{"id":22375,"date":"2017-06-13T06:49:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T10:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=22375"},"modified":"2022-09-17T08:42:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T12:42:44","slug":"not-quite-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/06\/13\/not-quite-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Quite Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I thought I was being quite clever when I came up with the idea for replacing my favorite but sadly exhausted Sketchbook from Heaven.<\/em><\/a> My idea was to get a larger sketchbook and chop it in half<\/a> so it more closely approximated the cheap sketchbook’s size and shape. It fits easily in my backpack and I can retrieve it in a flash, but it’s just not the same. It’s resisting my attempts at doodling interesting doodles. I guess size and shape aren’t everything.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m not sure what the problem is. The paper in the new sketchbook is good<\/em> paper. It’s Canson XL Mixed Media. It takes wet and dry media better than the cheap paper in the Sketchbook from Heaven<\/em> which was probably something that was lying around a warehouse when somebody at the company figured “waste not, want not.”<\/em> The cheap paper was bound into doodle pads meant for children and dumped into Target stores for Christmas whereas the Canson tablets are offered to artists through art supply stores.<\/p>\n

That cheap little sketchbook was like an addictive drug that I greedily used up until there was no more. The halved replacement feels more like a homework assignment in a subject I don’t particularly like. It’s a bit of a slog and nothing decent is coming out of my pencils. That’s why I haven’t been splashing sketches across this website recently. I really don’t have much that’s worth showing. The adventures of The Atomic Warrior<\/em> has hit a speed-bump.<\/p>\n

Sigh.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Shotgun<\/a>

One of the few decent doodles in my halved sketchbook.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I have to make a go of it. I have this and a whole other half of this sketchbook before I go exploring alternatives. It’s not that I think it’s bad luck to jump to a new sketchbook before the old one is done, but it’s probably bad luck to break out a new one before using up the old.<\/p>\n

I don’t want to start haunting stores looking for cheap scratch pads. I’ll end up with garbage. I found a newsprint pad recently that proved to be utterly useless. It probably would have been just fine for shipping glassware but impossible to draw in.<\/p>\n

In my years selling and using art supplies, I’ve always heard people bemoan the loss of a favorite pencil, paper, correcting white or something that they just don’t make anymore. Maybe a company went out of business or went into a different direction. Now I know what they mean.<\/p>\n

I’m also wondering if something less toothy<\/em> might do the trick. The Sketchbook from Heaven felt somewhat smoother.<\/p>\n

The search continues.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I was being quite clever when I came up with the idea for replacing my favorite but sadly exhausted Sketchbook from Heaven. My idea was to get a larger sketchbook and chop it in half so it more … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[49],"tags":[158,17,8,27,5,3663,25,480,3660],"class_list":["post-22375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-came-from-the-sketchbook","tag-analog","tag-cartoon","tag-cartoons","tag-digital-illustration","tag-joe-williams","tag-sketch","tag-sketchbook","tag-usa","tag-willceau"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-5OT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34136,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2020\/03\/18\/goodbye-half-a-sketchbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":22375,"position":0},"title":"Goodbye Half a Sketchbook","author":"Joe","date":"March 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A while back, I had the bold notion of trying to replicate my beloved Sketchbook from Heaven by cleaving a larger pad of paper in two. It was a great idea, and if it worked, I would have bought several more pads and hacked them in half. It was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Illustration"","block_context":{"text":"Illustration","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/illustration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/half-a-sketchbook.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/half-a-sketchbook.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/half-a-sketchbook.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38187,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/07\/13\/the-other-half\/","url_meta":{"origin":22375,"position":1},"title":"The Other Half","author":"Joe","date":"July 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in 2017, I had what I thought was a pretty good idea for replicating the size and shape of my beloved Sketchbook from Heaven by cleaving a 9-inch by 12-inch drawing pad into two 9-inch by 6-inch pads. It worked in that I had two landscape tablets to sketch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/sketchbook-werewolf-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/sketchbook-werewolf-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/sketchbook-werewolf-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42270,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/01\/09\/fuxi-sketchbook-09-01-2023-to-01-02-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":22375,"position":2},"title":"Fuxi Sketchbook \u2022 09-01-2023 to 01-02-2024","author":"Joe","date":"January 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought this cheap, Chinese-made sketchbook could possibly be the next Sketchbook from Heaven, but not quite. The size, shape and country of manufacture were the same as my favorite sketchbooks, but it wasn't quite as magical as those earlier doodle pads. See some of the scribbles within HERE.","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/fuxi-one.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21892,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/03\/21\/in-japan-the-hand-can-be-used-like-a-knife\/","url_meta":{"origin":22375,"position":3},"title":"In Japan the Hand Can Be Used Like a Knife","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"March 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Being that my inexpensive but beloved Sketchbook from Heaven will soon be exhausted, I needed to find a replacement. A small, landscape sketchpad roughly the same size was proving impossible to find. The only solution was to make my own! I went to a local art supply shop and bought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_4253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_4253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_4253.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40850,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/07\/12\/done-with-another-discount-sketchbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":22375,"position":4},"title":"Done With Another Discount Sketchbook","author":"Joe","date":"July 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished off the HQ Fine Stroke Sketch Draw that I picked up from Philadelphia based discounter Five Below. The price was right, and I liked the pad's size of 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches as well as the wire binding being placed along one of the short ends, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nora-the-cave-woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nora-the-cave-woman.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Nora-the-cave-woman.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23031,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2017\/12\/28\/another-heaven-sent-sketchbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":22375,"position":5},"title":"Another Heaven Sent Sketchbook?","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"December 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year I had the good fortune of receiving a Christmas present of a cheap and cheap looking sketchbook that looked like nothing more than an overly large scratch pad to be kept by the telephone for jotting down numbers. As it turned out, it became one of my all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/llama-sketchbook.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}