 |
| 12/9/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood |
Sketching pre-coffee in the pre-dawn darkness, I enjoy the special stillness of this time that’s so entirely different from the same time during the summer.
 |
| 12/6/25 Cafe Javasti, Maple Leaf neighborhood |
I don’t sketch at Café Javasti, only five blocks away and my
closest coffee shop, as often as you’d think I would. Although convenient (and they
do make a mean scone), it’s small and tends to be a little dark. That dim
lighting, though, gave me an idea: It would be ideal for practicing nocturnal
sketching even indoors.
Sitting in back, I could sketch other patrons backlit by the large windows. I especially enjoyed sketching the chairs in this minimal way: a white colored pencil for the soft reflected light and a white Gelly Roll for the bright highlights.
 |
| Top tier on desktop: Museum Aquarelle, Prismacolor, Supracolor |
Whenever I started thinking about a functional way to discuss which sets I kept and why, it started feeling like an onerous task. You know me – if you get me started talking about colored pencils and all the nuanced uses for one type rather than another (and therefore justifying why I need so many), I could go on for weeks! But since I already have reviews of most of these pencils, I decided that simple lists including links to the reviews would be the most concise. If you’d like more detail, please read the reviews. The pencil brands are not ranked within categories (in fact, I diplomatically listed them alphabetically).
 |
| Top drawer |
I should also note that the only vintage pencils I include are ones that I consider “users.” With those exceptions, vintage pencils aren’t nearly as good to use as most contemporaries in my top and secondary tiers. Even among my vintage “collectibles,” I gave away quite a few sets. The ones I kept are for qualities that anyone who collects anything might appreciate: They are fun, beautiful, unique or otherwise “special.”
The way I manage my entire inventory now is the same way I manage my clothes (with a finite number of hangers): A finite space is allocated to each category (“users,” collectibles, vintage), and when each space is full, I am not allowed to bring in anything new unless I get rid of something already there. At the Black Friday gab & grab, I gave away a few sets with that in mind (yes, something new! Stay tuned!)
These are my tried-and-true favorites that you’d have to pry
from my cold, stiff hands. As I reach for them most often, some literally occupy
the “top tier” of my drawing table – on the desktop or in the top drawer. Except Polychromos, all are among the softest colored pencils I own.
Prismacolor (vintage and contemporary)
I still think of these as favorites, but only for specific
purposes. Luminance used to be in the top tier but only recently got pushed
down to the secondary tier when I realized I don’t reach for them as often as I
do Derwent Lightfast (which I place in the same range of softness).
Caran d’Ache Bicolors (various holiday limited edition
sets)
Eberhard Faber Design Watercolor (vintage)
I don’t use these often, but I’ve found them to be best for
their specific functions, so they were worth keeping.
Derwent Metallic 20th anniversary set
Eberhard-Faber Design Spectracolor Doublecolor (vintage)
These I rarely use, but how can I let go of beautiful sets
that are no longer available (or won’t be for long)?
Caran d’Ache limited edition sets (Oliver Jeffers, Cosmic Blue, Keith Haring, Germanier)
Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle leads
Palomino California Republic Aquas
These I rarely use, if ever, and yet I have sentimental or
other irrational reasons for keeping them. The most irrational of all is that some
come in fabulous packaging!
Marco Tribute Masters Collection
I couldn’t quite bring myself to boot these yet, but given
that I hardly use them (not even enough to review one) and can’t even think of an irrational reason for keeping
them, they will probably not make the next cut.
Bruynzeel Design
 |
| Irrational but decorative! |
 |
| 12/7/25 Fuel Coffee, Wallingford neighborhood |
Sadly, we were disappointed to find that it wasn’t even decorated this year. Since I’ve sketched there numerous times, I took a walk through the Wallingford neighborhood to find an alternative. Fuel Coffee has window seating looking out on a strip of quintessential Wallingford buildings, so I settled in there with a Cortado. Meanwhile, patrons around me were having interesting conversations that I couldn’t help overhearing. A new pastime: urban eavesdropping. 😉
 |
| 12/4/25 Roku (reference photo by Cristina Corpuz-Martens) |
I sketched this handsome Akita, Roku, as a gift for a
friend. I’m pleased that Pencilvember helped me learn how to make
colored pencil sketches faster (this took less than 30 minutes) while still
capturing a reasonable resemblance. It makes a gift like this (not to mention
commissions) less burdensome. It’s not often that a drawing
challenge helps me in such a practical way. Thirty days well spent!
