Angela Porter

It’s been a long while…again…

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The explanation…

It’s been a good couple of months since I last added an entry to my blog. It’s not that I haven’t tried to; it’s just that I’ve not been able to. Let me explain.

Since I had Covid back in October 2024, I’ve been experiencing chronic fatigue, a scattered and unfocused mind, and an inability to stay focused on a task for much time at all. Even as I type this, I’m losing my train of thought and have to pause often to try to work out what I was about to type or to find the words that just won’t come to the forefront of my mind.

I can spend 10 to 12 or more hours a day sleeping and still not feel refreshed. Taking part in everyday events or tasks is overwhelmingly tiring; not so much physically but mentally and emotionally.

Everything physiological has been ruled out. Covid coincided with me being prescribed a new medication. I’ve stopped that medication, with the blessing of my doctor, so to speak, to see if that was the cause of this fatigue. It’s not and I’m awaiting a review with the doctor soon. I think they mentioned a review to a post viral syndrome clinic or long covid clinic.

I can get really frustrated. Even my art isn’t as prolific as before. Though I get lost in it quite easily, I can’t do much more than 30 mins to 45 mins in a stint, if I’m lucky. Even now, I’ve spent less than an hour scanning in a couple of drawings, creating the images for social media, and getting this far in my blog and I could just fall asleep again. Not even perimenopause/menopause has been this bad…

So, this is the state of my health currently, fine and good apart from this pesky fatigue.

Arty stuff

I have been drawing, but not as much as I usually would have been doing. The two images above are just two that I have completed in the last couple of months or so.

The one on the right resulted in some enquires about buying it. However something weird was going on with the contacts and nothing ever came of it. But, when I’m up to focusing on what I need to do, I will be posting some artwork either on Ko-Fi or Etsy for sale. I wish I could say when, but …

So, I’m still creating, as the fatigue allows.

And so…

…it’s time for me to end this post and go and rest again – I feel so tired and sleepy and unfocussed once again.

All I can say is thank you for bearing with me. I’ll share when I’m able to, but I don’t think there’ll be any YouTube videos for a while as they are just too much for me to accomplish at this time. Hopefully, recovery is occuring, albeit slowly. Only time will tell, that’s for sure.

Catch up and an upcoming YouTube video

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I’m free of the dread lurgy as far as the virus is concerned, but I’m not free of its lingering effects—weak voice, cough, easily fatigued and breathless, and a foggy mind. I will get better—I will. How long it will take? I don’t know, but I was surprised at how quickly I became tired as I recorded today’s video (available from 6pm UK time today, Saturday 2 November 2024).

Despite being unwell, I’ve continued to be creative. In this video, I show a few drawings I’ve done in a new A5 sketchbook from Sakura.

Quite a few of the pages have been heavily influenced by the work of the fabulous Rebecca Blair. I love how she uses patterns, textures, and simple colour palettes to create richly decorative work. Her use of collage is simple yet effective, something I need to learn from!

If you know me, you know I love patterns, textures, and motifs. I like stylised, abstract, intricate art. I usually let my work grow quite organically, yet there is something delightful about creating a tapestry or memory map of patterns, textures, and motifs that bring joy and using colour that creates a certain feeling.

Rebecca Blair uses quite simple colour palettes, often monochrome-ish, and I have found that this works for me, kind of, in the pages I’ve created so far.

I’m not saying I’ve cracked it yet, nor have I found a way to incorporate all of this into my art. I’ve clumsily used watercolour to add colour to the floral elements, but I love how I’ve used colour in the various sections.

Looking back on these pages, I remember when I created drawn collages of elements from, say, an abbey I was visiting. This involved not drawing the entirety of the building but the parts that caught my attention. I’d sketch the patterns, shapes, and sculptural elements so that they flowed from one to another. In this way, a kind of sampler of my visit was created, a record of what fascinated me that day.

I like this idea of creating memory hoards of patterns, textures, colours, and motifs. It’s a revisit, yet a start of something new. To link with this, I intend to create my own hoard of favourite elements, such as ATC-sized cards, stored in pockets in a ring binder for when I need inspiration. This project can be done when I feel the need to be creative but don’t have the energy/focus to do anything else. That’s the plan, anyway.

