Setting clear goals, in terms of both skillset and finished work, continues to take an increasingly important place in my creative world. It’s funny, now, to think that setting of goals was not something I thought about very much.

Just as I, as a musician, practice scales, etudes and other small bits of music, I’ve developed a sketchbook practice which supports me in building the visual art skills that I lack at the moment.

At the end of 2021 I began working on a large pen and ink piece. I stepped up to the paper and realized, almost immediately, that I did not have control of the necessary skills to complete the piece as I wanted.  I could understand the process intellectually, but it wasn’t going to come out of my pen without more practice.

I used some scrap paper and put this sketchbook together to explore the greyscale. I used three of my favorite mark making tools; pencils, roller ball pens, and fine line pens. In addition, I shifted between hatching and blending techniques with the idea that I would be able to explore not only my abilities, but also the qualities of each instrument.

Thank you for taking a look.

And, please reach out if my experiences could be of service to your art and/or music making practice. I’m happy to answer any questions that you leave in the comments or send me an email.