studying, resting, writing, learning

Vaccinations are rolling out, variants rampant, summer days hot in one country and damp in the other. What are stay-at-home wonder | wander | women to do? Read, rest, write and learn!

Robin in the garden, watercolours in Paperblanks notebook

This year has been the year of learning. The outside world is slowly taking its finger off the pause button, but our way of living has been irrevocably changed. We are sitting back while trying to feel our way forward in this new world.

Notes for Framed Ink 2: Frame Format, Energy and Composition for
Visual Storytellers by Marcos Mateu-Mestre

Time to brush up on our learned skills! Doing comic projects has been like going back to art school. Now that I'm getting the hang of it, I want to get used to doing storyboards again, and this book is a masterclass in composing a story.

More notes for Framed Ink 2 (plus doodles!)

In the last few years we've realised that marathon drawing sessions aren't the best thing for a healthy body, so we've been studying ways to stay productive without straining ourselves. 

Strained and callus-inducing way to hold a pen

Legendary Batman artist Neal Adams gave a talk last year about how best to hold a pen for inking comics, and I drew a guide for myself in my sketchbook. I often draw or hand-write notes because I find the action makes them easier to remember.

Better and more relaxed pen grip

Of course too much relying on one hand for everything can also cause repetitive strain and other issues, so I learned to write with my left hand by mirroring how I write with my left hand. Of course this comes out as reversed writing, but there are two perks: I don't have to reread any rants I may have dashed down in my journal in a fit of temper days before, and I feel like Leonardo da Vinci.

Morning Pages

I've also been drawing with my left hand: mostly mechanical exercises, or drawing meditations such as the blind contour method. 

Morning Pages with blind contour self-portraits

Sometimes I try for something more challenging, like urban sketching from pictures I've taken around town, or these doodles constructing outfits around my manga-inspired T-shirts.

Always wear a mask when going out!

A sketchbook is also a good place to experiment with new styles and materials. We post a lot about cherry blossoms, but I also like to take some pink, green and brown ink and try to capture their puffy profusion in my notebooks with pen and brush. It brings back good memories when the petals have long fallen from the trees.

Sakura studies in Paperblanks notebook

An inner world is waiting to be discovered and many skills yet unlocked. We hope to carry on building and re-completing ourselves every day!