We had some new artists along today as well as some familiar faces for this lovely half day of drawing and loving nature in Forest Hall Library. Most of the attendees are relatively new to art or have had a long break from drawing, so it is always lovely to see such beautiful work coming out of the workshop.
“...it was relaxed, inspiring and you teach people without them realising.”
The format is a familiar one - for me at least. I use my (almost) famous concertina sketchbooks as the tool for people to dive into the world of nature journalling. These little books are small, A6, accessible and seem to allow people to feel that they can fill them up, and yet they are never complete because you can add another and another, thus creating an ongoing storytelling of your nature journeys.
“... the concertina format is amazing and not threatening”
A little trip into the garden next to the library often reveals surprising - slugs and a dinosaur today! I encourage the use of finaliser - or fountain pen - and this is really quite liberating for people - no pencil and rubbing out. So you end up just getting on with the observation and drawing.
I take people through a process that I follow and encourage the artists to “discover” their own style. This gives confidence and encouragement to look at your own work and not worry about comparing to other peoples work.
“I found the format undoubting and doing a little bit of drawing at a time was easier.”
Resources
During the workshop the topic of materials always comes up and I like to share the equipment I use for my own nature journals including the pens I use. So following is another summary of these materials and where you might get them from.
Pens: I really like Sailor Shikiori pens with a fine nib. Buy it with a Sailor converter so you can fill it with sketch ink. Buy them from Cultpens. Whilst you are on Cultpens look for other offers and Lamy pens are always a good workhorse pen.
Ink: fill your new pen with Sketch Ink - again from Cultpens. This is designed specially for fountain pens and is waterproof.
Paper/Journals: You can get the blank concertina journals from me or direct from the printer I have commissioned to make them - Robson Print in Hexham. I use Japanese Accordion Sketchooks - you can get these from Moleskine directly or shop around in the usual places! I am particularly fond of Seawhite of Brighton who sell a lovely Travel Sketchbook with paper that takes a fountain pen and wash beautifully.