paintings prints and stuff

Mixed media, edge of the woods in A4 S&B Zeta sketchbook The paper in the new Zeta sketchbook is very very smooth and very heavy.  I was able to splash wet washes about, draw with a bamboo pen and pigment, and layer colours without them going muddy or dead.   The pen glided over the surface freely.  This is a hardback as I really like them, but you can also get a ring bound version for those who prefer them.  A lovely paper to work on :>) S&B books a re now available from Amazon UK I notice, for anyone wanting to try them out..  I'm really enjoying using them as the paper is such a lovely quality and the sizing means that colours retain their glow.   The pages in the hardbacks don't curl and lie flat for working across  a double page spread.  The Beta is on my packing list for my next trip to the coast. So has anyone tried them yet in the UK?

Derwent have brought out some new, very chunky sticks of tinted graphite and tinted charcoal. Both are water soluble, rich and expressive. I have only just begun to find out what I can do with them, they have loads of potential for interesting marks. This is a sketch done, mixing them with some ink drawing with a bamboo pen, a little touch of red and yellow watercolour and a little white gouache. The sky and all those earthy colours are the XL graphite with a little of the tinted charcoal. I'm thinking they will be great for life drawing and working plein air on a large scale. Click to see the whole image. Has anyone else tried them yet?

A quick sketch of my grandson in tinted charcoal ... Pencils not the XL blocks, though I have plans for them.