Almost every night, we watch the news. And almost every night, I sit with my sketchbook and draw some of what I’m hearing. I draw the words that I hear, sometimes the people I see on the screen, sometimes just things that pop up into my mind. (Usually because someone on television will use a noun or a verb that I decide to draw.).
Last Spring, when the morgue trucks and moving trucks became a fixture on the streets of New York City, this practice was a way for me to hold on to sanity. When the US death toll went over 10,000 in early April, I decided to start noting the ever increasing number every night. (At that point, the US death toll was virtually indistinguishable from the New York City death toll.) And when the death toll hit 100,000 on May 28th, I stopped.
Then, I was using simple materials — brush pen, black ink. (I have a neat hack on this that I’ll share below.) It was all I could manage in that moment.
I took a little break from this practice, roughly between the election and the insurrection. I was mainlining news at that point nearly constantly and didn’t want to make any art about it. (There are a lot of flowers and cats in my journals in that period.) Also, I’d started weaving. Any repetitive fiber art is an enormously soothing activity to do while watching upsetting things on television!
Anyway, the news hasn’t gotten any less upsetting, really, but I picked up the practice again.. Now, however, I’m in the mood for color, which maybe is a hopeful sign? Some then and now images from the sketchbook for your viewing pleasure.
Materials: The 2020 journals were made with black ink in a brush pen. I love Kuretake brush pens, but I try to stay away from anything non-refillable.(Because the environment, and also because I’m cheap. ) These waterbrush pens, or anything similar, can be filled with any kind of ink. (They’re not really meant for this purpose so if you’re moving around with them, I’d keep them in a plastic bag in case of leaking. But this wasn’t an issue in 2020.) After extensive trial and error, my favorite black-black ink is Noodler’s X Feather.
The journals themselves are 9x12 Artist’s Loft sketchbooks from Michaels. They are also totally affordable, good quality, and get the job done. The 2021 journals are on magazine pages, which I cover up totally with Posca pens and then Copics and Tombows.