A New Plan for Inktober

 

Two Inktober sketchbooks made with 7 pound canary tracing paper.

In early August I planned to do my Inktober drawings in a sketchbook I made with old envelopes. (That post is here) Recently I have been drawing on a pamphlet stitched pad of yellow 7 pound tracing paper so I could use the drawings in collages. Tonight I made a sketchbook with the tracing paper to use instead of the envelope sketch books. The new one is about 7 x 9 inches, a size I usually prefer for sketching. It's also just a stack of papers pamphlet stitched together. When I am done I will cut the thread and coat all the drawings I like with matte medium.

Interesting layers of images may lead to a new idea.

There is an additional benefit to this paper. There are times when I get composition ideas from the layers of sketches. I am using d'Atramentis document inks in grey, dark red and a mixture of turquoise and brown that is very close to black. They are a little slow to dry but these colors are waterproof once they are dry.

Coating collage papers with matte medium

 

Drawings on architect's tracing paper, coated with matte medium

I have been not very energetic lately, but a good way to keep busy is to clean the studio - that hasn't happened yet - or to draw on architect's tracing paper for future use in collage. I like to draw faces or patterns. This is a low- risk activity. If I don't like a face it can be tossed, or maybe cut into pieces. Drawing patterns is very meditative. I coat the tracing paper with matte medium to pre-size it and make it more translucent. 

Drawings on architect's tracing paper, coated with matte medium

It seems to work best if I coat both sides at the same time, so I have been using old seed catalogs, painting one side of the tracing paper, flipping it over immediately and painting the other side. The seed catalog page gets pretty wet with matte medium, but I just keep going. I also use this method to coat my collage papers with a mixture of PVA and water before using so they don't curl quite as much. The inks are all d'Atramentis document inks. They are pretty waterproof and permanent. I do find the red ink smears a bit if I brush over it several times. The tracing paper is not as absorbent as drawing paper, some other inks also smear. Pitt brush pens will completely dissolve the d'Atramentis inks on this tracing paper.