So, I really need some tea before I even think about tackling this, maybe a nap too.

A change in blog name. Exploring collage.

Angela Porter2 Comments

The new name…

Yesterday, I did a live stream on YouTube, where I tried my hand at creating collage papers, making collage and mark making. It was an interesting experience, but more about that later on.

The topic of adventures came up in my wintering and the change in title is a result. For me, art is always an adventure. I’m always trying out new things, exploring older ways of working, and developing in my artistic expression.

Adventures aren’t necessarily big trips to far away places. There are so many little daily things that feel like adventures to me- the change in light through the day, the weather, the rhythm of the seasons and stars, the humourous behaviour of my neighbourhood jackdaws. There’s also reading new books, listening to stories and documentaries, trying new dishes, listening to music that is new to me, and so much more. I have a great deal of curiosity and desire to know more about myself and the world that I live in.

It’s a good thing that an adventure can be described as new ideas and grand mysteries. It’s about enjoying the journey with no time pressure, no idea of a destination, just a desire to discover more about how I like to express myself creatively and, through that, learn more about the more profound mystery that is me.

Over the years, I’ve dabbled a bit with collage but never really found how I like to use it other than as an interesting background in a sketchbook or maybe a pleasing arrangement of papers at the edge of a sketchbook page.

I love paper, however, and want to use different kinds of paper, and perhaps fabric, in my work. However, whenever I try to, it doesn’t feel right.

All of my artsy journey has been an adventure. I try out new things and retreat into the familiar when I feel uncomfortable with art, life, and myself. But even with familiar methods, things change due to experiences. Progress is always made. Lessons are learned. Insights are gained, especially from what I don’t like about something and what can be done to ‘fix’ it.

So, chatting in the live chat as I created part of this collage, the idea of my blog changed to reflect my description of how art is a great adventure. I thought of “Angela’s Adventures in Art,” but Judy suggested “Art is the Adventure.” I chose that, though I was tempted by “Art is the Way,” a bastardization of “This is the Way” from the Mandalorian.

And so, now the time is to change the name, but not the web address of my blog; that will remain artwyrd.com.

Collage

I am intrigued by collage, mark-making, and mixed media. Yet, whenever I’ve tried them in the past, I’ve usually felt disappointed in myself.

I remember looking at the collages by Juan Gris during my A Level and loving his work. I actually created a quite nice collage using his methodology. However, I never really followed it up. Yet, the distant memory still brings a sense of joy and, I think, excitement. I have problems identifying my emotions, and they are often faint to boot.

Anyway, I love the work of so many mixed media artists, and I admire their skills and creativity. Again, I’ve tried mixed media many times, and each time felt like a fishie out of water.

I’ve recently looked at collage and bought some books that demystify the process, or so I thought until I tried my hand.

I wasn’t happy with the colours. I glued papers down before I should have. I didn’t think about the scale of the page (A5) when I decided to put really thick black lines. I had to troubleshoot the mess I felt I made of the little leaves down the stem/trunk.

Today, I’ve spent sometime treating this page as a page to reflect on my experience and create a kind of journal page as a result. (Hence all the writing on the page). I’ve also added some patterns and makes in pen and watercolour.

Also, I made some more collage papers to try again. This time, I used Canson Imagine mixed media paper, as watercolours and Distress Inks work well enough on it.

I know I need to consider the size of the paper I’m using as a substrate when cutting or tearing the collage elements. The same is true for the pen thickness.

I have an inkling that my strength may be in more abstract work. Last night, I tried creating a collage that would look like a collection of buildings, but it didn’t feel right. That’s a good thing, though, as it’s something else to reflect upon and make notes on the page.

I really hope I can find my way with collage/mixed media. It will let me use my love of pen drawing, patterns, textures, symbols and stylised art in a different way. I have a desire to involve my love of different kinds of paper in my work.

At the moment, I just feel lost at sea, without a paddle or rudder, and at the whims of the currents of creativity and art.

I was dithering about showing this debacle of a collage publically. Then, I realised that if I am going to write about my arty adventures, then I need to recount the tougher, messier, unsuccessful parts.

