Good writing is part craft, part distraction that isn’t facebook. I thought the distraction would be photography, then I discovered that the local bookstores carried brush pens for as low as PHP28.
It started innocently enough. Doodle. “Oooh” and “aaah” at the brush strokes. Write a quote in script (and face the horror of finding out several years of cursive drills in primary school are GONE).
No big announcements for calligraphy workshops just yet, so I turned to google and see what the internet could teach me.
The e-how site describes Brush pens to be, “a spontaneous medium, encouraging artists to loosen up and work more intuitively. Accept accidental results and do something fun with them to turn them into serendipity.”
Simple enough. I love the freedom of just rolling with it, for once.
Fast forward to Leigh Reyes, who I’ve stalked followed since the ad journalism days. I’ve always remembered for the uncanny skill of pulling a sketchpad and pen set out of nowhere and making something of it. She sent some “drawing stuff” to help me along the newfound interest…
So, I have a starter ink and brush arsenal, complete with wonderful tips and tricks from Leigh on how to wield them. I’ve since fallen in love with a Pentel Pocket Brushpen, I currently have a deep love-hate relationship with a Tachikawa School-G, and I’m hoarding blank or dotted notebooks with acid-free paper like one hoards canned goods for upcoming invasions.
There’s newfound peace in writing by hand. Not just writing either, I seemed to uncork elementary and high school painting lessons…
You’ll be seeing a number of these around here from now on.
Since it’s Valentines Day, here’s two more for the occasion.
The one above was something that came out of playing with one of my first brushpens. A little something for my boyfriend, Nikki, listing all the things he loves.
I do not have the patience or quick-draw skill for Chinese painting, but I can render those brush strokes into something like it.
2013, the year I found love in an inkwell.