A Sketchbook Guided Tour

Peek inside my sketchbook while I ramble about pens, patience, and completing something for once

Tools of my trade: A new sketchbook, date stamp, tape roller, marker and brush pen (more details below)

Dear Friends,

Rama and I have been giving guided tours of our sketchbooks for as long as we’ve known each other. I always enjoy sharing my inspirations and insights, many that would otherwise go unseen and untold.

Rama shares his sketchbooks with a larger audience now, but I’ve been shy about sharing mine with anyone else. Until now.

Since starting this newsletter nearly a year ago, I’ve gone through a sketchbook and a half. I’ve practiced discipline, taken artistic risks, stretched, and grown. That feels like a big deal. To mark that accomplishment, I figured I’d give you a tour of the book I just finished, in case you like this sort of thing, too.

Note: This video is 30+ minutes long and all kinds of rambly. You’ve been warned.

xo Christine

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Good Things

• Finishing a sketchbook and starting a new one

• The makeshift lamp-and-masking-tape tripod I crafted on our kitchen table

• Unexpected flowers growing on one of my porch cactuses

• Finding a t-shirt I thought I’d lost

• A drugstore makeup run

• Weekend hurkle-durkle

• Beachside breakfast with my brother Ricky

• Chopping off a few inches of hair and instantly feeling lighter

• A bowl of sumo oranges and daisy mandarins

• No traffic and rockstar parking

• Hot goss and dan dan noodles

• A walk along the LA river on a perfectly sunny day (with love to those in much, much colder places)

I’m still trying to eat enough fiber. These Floura bars help in a pinch.

Good Note

I’m a fan of podcast show notes, so I thought I’d add a few notes from my video in case you do too:

• I am not a thief. When I said I stole or appropriated markers from my husband and daughter, I meant that I grabbed some colors they weren’t using. Scout’s honor.

• When I referenced Boston’s headstones, I was referring to The Granary Burying Ground.

• The recipe I mentioned for the most addictive spiced cashews you’ll ever taste is in this post here.

• Links to the art tools listed: Leuchtturm sketchbooks & pen loops, Tombow brush pens, Brush pen for lettering, Uniball Vision Elite rollerball pens. I get my tape roller and rubber stamp from local Japanese stationery shops.

• Let me know in the comments if there’s anything else you were curious about. I’m happy to share.

Good Quote

Good Deed of the Day

Protect our community, and fight ICE. Here are some small and big ways you can help, signs you can download and share, or a zine to print and distribute.