The perfectionist and the messy debacle

I have been plagued by perfectionism all my life. I can get very disheartened when my desire for something pleasing to the eye and heart falls even a little bit short. In this case it falls, to my mind and heart, a lot short.

One thing I have learned that this is ok. I’ve learned that even if something is a messy ‘failure’ it is a success in many ways as it’s an opportunity to learn!

I certainly have a lot to learn from this particular collage mini-adventure. But the adventure isn’t over. I have some new coloured papers to use. I’m going to stick with the A5 sketchbook and work on a smaller scale and try out more abstract/stylised shapes. Keeping it simple to begin with may be a very good idea.

I like the idea of using the colours in the collage paper to be the colours used in any artwork, lettering, stitching etc.

And, if nothing else, learning that my adventure may be to discover that while collage and mixed media may not be for me, I can still enjoy the work of others. It may lead to new ideas, new techniques, a different way of deconstructing and reconstructing motifs and patterns going forward.

I can’t possibly predict how this side-adventure in my artsy adventure will work out. All I know is it will lead to interesting places with plenty of things to learn from the experiences it offers.

recent art and thoughts

Angela Porter2 Comments

The woes of social media…

I’ve been almost totally absent from social media for a while. For a few reasons, I’ve been finding it somewhat overwhelming. I’m seriously considering how many social media platforms I use, deciding which ones suit how I enjoy communicating, and how to sort this out. I’ve not made any decisions other than keeping my blogs, Curious Stops, and Tea Shops.

The realisation has dawned on me about how much time social media can suck from my day, but also how much energy. Also, to be honest, I really don’t get social media. I have the same problems interacting with people on social media as I do with humans in person! Ah, the wonders of neurospiciness! And I’m slowly working out how to balance my energy levels as I learn more about my neurospiciness.

Two YouTube videos and one livestream over Monday and Tuesday depleted my energy levels. I enjoyed creating the content for my YouTube channel, but I had no idea how much this affected me. I had to go back to sleep a couple of times between 7 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Postie saves the day with New Noodlers Ink!

It was only a door knock by my friendly postie that got me up and moving. The last time I saw my postie was last week when I was suffering an IBS flare-up with a migraine; I was feeling and looking more than a tad grim. He asked if I was feeling better. I said kind of but migraine-y, which was true. But two mugs of tea, some food and some pain killers has worked it’s magic.

I’m glad it did, as he had a parcel with a bottle of Noodlers Walnut ink for me. After some brunch, I had to clean out one of my TWISBI Eco fountain pens and fill it with this ink. The first try of the ink was disappointing as it looked pale orange-brown; I was hoping for a much richer colour. However, it darkened to a beautifully rich, red-brown colour as it dried. The ink is semi-bulletproof, which means it’s waterproof primarily, but some will dissolve in water. That’s something I want to try!

Oh, and there are more semi-bulletproof inks in the Noodlers range. The green-brown one intrigues me!

A flip-through of my Recent Art…

So, even though I’ve been absent from social media, including this blog, for a while, I’ve been enjoying creating different kinds of art.

One of the videos I released on YouTube was a flip-through of my recent art. This included my more abstract, twiddly, entangled art, creepy-cute drawings, and some whimsical people and animals inspired by the work of Danielle Donaldson.

All of the art I’ve produced I’ve enjoyed for various reasons. Learning how I can ‘overegg’ a drawing with too much texture/pattern and not enough open space is a lesson I have yet to learn.

Working with some of the lessons in Danielle Donaldson’s book The Art of Creative Watercolour is helping me better understand watercolour, colour mixing, and how I like to work with this medium.

I’ve enjoyed drawing ‘littles’ from the same book by Danielle – whimsical people, often with wild hair and fun clothes. Then, I tried drawing cute, whimsical critters in the same manner.

However, I’m so used to drawing with a fineliner pen that using pencil instead of pen to draw the characters and adding colour felt wrong. However, looking back on my sketchbook work, I realised I immensely like it! What a revelation!

So, I tried drawing an ‘illuminated letter’ with pencil and adding colour with soft, pastel watercolours. That still doesn’t feel ‘right’ to me. My love of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval manuscripts doesn’t let me use just pencil for such work. That’s not a problem at all!