During the challenge, I used fun, unnatural colors to keep
me from spending too much time trying to “match” reality. I have found, though,
that the practice had another benefit that came out unexpectedly with Roku. Instead
of using straight-up black for the nose and eyes (as I used to with most dogs
before the challenge), I impulsively used Indanthrene Blue and mixed it with a
little dark brown. I think the result is more interesting than black.
 |
| 12/3/25 Sushi omakase plate at Akebono,Wedgwood neighborhood |
After my satisfying completion of downsizing, phase 3,
last month, I had planned to celebrate in short order, but somehow appointments
and other things kept getting in the way (including my birthday, which had
several celebrations of its own). My calendar finally cleared so that I could enjoy
a leisurely celebration sketching lunch.
On my first visit to Akebono, a Japanese restaurant that opened in nearby Wedgwood last spring, I had given it my “chirashi test,” which is my favorite way to try any new-to-me sushi restaurant. I felt a little disappointed that time, though, that I didn’t sketch that fantastic meal in full color. Since then, I’ve gotten takeout meals from Akebono a few times (one of which I sketched to test my go-bag sketch kit last summer), but I hadn’t eaten inside the restaurant again. Now that I was certain the food was reliably good*, I knew what I wanted to do someday: Sketch (and of course eat! But sketching is the most important part, right?) an omakase meal there.
You may recall that my big celebration last December after a particularly burdensome downsizing task was an omakase meal at Moriyama. That was such a special and enjoyable experience that I wanted to repeat it at Akebono. Seeing the options on their menu previously, I suspected it wouldn’t be quite the same, mainly because the price was significantly lower at Akebono, but at least I was confident of the food quality.
 |
| I reserved my editorial comments for my sketch journal. |
I regretted not being able to sketch chef Alo this time, but because I was seated at the sushi bar, he was barely visible behind a pile of clutter. My biggest complaint, though, was how friggin’ cold the place was! I don’t remember it being that cold last spring. I kept my coat on (over three layers) for the entire meal. I was about to say something to my server when I overheard another party mention the same complaint. The server replied that the restaurant interior needs to be kept at that temperature to keep the sashimi fresh. Hmmm. I’ve dined in many, many sushi restaurants, and none of them have had to keep patrons refrigerated at the same temperature as the fish!
Next time I’m in the mood for Akebono (which also serves ramen, bowls and other items I haven’t tried yet), I’m going to stick with takeout so I can enjoy the food in my heated home. Maybe I’ll dine in again on a sweltering summer day, when the “refrigeration” will feel comfortable.
* At the risk of sounding like a restaurant critic (OK, I suppose I’m already a donut and croissant critic; I might as well move on to sushi), the main reason I haven’t been back to Moriyama in a while is that their food quality has been inconsistent. After a couple of great dining experiences and then that knockout omakase, I had two very disappointing takeout meals. Typically, hot takeout foods can suffer by the time you get them home, but sushi is already cold, so that shouldn’t affect quality. It just wasn’t good. I’m not sure what the problem was, but as it’s also an inconvenient drive with difficult parking, Moriyama is no longer on my go-to list.
 |
| 12/2/25 Maple Leaf neighborhood |
I’ve kicked off nocturne season with my most convenient night view: the house across the street. Their lights and decorations
are (thankfully) more subdued than in some years, but I’m bracing myself – they
might not be done yet. I prefer sketching during the half-done stage before the
inflatables and blinky stuff appear. (Here’s how the same house looked
in 2023 and in 2022.)
Often I prefer making nocturnes in the pre-dawn quiet when the family is still asleep, and no interior lights clash with festive lights. This time I tried an evening view after they turned out their diningroom lights. The tree in the window looked lovely.
 |
| Simple kit with the essential light |
An essential item in a good nocturne sketch kit is a light. I’m pleased with the Gritin LED book light that I got last year. It’s so lightweight that even a softcover, landscape-format Uglybook (which is none too stiff) can hold up its weight when I stand at the livingroom window to sketch.
