Whenever I travel somewhere, be it a day trip or a holiday, and I see an art supply store I just have to enter and buy something. Part it’s the feeling of excitement that I experience every time that I enter an art supply store, part is the desire to support brick-and-mortar businesses and part is to have a little adventure and discover something new. I am not constantly following what brands and companies are putting out so a visit to a store is a perfect way to keep myself updated about all things new (I still grieve the closing of my favorite art supplies store, Da Vinci in Chelsea, Manhattan. Oh, that store was so beautiful and had an amazing assortment of art materials. Unfortunately it did not survive the pandemic).
Anyway, what happens with all my impromptu art shopping is that I tend to collect art materials without really having the time to test any of it. I keep collecting stuff and then comes the day when I find the time to try something that I bought and never used, and I re-discover that same excitement that I have felt back at the store where I bought that item. But I am digressing here…
Yesterday I went to my stash of never-used-before art supplies and I picked this Fabriano block that I bought at the Hudson Valley Artist Shops , while visiting Rhinebeck, NY.
I know the Fabriano brand very well. Growing up in Italy, this is a brand that I used from elementary school to the Academy of Fine Arts. This specific block is made of smooth, extra white, Bristol paper and it is perfect for intricate and detailed pencil work. Oh, it welcomes pencils so effortlessly. Last night I drew this little leprechaun and the experience of adding small details was very satisfying and pleasing. I used a range of pencils for this little drawing, from a Tombow 4H to Faber-Castell 2B. It was definitely easier to manage the harder pencils for this small project but that might just be because of my style of drawing. I did not try any micro-leads for this but that’s something that I will defiantly want to try for the next drawing on this paper. Overall I’ve had a great experience using this paper, which gave birth to this mischievous leprechaun.
Here’s a list of materials that I have used for this drawing:
1264 Fabriano Bristol Smooth, 100 lb/270 gsm
Staedtler Mars Lumographs, 2H, H, HB
Tombow Homo-Graph (I like this name!) MONO, 4H, 2H
Kneaded eraser
