I recently watched a video online of an octopus taking photos at an aquarium in New Zealand. His name is Rambo (I really regret not drawing him with a red headband on), and he is now known as the Octographer. My first thought when I saw this was, 'where do get one of these?' (as you know, my full time job is as an award winning wedding photographer). As it turns out, not only do most pet stores not sell octopuses that can take pictures, most of them don't even sell octopuses! I had to buy a goldfish instead, but without tentacles it lacked the capabilities to operate a camera. Oh well, I guess this cartoon is going to have to do.
Gratitude - Staedtler and Uni-Ball
I believe that one if the most important things that a person can do is express their gratitude and appreciation for the people and things that enrich their lives, and this is something that I would like to start doing more of.
Today I am going to start off by expressing my gratitude to a couple of tools that help make the Land of Le beef: Staedtler Pencils and Uni-Ball Uni Pin pens.
Me hugging my comically oversized and slightly scared looking drawing tools...
I have been using Staedtler pencils (and erasers, lots of them) since art school, and I have never looked back. They have always made a high quality, reliable product. I especially like the HB (although I would never turn down a 2H either). Staedtler pencils provide the foundation of all of the Land of Le Beef sketches.
The pens that I use, Uni Pin by Uni-Ball, are a relatively new find for me. When I started the Beef a couple of years ago, I didn't put too much consideration into which pen I used. Eventually I had bought a bunch of pens just to try them out, and I would just randomly grab one whenever my sketches were ready for ink. Some pens would frustrate me by how fast the ink flowed, or their lack of precision, but I always felt great when I had a Uni Pin in my hand. Now I can't imagine using anything else. They come in different thickness; I typically use 0.2 for the main lines, and 0.1 for small details and shading. If I happen to be doing a larger illustration I might use a 0.3 or even the 0.5.
Anyway, to sum it all up, thanks Staedtler and Uni Pin. You're awesome.
The actual pens and pencils in all their glory...