Last week I was feeling a bit under the weather.  I was too drowsy to read or do anything else.  I spent the scant waking hours drawing in my sketchbook.  It had only a couple of pages left in it.   I started this book in May 2017 and I did the last drawing last week in April 2025 .   I also drew the name on the cover.  That in turn gave me an idea.  This year, I plan to explore my purchased-but-untouched art supplies in depth and share my findings here.  Outside the Lines seems like a perfect name for that series.  This time I am sharing my findings on Faber Castell’s Pitt Brush Pens alongside a look inside my finished sketchbook.

Using Pitt Pens by Faber Castell

Pitt Pens are brush tip pens which can be purchased individually or as sets.  I got a set of greys which also came with an M – 0.7mm and an S – 0.3mm tip pen for outlines.   These pens are completely waterproof and dry very quickly on paper.  There is no way to blend them.  After making a swatch, I started an easy painting to get a feel for them.

As I can’t blend them, I decided to do block/cel shading (a solid area with darker color) instead of gradual shading.  The lightest shade of grey (#272 from the swatch) on the cup turned out very dark on the paper.  The two shades of grey on the shadows ended up looking the same.  My plan was to paint the whole thing with these brush pens.  However, due to the bias toward darker shades,  I used watercolor for the tea, the plant and the background in the end.  As expected, the Pitt Pens did not smudge at all.

Thinking they might work a little better on an architectural drawing,  I quickly drew this in my book and applied grey shades with the pens.  Once again, the lightest shade was still too dark for my taste.   Since a lot of the colors are on the dark side, it was hard to get a good contrast.  I made it work by adding a few cross-hatching shades with a pen afterwards.

My Findings 

Even though the brush pens are waterproof and bright, the lack of light shades of colors limits their use.  These would be a good fit for blocking areas with saturated colors and then painting/drawing over them with watercolor or color pencils.

A confident artist might find use for them, but I would not recommend them to a beginner.   I will use mine up in my future sketchbooks.  Given their high price and limited use, I would pass on them in the future.  There are better and less costly options.

Tour of my Outside The Lines sketchbook

For me, a sketchbook is where I scribble my ideas via pictures.  They are rough drawings at best.   If a book contains a collection of paintings, then I consider it to be more an art book than a sketchbook. This one is the latter.   I am sharing a few of the rough sketches here along with the finished paintings.

Magician’s Bookshelf

Before, once I had sketched out the preliminary idea, I would move on to directly drawing on the watercolor paper.  It’s a bad habit that I have since discarded.

Inspired by stonework, stories and books, this truly is one of my favourite paintings.   You can read a bit more about this painting here.

Arches and Vines

Something I started a while back  It is still work in progress.  

Time has changed how I envision this picture.  What I have in mind is not anything I have painted before.  I will need to do a few experiments before I find the right way. 

Lost Sword

A separate note – As a software engineer, security has become second nature to me.  I blotted out the parts with my handwriting and replaced them with typed words for that reason.  

Sometimes I write down ideas and details of how I want to draw a certain piece.  After going through an incredibly sad time,  I never got to finish this sword and probably never will.  It is a stark reminder of that time.

Trading Secrets

When I drew this, my mind was more destructive and less constructive.   I really love the solitudinous nature of a forest; it creates such a beautiful setting for reflection.  Yet again, I turned to nature for solace.

My cat is happy to be there, enjoying the simplicity only nature can bring.   An oak tree, strong and wise, protects him within its branches.  There is a green butterfly that roams there.  They trade secrets with each other.  Today, the butterfly is telling him about metamorphosis.

Midnight Cat

My other cat is as quiet as the moonlight.   I “zoomed in” for a better look at his expression.

I painted him blue to match his eye color.  This is first of many blue and green combinations that I used in my paintings.  I want to explore this scene a bit more.   I wonder what caught his attention.

Unfinished Door

Haven’t made much progress with this one.

One day when the mood strikes and it tells me a bit more, I will get back to it.

The Dragon and His Boy

Some time ago, I hurt my right hand so badly that I could not hold a pencil for more than 2 minutes.  The thought of permanently losing the ability to draw made me so afraid that I started using my left hand.   I could do the large shapes, but not the small ones or any detail work.

After much time and effort, I got the use of my right hand back.  I also changed my habits. Now  I take frequent breaks.  Many many months later, The Dragon and His Boy became a painting.

This little boy can befriend dragons very easily.   While everyone else thinks he has special powers of making dragons listen to him, he would tell you that he is simply being nice to them and listening to them.  Dragons always have such fascinating stories to tell.

The Dragon And The Tree

I found this tree during one my stays in the High Sierra in 2020.  I had a feeling that one day it would become part of a landscape.

Last year, I painted The Dragon and the Tree.  It was only going to be the tree at the beginning, then the dragon flew into the scene.

The blue dragon comes to visit this tree once a year, every year.  Around that time of the year when mountains are wrapped in solitude, she flies in during the early evening hours.  She sits at the shore, and spends the night there longingly looking at the white tree.  Once dawn breaks,  she flies away, not to be seen for another year.

Here is more on how I painted the picture.

Charlie the Happy Boy

Very few things in my life have make me happier than our kitty Charlie.  He has always been just a very happy boy with a penchant for “singing”. 

On this day, he sat under a tree in his best clothes and sang his heart out while playing a lute.  It had to be a lute that he played, didn’t matter if he was good at it or not.

This is a painting I want to finish this year.

High Sierra Inside and Outside Yosemite

The intense call of the mountains only gets stronger with every passing year.   Last year, I finished this trail at 10,000ft after having given up twice before due to severe altitude sickness.  I ran, hardened myself and my lungs just to be able to do this.

This is the ONLY place where I feel comfortable drawing plein air.  This sketchbook traveled with me to the mountains.

We found a secluded place by this rather busy lake.  I draw, while my husband reads.   As the sun dips behind the surrounding mountains and starts playing with the sunset colors,  the air temperature drops sharply, even in late summer.  Bundled up, we end up staying there until the last light.  These sketches from there invoke those memories.  I inked them at home while reminiscing. 

The Girl And Her Cat

I have a separate sketchbook for all the drawings of The Girl and Her Cat, but my sketchbook would not be complete without them.
 

Another drawing that I want to paint this year.  I need to play with it a bit more before that though.  It is just an idea for now.  

The last drawing in the sketchbook from last week.  I took them camping at one of my favorite campgrounds at 10,000 ft elevation.

Onwards

…to the next journey with another sketchbook.

That is a sketch of my car climbing an uphill road.  I love to drive on mountain roads.  They are challenging but rewarding along the way. I look forward to seeing how the next sketchbook unfolds.

 May 2017 – April 2025 is a fairly long time that this sketchbook reflects.  I see my drawings getting more surefooted and more connected to my emotions.  It was nice to be able to share the pages here; this is something I haven’t done in this capacity before.  I will continue to share my art findings in the next Outside The Lines as I continue to play in my new sketchbook.  I will use up my Pitt Pens there too.

Until next time,
-Soma

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