This is the ink I got from my daughters for my birthday. It’s Sailor Seiboku, a lovely turquoise blue, water resistant and, so far, has shown no sign of blocking my preppy pen. The paper is from a 160gsm Mixed Media pad from Artists Loft – which I bought in Canada last year. So far it is pretty good – smooth to draw on, doesn’t pill too much and it can take quite a lot working. It does buckle a bit (understandable) and struggles with watercolour layers, but otherwise is good.
Tue-7-Apr-2026
My brother-in-law gave us some water when were visiting memorial park in the heat of the day on Saturday 4 April. That was very generous of course…but it does concern me that there is too much plastic waste around and so prefer to use a refillable bottle.
Mon-6-Apr-2026
On this Saturday we began our day visiting one of the sponsors of our wedding and an old friend of my father-in-law. Sadly he is terminally ill and slept through our visit. Afterwards we stopped by memorial park then had lunch at SM BF homes. When I started this sketch there were four people at the table – then they all got up and left!
Sat-4-Apr-2026
Here are some seed pods I picked up on a brief walk in the shared garden the other day. The long thin one is from a Raintree and the other is a mahogany seed pod. I am a great admirer of people who do botanical illustration or field sketching (such as hashiworks.com).
Fri-3-Apr-2026
The day before this, I missed a sketch as I was busy making my next sketchbook. I was also feeling a little lethargic – so a sketch of fruit seemed like a good easy subject. Tangerines are almost too simple to sketch but I enjoyed the colour contrast and reflections on the white plate. I was channeling my inner @paschpaint when I sketched this one (check out that account and the work of Rachel Grossman if you really want to see fabulous bright paintings of citrus fruits).
Thu-2-Apr-2026
We bought an extra tank of LPG last week (and found a space to keep it in our tiny apartment), just in case (because of this foolish and dreadful war) cooking gas becomes too scarce and expensive. God know when the current crisis will end and the world comes to its senses.
Tue-31-Mar-2026
To sketch this family celebrating a birthday by the swimming pool, I sat with my wife in the little cafe in the clubhouse where we live. I used my new blue ink (Sailor Sei Boku pigment ink, a birthday present from my daughters) in my Platinum Preppy pen and kept it simple by only colouring the greens and the people – helping to make the people the focus…and make the process faster. I find that sketching helps build up your Chi (vital energy), if you are feeling a bit exhausted, and that was one of our objectives this day.
Sun-29-Mar-2026
Here is another sketch of my mum done during our regular video call. She started off a bit “droopy” but was much more animated by the time the call ended. I started this with watercolour pencils…which feel less permanent and looser (which is good as I am a bit tentative when sketching faces) – and then added some touches of some new blue Sailor ink afterwards.
Sat-28-Mar-2026
