There is no magic pencil – or pen, or marker, or brush – art is a process of repeated iterations.

My name is theTravelsketcher and I am a Niffler when it comes to shiny new art stuff. Unpacking my art things from storage and from France makes it clear that I have more unused, or partially used sketchbooks than I could ever fill, and pens and pencils in abundance – the photo above does not even include all my pens and pencils, nor all of the paints and brushes, and…

A visit to an art supply store is an overwhelming temptation to buy some new something that will be fun and dazzling or just the right thing to make me better. I embrace Oscar Wilde: “The only way to git rid of temptation is to yield to it.”

Certainly part of the enjoyment of art is trying new things, and I would never suggest otherwise. Different tools and mediums keep our creative juices flowing. Yet as we settle in to our small apartment in Portland I am reminded of why I started sketching on my iPad in the first place – storage space.

So I am resolved to work more with what I have, do more digital sketching, which I find so enjoyable, and fill up the sketchbooks I already have, and paint on panels not canvases which are quite bulky.

“You don’t make art after you become an artist. You become an artist by ceaselessly making art.” Seth Godin