two great tastes

This past year I've been struggling with my art: I want to move up to the next level but I also want to have a regular job that I also enjoy, with a steady paycheck. So it's been less a work/life balance issue than a work A/work B/life balance issue.

I'm finally finding that balance, and a few days ago I got some very cheap but inspiring tools!

The Kuretake Brush Pen no.8 doesn't have the stellar reputation of its high-end sibling the no.40 (which has sable hair like a real paintbrush), or even the slightly more expensive no.13, but it's a great workhorse and I started using it right out of the box. A few sketches:

The second tool I got was pretty unexpected! Like lots of kid-friendly museums, my workplace sold spirograph sets, but we've stopped stocking them and I was able to grab the last unit for £2. I started using them and found them weirdly therapeutic.

Note for grammar nerds like me: it's (im)perfectly, not (I'm) perfectly.

The best results come from combining the two - the light tone and mechanical symmetry of the hypotrochoids plus the organic black line of the brush make an intriguing combination.

It's the marriage of science and art! Or maybe the marriage of mechanical art and intuitive art, which I also enjoy.