'I wear my Pen as others do their Sword.' John Oldham

I think we can all relate to this. Be you cartoonist, artist, illustrator or graphic designer. At one time or another and most likely even now, we have all had that single beloved tool. Be it a Staedtler pigment liner 0.1, a Faber Castell PITT artist pen M or perhaps a Derwent Graphic pencil 3B. It could be Round Sable brush #7, or perhaps its the Dr Ph. Martin's brown india ink you use it in. It's more than likely that at one time you've  entrusted your working ability to a single implement. 


During it's life that tool can become essential. It can become the make or break element to your work. Maybe yours is a £30 Rapidograph rotring pen, it could be the Argos pencil you accidently left the shop with. Regardless of what it is you use, or how you use it, you become familiar with it. You become familiar with the way it reacts to certain stock. The pressure it requires to give that perfect tone. How best to handle it along side different media. You perfect it's use to the stage where it may come to feel like an extension of your ability. 


I think it's important that we have these utensils which are unique to us. And sure, any number of people can own the same pen, but it comes down to the individual to use it in their own way. After all what is a chef without their specialty dish, or a football player without their lucky socks. 

(I'm dedicating this post to my beloved mapping pen)

21 days later...

It has been a little over twenty days since my last post. Illness has meant I wasn't very productive for the first two weeks of that, and since that I haven't been really happy with anything that I have done. I've been working towards producing a more finished piece (non of which features below)with the original intention of perhaps submitting it to AOI this year. Nothing so far however. I will put up a bit of a selection of what I've done. It's rather random but I need to post something. I've received a little feedback lately and I have found it encouraging, I've begun work on addressing it  so at least I'll have something to post soon. Please feel free to comment, this is my only outlet for my work and the only place I can get an opinion from creatives, so anything you have to say would be appreciated.
(Apologies for the bazarr image arrangement, I cannot seem to fix it.)

"Well begun is half done"

This is a continuation of the work I posted last. I'm quite simply re-working things I sketched on the train. This saves me taking my bulky A4, ink pots and watercolours traveling and getting gawped at. I can't see past this way of working at the moment so I'm reluctantly filling sketchbooks with this sort of thing, in hope of clearing it from my system.

I have to say the worst thing about all this time off is not seeing other creatives regularly. I've taken for granted how important feedback, and just a general bouncing around of ideas can be to progress. I will make more of an effort in the future. As for the present, this rut is nothing that inky fingers and sore thumbs cannot fix. It's time to get back to the sketch. A quote to summarize the jist of it all "Well begun is half done" - Mary Poppins. Would you believe it? Well, I've come to understand she herself took it from Aristotle but regardless its origin a splendid saying none-the-less.