My creepy-cute drawings bring me joy and laughter as the characters appear on the page! Ink is the suitable medium for these, though I may try the Danielle Donaldson method out of curiosity at some point. I enjoy the more ‘cartoony’ feeling of the black fineliners, but I’m open to experimenting with a different style.

The creepy-cute critters have lent themselves to using alcohol markers and cross-hatching/textural patterns to bring them more to life. I’ve particularly enjoyed using more vintage colours for them.

I’ve made some choices with the creepy cuties that I regret in hindsight. Colour choice really can be an issue for me. Using a limited palette is the best way for me to work, though I sometimes forget that (and I rolled my eyes at myself as I typed that!).

I can’t say often enough that I love creepy cuties! Pure imagination and fun, and they bring out the pink and sparkly goth in me!

Exploring motifs based on a shape.

This was a livestream I did on YouTube. It’s a technique I love to do, and encourage viewers to draw along with me.

So, I begin with a shape or basic motif. Then, I work on variations of inner patterns, basic shapes, etc. I drew some variations in ink, left others with pencil lines, and added colour with watercolour pencils and a waterbrush. The brush was used to pick up colour from the tip of the pencils, allowing me to get delicate colours.

I managed to fill a page with variations in my A5 sketchbook. However, I didn’t get to add colour and details of highlights/shading to more than one and a half lines.

I really enjoy YouTube live streams. Interacting with people through live chat is a lot of fun. It’s also nice to know that people are joining in with me and finding inspiration in what I share, both the art and my words.

A Stylised Ammonite

The image at the top of this blog post was created in another YouTube video.

To start, looked back at the page full of the motifs created in the livestream mentioned above. My aim was to use it to make a pattern.

Now, I love ammonites. Indeed, spirals of all kinds have always fascinated me. There’s something so beautiful and joyful about drawing a spiral, or any curved line. Even my ‘straight lines’ have a softer feeling to them than those drawn with a ruler. Curvy seems to be a signature of my art! The imperfections are a manifestation of the way I draw, and I’m good with that. I’m human, not robot or AI!

Anyway, I started with a small ammonite, drawn with an 0.2 fineliner. I filled it with the Zentangle pattern Diva Dance. Diva Dance reminds me so much of the patterns you can see on shells, and it’s a pattern I love to use in various ways.

After that, I used a pencil to draw a guideline for an outer spiral. The chosen motif was repeated to fill the space and to create the pattern.

The next job was to add an underpainting. As I was completing work on the page of motifs, I’d used a Van Dyke Brown watercolour pencil to add shadows to some of the motifs. I loved this so much more than graphite and a tortillon, so I decided to use a burnt umber Inktense pencil to do similar here.

Inktense was chosen because it’s waterproof when dry. This was important as the paper I was using wasn’t watercolour paper.

The next step was to add colour. I decided to use reds, yellows, and pinky oranges for some of the motifs and turquoise and green for others. Complementary colours are one of my favourite ways of using colour. In this instance, I added the watercolour pencils to the paper and blended it with a waterbrush. I should have used a finer brush for the smaller and narrower areas. However, I wasn’t too worried if the colours ran or overspilled; this was more of a sketchbook page to try an idea out rather than a finished artwork.

I can have a tendency to hyperperfectionism. I’m learning that it’s okay not to be perfect in the art I create, that it’s OK to make mistakes or be a bit slapdash. I know I can re-draw the design, improve it, and choose how to add colour.

I often think that I’d be better off adding colour digitally—creating tradigitalart. That way, I can easily change my mistakes. That’s not something I can do on a livestream. But if I decide to redraw this design, I can scan it and colour it digitally.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I’m painfully aware of all the icky bits of the artwork, but I remind myself that it’s not a finished work.

Closing thoughts

I need to consider and think about a lot of stuff. The biggie is not tiring myself out, so I’m good for nothing for several days. Social media is a constant bugbear for me. I prefer to create and explore art, knit, nap or read. Oh, and cook, eat and sleep and do all the other things that I have in my life.

I have to think about how to increase my income, too, trying to forget about my worries about AI art. So much is overwhelming, though. I will get there.

All I know, for now, is that I really enjoyed creating YouTube videos and doing a live stream. There was something energising about it, as well as tiring, in a good way.

