new paper

I ordered some large paper from Blick recently, which showed up a couple days ago. I’ve been waiting to open it until I had some time to size the paper and get to work on it. I haven’t drawn on such large paper in a long time (22×30″) – it’s 140lb Fabriano watercolor paper. I felt like a kid at Christmas opening up the flat box. After soaking, stretching and drying the paper I laid down some initial watercolor washes. Now I’m just waiting for the surface to dry more thoroughly.

If I remember I’ll try to post some progress images as I work on them.

art cards & business

I read somewhere that an artist should invest approximately 10% of their income (if not more) on their art: supplies, marketing, etc. In the past couple months I’ve been adhering to this idea.

I recently purchased new art business cards through MOO cards. Semi-gloss, quality paper, I really like them and they didn’t cost as much as I thought they would. You can add up to 50 different designs, I opted for four. If you’re interested in purchasing cards use this referral link and get $15 off your first order: MOO cards

I also bought another Copic Multiliner set of pens (.03, .01, .003, .005) – they’re pigment based, waterproof, archival and acid free. They’ve become my go to pens for stippling and seem to last a long time. I believe it’s been over a year since I last ordered a set.

Lately I’ve been using a cheap mechanical pencil (plastic body, unknown lead type) that I found somewhere. It’s yellow and green, rather ugly – but I really like the line values and the lack of sharpening all the time. My next purchase (hopefully Saturday) will be a quality metal-bodied mechanical pencil, I can’t wait. (Little things bring me joy)

Work on display & for sale:
I now have about 13 pieces displayed at Community Brains in Pomona, CA.; work ranging from small mixed media on paper to larger paintings on canvas. All of them are for sale at very reasonable prices. It was nice to get some of the older paintings back out into the world and forced me to re-evaluate my art storage area, which everyone should do once in awhile.

And to wrap things up, here’s a recent small drawing. Watercolor, graphite, ink and colored pencil on watercolor paper. You can find more of my recent work on my Instagram account instagram.com/johnotterart/johnotterfeb2017001

rest & relaxation

Came down with a head cold a few days ago and have been taking it easy. Spent most of yesterday in bed. Got out of the house this morning for a cup of coffee and drew a little ditty on a pasty wrapper.

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Hoping to get back to work on the new panels tonight. Finally found the right balance of marble dust, matte medium and paint to produce the satiny finish I like (approx. 2:2:1).