
This set of pens by Art-n-Fly can be found on Amazon here, for about $10. These are approximately $1.67 each. This makes them just a little more expensive than the Sakura Pigma Micron pens. I haven’t heard much about this company, but they advertise that they specialize in high quality drawing and painting supplies. Something to keep in mind is that I am doing this test on everyday printer paper.
The very first thing that I noticed was that there are no ways to tell which pen is which size except for on the cap of each one. So if you mix up the caps, it will be more difficult to actually find which pen the cap belongs to. I may take my label maker and create labels on the sides of these pens so that I have another hint as to the tip size. To me, this is a flaw. If the sizes were on the pen ends and not the caps, I would find it more useful, however, I would still want the size written on the side of each pen.
While writing with these, I noticed that they were very similar to the Sakura Micron Pens in that the tips became less sturdy the smaller they went. I wrote with each pen to show you the size of the tips. This is a first time use for all these pens but the ink seemed to flow smoothly from the tips.
I did notice that it didn’t seem to matter how light or hard the pressure on the tip was, the ink stayed the same size. This is something that I greatly admire and appreciate from a pen.
This pen set also has Archival ink, which is both waterproof and fade proof. This is a must have for any artist wanting to keep the integrity of their art in tact. However, the only way I knew this was on the set packaging which you can see in the first picture. I did run my finger across the ink immediately after writing and found that there were no smears.
Another thing I noticed was that there are only 6 sizes available which is less variety than the Sakura Micron Pens. However, it does seem by reading other customer reviews that people compare these pens equally with Sakura Micron Pens.
I did notice that each pen seemed to bleed through a little more than the Sakura Micron Pens as you can see on the picture above. Bleed through never concerns me when dealing with my art because I typically use a thicker paper as well as only use one side of the paper.
Final Thoughts:
The wonderful thing about these pens are that they are so similar to the Sakura Micron Pens that I can’t give it a bad review, nor would I with the tests I performed. I would love to see them come out with more tips, but they at least have the basics. I would definitely recommend this pen to any artist for multiple projects.
If you have any tests you would like to see or if you would like for me to perform a specific test, please let me know in the comments below.
I wanted to share this collaboration I did with Jeanne Burbage. She is an incredibly talented artist from Canada. She offered up this Valentine’s Day doodle for her fans on a Facebook group I belong to, Lines & Designs, to color. This is my coloring of her doodle, and although I rarely color my own doodles it was very fun coloring on hers. I used Staedtler Color Pencils found in the clearance section at Wal-mart of all places.
Please visit her website here and buy her coloring book. There is a wonderful flip through of her coloring book on YouTube, please check it out! She hopes to have a new book out in March. She also has a Facebook page here. Always remember to show your support for artists.
First off, let me say that this pen brand is well known in the art community and is widely accepted as a good beginner pen, but at the same time, it is a pen that stays with you throughout your career. You can get this 8 pen set on Amazon for roughly $12, which makes them approximately $1.50 each.
There are a few things that I look for in apen brand is whether or not it is made with Archival ink. The reason that I look for this is because, over time, ink will wear down and fade or even turn a brownish color. However, archival ink will stand the test of time being both waterproof and fade proof. I would like to also note that each individual pen in this set has their own pros and cons. Something to keep in mind is that I am using just regular printer paper which is fairly thin just to measure the bleed through.
Pigma Brush Pen – This pen is really weird and hard to control your line, especially if you are not used to brush pens. However, it seemed to have a sturdy tip and wrote beautifully without skipping.
Pigma Graphic 1 – This pen is one that I typically use for my main lines. The tip is very sturdy at all angles and writes without skipping. With my other set of these pens, I realized that this Graphic pen seemed to dry up quicker than the others.
Pigma Micron 005-08 – These pens have varying thickness of lines. If you look above, You can see how each one gets smaller than the one before. One thing to note is that the smaller the tip, the more gently you need to write with them. I was a little afraid to press with any “normal” pressure on the three finest tips, but I can see where they come in very handy with detail in my art.
I ran my finger across the ink of each pen immediately after I drew a line and noticed that there was no smearing, even with the brush tip. As far as bleeding through to the back of the paper. I did notice that the places where I started and stopped seemed to bleed through more than the lines. However, over all, the bleed through was minimal if at all. The picture below shows the bleed through. Keep in mind that this is everyday printer paper.
Final Thoughts:
The simple fact that these pens have such a wide variety of tips is amazing to me. You can truly complete any task with these. They write smooth and the pen is easy to handle and comfortable in my hand. I would definitely recommend this pen to any artist for multiple projects.
If you have any tests you would like to see or if you would like for me to perform a specific test, please let me know in the comments below.
Well today over lunchtime, I was able to start a mandala. It was completely free handed as you can probably tell. The spinning flower was interesting to draw and the biggest problem is deciding where to stop.
This second mandala is one that I did at home with my normal tools of the trade. The wonderful thing about this mandala is the simple fact that my 16 yr old son was drawing next to me. Learning the tricks of the trade to mandalas. I loved it!
So, here I am comparing my mandalas. One completely freehand and one with tools. Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below.
Just like with every one of my doodles, I never knew where this one was going when I started with it. And just like with every doodle before, I just kept drawing until I thought it looked fine.
The one thing I will say is there were several times during this drawing where I thought I was going to have to trash this. I have been attempting more abstract drawings because perfectionism is something I struggle with. One of the amazing aspects of my lunchtime doodles is that I have none of my more expensive art supplies that assist me to make perfect lines.
