I bought this Midori sketchbook a while ago to use with my Pilot Falcon fountain pen. I heard that it’s the pen that the legendary John Paul Leon used. Also I’ve heard that Brian Stelfreeze and Neil Gaiman use the pen. It’s excellent. The original goal was to get good at sketching with a pen and add some gold accents. I love seeing my friends sketchbooks. Here’s a volley of quick thoughts on mine. Maybe it will entertain you.
A custom Leather cover. I added Daigoro from Lone Wolf and Cub. He is an icon of Stoic philosophy to me. Always remember that you are going to die.
a veiled woman. I wish I had described the sculptural geometry of the fabric a bit more
“You my good buddy are a 14 karat gold plated son of a bitch. That’s what your problem is” – from Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. The Pilot Falcon has a flexible tip made of 14 karat gold.
I’m not great at the unforgiving subject matter of a beautiful woman’s face. You don’t have to be good at everything.
shibuya and some Yoji Shinkawa style dry brush
snake
some copies of Esben Lash’s faces. He’s great at that. a magic knight.
an original character, brought to a bit more of a finish.
some wardrobe study from the Three Musketeers. I was thinking about Bob Peak a bit.
an original character. I did this with my little watercolor kit.
ideas for larger drawings. I’m obsessed with the work of BWS on Weapon X
ideas for larger drawings.
an original character. I believe Dusk Deepens is a phrase from Cormac McCarthy. The unfinished sketch is of Guts from Berserk.
character design for a comic I’m working on. Lines do not exist in isolation- so don’t panic if you make a bad line, just keep drawing.
some demon ladies and an Iceman idea that I turned into a larger piece. He should have a sword. Good honest lines- thats our weapon against the Machines
some airplane sketches after 4 days of no sleep at DragonCon. I was thinking about how I’m a Lower Class person, and that I want to lean more into that. I drew my friend Ricci’s (Birdcult on IG) bird superimposed on the silhouette of a stripper. Thats what no sleep will do to ya.
boats and a Usagi Yojimbo piece i’m working on.
figure work. I want to draw liquid figures, but mine are usually pretty blocky.
Wendling inspired cats.
playing with proportions
Some Bug-helmets from a comic I’m currently working on. I can be a misanthrope sometimes, thus the “people obsessed with dogs are annoying” comment.
silhouette practice. I never did these much, but it’s challenging and fun and has made me better at working with shape.
Lord of the Rings airplane sketches. The lady next to me said about halfway through the flight, “Excuse me, are you famous?” Yeah lady, real famous.
little building sketches inspired by Feng Zhu
a Magik thumbnail and the finished piece
a navy seal
Rorschach and Frank Miller’s Batman. some studies of Olivier Villoingt’s wonderful sculptures
KJG style study from a Portland coffee house
I like these guys.
some figure work, and an Airport drawing.
more Yoji style drybrush.
Thanks for looking at these. Let me know if you think anything is interesting.
That was a lot of fun man, thanks so much for sharing. It’s probably universal but artists love other artists sketches and looking through sketchbooks. Sometimes it’s about seeing their method, how their ideas take shape, and other times it’s just the quality sketching has that can be so hard to duplicate on a larger more finished scale.
I enjoyed how you played in this sketchbook and you seemed to let yourself be free, including writing little notes to yourself, I do that as well. I think my favorite pages was the one with the boats and the one working out the big cats. I think because I’ve tried my hand at boats a few times and my wife and I love going down to the zoo to draw. It was one of the first dates we had and 7 years later we’re still doing it a few times a year.
Anyway, thanks again for sharing your sketchbook. I don’t typically “plug” my own stuff but my instagram page is really just a look into my sketchbook and as you shared yours feel free to look at mine. This is not a plee for complements, critiques, or attention, to be clear, Haha, just one artist wanting to share with another. Cheers man. (IG: @levisimpson55)
so immensely inspiring to see other artists’ sketchbooks, especially when they let them be a space for experimentation, brainstorming, and exploration rather than just a polished showcase. Thank you so, so much for sharing Stephen!
Beautiful sketches
Thanks so much for sharing these pages! I love the variety here, and the freedom of exploration. I’ve had a longstanding problem of freezing up with a sketchbook and as a result not sketching much except in preparation for a finished work. Your example shows me how to loosen up and experiment!