Although I haven’t yet read very much of his work, Dickens definitely has a spot on my short-list of favorite writers. After reading The Pickwick Papers last year I couldn’t resist exploring three of the characters a little further, and although these fellows were featured in a blog post recently, I wanted to resurrect Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Tupman, and Mr. Winkle to help celebrate their creators’ birthday:

Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Tupman, Mr. Winkle

Dickens’ writing is sensitive and funny, helped to define the literary world in his time, and paved the road ahead for some of my other favorite authors of the 19th and 20th centuries. In celebration of his birthday, I plan on beginning Great Expectations tonight (and I shall refrain here from making any puns on what I expect of that novel based on the title).

Happy Birthday, Dickens! Thank you for creating such enjoyable books.

P.S: bonus points to anyone who can tell from this post what series I’m reading right now.

Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Tupman, Mr. Winkle

Lately I have been engrossed in my first ever Dickens novel, The Pickwick Papers, and what a treat it is!  Work and other interferences have made it a very long read for me, and most recently it has been set aside (at chapter 51 of 53 – almost there!) while I indulged in a little drawing of three of the characters.

It’s a very different novel than I had initially thought it would be, mostly because it is completely hilarious - Dara can attest to my frequent giggle fits while reading. At the time it was written Dickens intended this serial novel to be a satire of popular men’s clubs of the day, and it follows one such fictional group – The Pickwick Club – and the adventures of four of its (often bumbling) members.  Here are Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Tupman, and Mr. Winkle (who you should never take hunting with you! See above).  Mr. Pickwick himself may show up in a future drawing, and maybe the delightful Sam Weller too, but first things first: time to finish the book!

Maybe I’m just picky, but I’m very particular about what kind of paper I draw/paint/write on, and lately your run of the mill store-bought sketchbook just hasn’t been doing it for me.  For the past few years whenever I’ve found myself at the end of a sketchbook I’ve gotten into the practice of buying a new one, ripping out the book block, and re-filling it with my own hand-stitched book block made of a nice, slightly heavier paper.

Is this a lot of work?  Yes.  But is it worth it?  Definitely!  I wind up with a lovely sketchbook that I know I will willingly open often, because it’s a pleasure to work with.  The paper I use is Strathmore Windpower Drawing paper (sold in large orange spiral-bound pads), and it accepts a vast array of media nicely, from graphite to charcoal to watercolor to acrylics.  An important side-effect to crafting my own sketchbook is that the hand-stitched book block lays open and flat, allowing me to work across the pages with ease.  And as an extra bonus, I can add my own little flourishes to the construction of it, like a pretty satin bookmark and decorative endpapers.

Recently I also found Louise Stanley’s rules for keeping a sketchbook:

Uni:  Never, ever tear out a page unless you sell it, in which case you can replace it with a copy.

Due:  Start on the third page to get your courage up.

Tre:  Go back to the first page and do a self portrait when you’ve got the nerve.

Quattro:  Strap your journal to your body.  Don’t leave home without it.

Cinque:  A little gold leaf and color peps up a page.

Sei:  Always carry a pencil.  Many museums won’t let you use ink.

Stanley is a sketchbook artist, and although most of her rules are ones that I have always followed, she is the first one I have seen put them in writing.  Rule number three is the only one that I haven’t ever done with regularity, but this time I’m starting my journal out right (and it’s easy to get up the nerve to tackle the first page of a sketchbook when you’ve just ripped apart and re-sewn the whole thing):

Happy sketching!

Our stay there may have been brief (one evening, one full day, and one half day; far too short!!!), but I got the chance to do a little painting to break in my new sketchbook in between hiking trips.  This is part of the mountain that makes up the gorgeous Half Dome (this is a bit of the south side, I think?), as viewed from Mirror Lake (which, it should be noted, is actually mostly a meadow in the summer – much to the surprise of my bathing-suit-clad and towel-toting boyfriend and I).

Some warm up sketches for an upcoming, very exciting assignment!  These are my “getting to know you” sketches – at the beginning of a project I usually like to draw anything that I can find relating to what the final subject will be, just for the sake of getting to know the shape, personality, and movement of the final character.  It had been a little while since I’d drawn animals (and I don’t think I’ve ever actually focused on bears before), which made the sketch process even more fun.

Bears really are a lot like humans, especially the wee little ones.

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition,” … and a penchant for inappropriate matchmaking.  Currently reading Jane Austen’s wonderful novel, and it is filling my mind with regency-themed thoughts.

Another taste of the sketchbook.  I’m now back from a weekend camping vacation to Santa Cruz.  It was truly a vacation, and for the first time in a long time I didn’t take some form of work with me on a getaway – two solid days of playing badminton under the redwoods, throwing a frisbee on the beach, and hiking through the forest.  Glorious!

The brain definitely benefitted from said excursion, and I came back with a few more ideas in my book, along with the realization that my creative mind works best when both completely relaxed and occupied at the same time.  The simple task of folding laundry today prompted a new idea for an illustration series, so the mental gears are turning once again –  it feels so good!