Have you ever started a project and wasn’t sure about where it was going, but ended up loving the finished product? Let me know in the comments below.
Well, today I decided to try something sorta new and sorta old. I started with a circle in the middle. Using some of the techniques and fillers I learned from zentangle videos, I added only three major features to the center. After adding everything up to the tentacles, I decided to finish it off with a circle of sorts. Circles were sorta the theme to this piece and I absolutely adore the finished project. This has to be one of my favorites so far.
I would love to know what you think, let me know in the comments below.
I started this piece off with just a variety of flowers that I knew how to do off the top of my head. I like having something to look at when I am thinking of new ways to do the same thing differently. The problem with this is that I typically have several little doodles lying around and I really wanted one piece that I could really enjoy looking at and learning to adapt it in many different ways.
By looking at the beginning of my drawing you can tell that I just had to do something to bring all the flowers together and I really didn’t’ want to do a open garden scene. So I figured if I could just add in one element across that page that makes everything come together it would look better.
Now, after seeing where it started to where it ended up at, what is your favorite part of it and how would you have joined them all together differently than I did? Let me know in the comments below.
I absolutely love adult coloring books and I have so many I probably will never color them all, but I always see ones that I want so bad. I love coloring books of all skill levels. If you want to get into adult coloring books, there are some inexpensive ways you can do this.
Now, with all that being said, I would love to have your input as to your favorite place to go and get the adult coloring books you love to color in.
Every once in awhile, I find myself severely impressed with what comes out on paper. This is one of those times. I started out with just a few lines and dots. It’s a trick I use when I just don’t know what to draw. If you have seen my office, you would know that I actually have blank walls! For a creative person like me, It hurts sometimes to look at them. I also have no windows and a very bright harsh overhead light, which I recently requested that two of the bulbs be removed from it to lessen to brightness.
I had this sitting on my desk and every minute or so I would add another line to it. What am I drawing? I kept asking myself, as a line would end up much weirder than I had originally planned. I tried to let myself go and just let it end up where it was going to end up. Boy was I glad to see that the response from my friends and family I use as sounding boards, were overjoyed with the results. It always shocks me when something I have no clue how it even happened ends up being a favorite.
I sat it on my desk for the past 4 hours. Scoffing at it and rolling my eyes at the absurdity, but then, something happened! It started to grow on me, the more I looked at it, the more I saw things that I never meant to be there. A submarine, a lawnmower and even something you’d find under a microscope, and yet, it was nothing.
What do you think about this piece, where I started to where I ended up? Let me know in the comments below.
This was an unfinished piece from last year. I decided to just finish it up so that I had less unfinished projects on the table. Why do you ask was this unfinished? I don’t know, anything could have happened, I do have a house full of kids and whatever happens happens.
Regardless of why it was unfinished, I finished it now. I had several people refer to this piece as dancing lollipops and that name just seemed to stick. I love the way it turned out. Let me know what you think about it in the comments below.
Step 1: Create your grid.
I enjoy having my mandala in the center of the page so the first thing I do is draw an X by drawing a line from each corner to the opposite. This is the lightest of lines because it’s literally used just to center my graphic.
I then take my 360° protractor and grid out every 10°. I then draw a line from one degree to the opposite degree. {ex. 0° – 180°} I continue to do this all around. I then take my compass and make random sized circles moving from the center out to show just how big I want the mandala.
Step 2: Line your center.
This part is always the most difficult for me because the center, determines the look of the whole mandala. If you look through the mandalas that I have posted, you will see that the different options are truly infinite. Nothing is right or wrong. With this one I chose a pinwheel of sorts that I built flowers on top of. This set the tone for an organic mandala.
Step 3: Start building outward.
You will see that I used the grid lines in two different ways. the larger flower petals run between the grid lines, whereas the triangular petals use the grid line as a center point. I tried to put more detail in the triangles because they were so large. Some options here are to use your protractor and grid out every 5° to make the get ails smaller, or just do like what I did and follow the grid lines making each layer larger than the layer before it. I have used both methods and both are fun to do.
Step 4: Final and Largest Layer
In this picture you will see that I have leaves that are lining my mandala and bringing the entire organic piece to life! I love how this is turning out and although I say that about almost every one of my pieces, its simply because I am as shocked as everyone else about the end result! I try really hard not to plan too much because I want to be able to adapt to kids bumping the table, pens running out on ink and even surprise sneezes.
Step 5: Putting in little details
Now is the time that you go back and add more details. These can be anything you want. Go wild.
Step 6: Finishing touches!
This is the point where you start from the center and erase all your pencil grid lines and start focusing in on every little detail. This can be as elaborate or simple as you want. That is the wonderful thing about mandalas. They truly change drastically, even with one detail. I will suggest that if you do something to one side, make sure you are consistent if you want it to look uniform. If your mandala is NOT symmetrical than disregard and have fun!
So, Now that you’ve seen the final product, let me know what you think! What would you have done differently? What do you like the most? Do you have any questions, comments, concerns or constructive criticism? Post them below and I will respond as quick as I can.
Well, I have had people tell me this looks like a fish and another tell me it looked like wings, either way, this was my lunchtime doodle today. I hope you like it! Yes, I did it in 45 minutes or less. This was just completed with a sharpie for the larger lines and then I filled it in with a sharpie pen that I had for all the little details. The amazing thing about this doodle, is that I never intended it to be anything. I just love the way it turned out. It is so bold and yet so detailed. Seems like I should keep this one for a coloring book one day.
Let me know what you think it looks like in the comments below!
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