I may be ‘missing for a couple of days, especially as I have something ‘people-y’ to do this evening; as lovely as it will be, it will exhaust me.

But for now I will sign off and do some drawing and get ready to pop out for a while this evening.

The things that make me different…

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It’s been a few weeks or so since I last posted on here, YouTube, and other social media. The reasons are simple yet complex.

Simple because I’ve been low in energy and oompf once again. I’m not entirely sure why, and that’s why it’s also complex.

Having some people-y times is one thing. A kind of low mood and sadness have been lingering, and along with it, the shadows of comfort eating have encroached on my being. My ability to focus is limited, too. I have a fairly firm inkling that there are a couple of other things rumbling under the surface of the blanket of antidepressant meds. Ultimately, I think it may be a combination of menopause and the lingering effects of the huge burnout last year. Recovery from such burnouts can take a lot longer than I think they will. When I push myself, such as people-y times, then all I do is cause a bit of a relapse.

Still, throughout these weeks, I have been creating art. Creepy, Cute stuff was a staple of my arty being for a number of weeks, and I thoroughly enjoyed creating it. It makes me smile, and sometimes, it almost feels like there’s a tale to tell about the images.

Over the past week or two, however, I’ve been delving into the worlds of Danielle Donaldson. I have owned her two books for a while, though I haven’t done much with them. They’re based on watercolour, and that is still a medium that vexes me greatly.

I love her style of art very much. It really appeals to my sense of whimsy. So, as watercolour is something I struggle with, I thought I’d approach some of her exercises to develop some skills and understanding. I have to say that the ones that involve colour mixing and creating squares of colour have been a lot of fun! Some success has been had with the exercises, especially in mixing colours I never would’ve tried mixing. I am fascinated with watercolour’s ‘magic’ qualities, whether in paint form or watercolour pencils.

When I try to add watercolour to drawings, it all tends to go to pot …

As far as drawing goes, I got it into my head to try to draw some of Danielle’s ‘Littles’ – people, that is!

Yes, I know. I’ve always said I don’t do people! However, there is something quite delightful about her style of drawing ‘littles’. Also, it was a little change from the creepy-cute critters and characters!

I have had a lot of fun drawing ‘littles’ inspired by Danielle Donaldson. Indeed, the ‘little’ above is one I drew today, and it kind of represents me! Is it coloured with watercolour? NO! I gave in and used marker pens; that is the way forward for now.

Another thing I explored from Danielle’s tutorials in her books was using a fine mechanical pencil to draw the designs instead of ink.

Pencil instead of pen just doesn’t feel right to me. I don’t know why. I have, however, used a finer pen to draw the designs than I usually would. In the example above, I used a 01 Unipin fineliner; usually, I use an 05!

The hand-lettering in the drawing above *rolls eyes*has let me down. However, the words have meaning to me. Recognising and accepting the differences in me and understanding their source has been an adventure over the past twenty months or so. It’s an adventure that will continue for the rest of my days, I’m sure.

Naturally, I will persevere with the ‘littles’, which are delightfully wonky, as are the whimsical critters and creepy cuties I love to draw. Learning to embrace that wonkiness is a work in progress; the perfectionist in me demands symmetry, not wonky! I can see how wonky adds to the whimsy, interest, and delight of the drawings.

Meet “The Scribblings”

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Meet the Scribblings! My kind of quirky, creepy, cute fellows!

The Scribblings is my working name for the wide community of fellows that are appearing in this style of art. That title may change, though …it’s not set in stone yet!

This one I really liked this until I added the greyish blue crosshatching background. I used softer colours that are still vintage. But, I think the background colour has detracted from them – too dark, too textured, both? I don’t know.

I do know, however, that I could kick myself for not scanning the drawing in before starting to add colour!

I know I want to add some shadow around them. Maybe I’ll see if I can lighten or remove the background digitally at some point too.

What I do know is that I have a few more characters to add to my “bestiary” to work with in different ways.

Even though I’m not fond of the background at all, the characters still make me smile. The softer colours have also entranced me too.

Creepy Cute Artwork and Burnout…Again!

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I’m delighted with this artwork/illustration. I love the colours, the silly, creepy, cute characters, and the whimsical nature of the design. There was a smile on my face, a giggle on my lips and joy in my heart as I gradually brought the characters to life. The joy also came from the sensuous pleasure of working entirely with traditional media.

I hope I’m gradually getting to grips with using crosshatching and textural patterns to add shadows to the designs. There’s a way to go before I work out all the intricacies and the way I like to do this, but I’m quite happy with it for now.

To add colour, I used Chameleon Color Tones and Color Tops alcohol markers, with a couple of Winsor and Newton Promarkers in places. The Chameleons worked really well for me. Also, I remembered to use tip-to-tip blending so I could fade the colours out with the Promarkers, too.

Today, I very much needed some time to work quietly in an artistic manner. I’ve burned myself out through too much ‘peopling’ in the past couple of weeks. I’d nearly recovered, but an encounter with scammers threw me into total emotional overwhelm yesterday and I now need a few days to recover. Well, at least I will after I phone my bank again tomorrow to start the fraud investigation.

I love to draw and create. My creepy cute critters are currently my favourite thing to do. They’ve followed on from the colouring book I finished at the beginning of this month – “Haunted”, which is due to be released towards the end of October 2024.

Actually, as I think about it, I was playing around with silly creepy creatures about a year and a half ago, but put them to one side for a while.

Of course, the artwork above was entirely for my own pleasure and exploration of how I’d like to create these critters. I already know that some, if not all of them, will be featured in their own artwork, perhaps with a story to tell or some lore about them. I wonder what kinds of things that will be. I don’t know for now, but I trust my imagination will come out in words too. That won’t be now, however. I’m now tired for today and need to prepare for bed, for me and my creepy weirdies to rest and sleep and to dream up some joyful tales. And names. They definitely need names!

Circle Motif Variations

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I spent some lovely, peaceful time today recording a video showing how I work to create variations on a theme.This theme is motifs based around circles and how I go from simple to more complex, possibly over complex.

You are welcome to come and #drawwithme as the #YouTube video is published at 19:30 UK time today, 4 April 2024 – https://youtu.be/tCHrlWi

Intricate Intuitive Art | 24 Feb 2024

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These three works show my love of intricate, intuitive, flowing art. I continue to explore the use of colour to work on gaining more confidence in using it. I can appreciate how colour brings the drawing to life and sets the mood, too. I find using a fairly limited palette really helps me appreciate this.

I’ve worked on these over two or three weeks, give or take. It’s been a slow process as I’m recovering from a period of burnout from too much adulting and peopling. None are finished yet as I still have to indulge my love of pattern/texture to create more volume in the designs. Also, dots of gold acrylic paint have been added for that little bit of glitz and glimmer – something that makes my raven mind happy!

William Blake Quote and some Entangled Art.

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This drawing has taken a bit of an unexpected turn, to say the least.

Two black ink-filled Parker Jotter XL fountain pens, one with an M nib and the other with an F, were used to draw the structure of this drawing and add some patterns and textures.

I then decided to use some Zebra Sarasa gel pens with vintage colours to add more patterns and textures. All was fine, but it all looked flat and not finished in any way.

So, I added some flat colours with softly coloured alcohol markers. This improved things a little, but it wasn’t quite right. The drawing was missing contrast and dimension.

A deep breath was taken as I broke out a graphite pencil and tortillon and set to adding shade to the design. And that really did help, much to my surprise. Even more surprising was I actually preferred this way of adding shade to using alcohol markers, and it was easy to remove any overspill of shading with an eraser!

Next, I added some layers of the colours I’d already used to intensify the colour in some areas. I also added some more darkness with pen textures.

Finally, I was happy-ish with what had been created on the paper, so much so that I felt it was finished!

Yes, that’s right, I’m happy-ish with this! Using less saturated alcohol markers to add colour also works for me, especially the more muted, vintage and less bright and garish.

What works for me is seeing the drawing scanned in, as scanning seems to improve how I view the graphite shading.

So, is this an onward process for me? Yes, I think so. I think the graphite shading needs to be added last. Also, I think the use of Pitt Graphite Matt pencils will improve how I view the use of graphite in this way. Maybe coloured fineliners would work better for me than the gel pens. Things to consider (and make a note of too!)