The lil' guy's progression

 

Treats at Les Schwab Gig Harbor WA
ball point pen 6x9

 Usually when I go sketching "the scene" I have a few different sketchbooks- depending on how much time I think I might have to sketch. I have the down and dirty, half hour or less book which goes almost everywhere with me. It has a ball point pen and a pocket in the back to carry the pen and any other name, card, info I may collect to research later. More than half the book is probably 5-15 fleeting attempts to catch something or burn time while waiting- Dr's appointment, car repair. Best of all it makes me draw faster, draw more and it keeps me connected to sketching more frequently.
   The opposite end of the spectrum would be my event sketchbook. It is a 7x9 book that I take when I know I have at least an hour or more to do a little study. It is filled with alternating sketch paper between a heavier watercolor paper and of which has saved a few watercolor studies that were a little too wet to close the book on... oops. The lightweight paper also gives me a chance to do a drawing in case I don't want to paint. More often I can do little composition studies (usually by dividing the page in half both ways) in 1/4 size to better determine what I want to paint.

N.W. room at library Tacoma WA
micron pen 2.75 x 4.5 each

    I have been enjoying the "little guys" (1/4 size) when I flip back through the book to find a blank page but lack of quality in the paper and soft graphite has made the sketches fade and blur from the clarity in which they were rendered. I had wished the sketches had been done in pen but don't carry one with me... until now.
  This idea unified the points I have been making on the last Urban Sketching event when I found I didn't have enough time to do a full sized watercolor sketch like I usually do. Now I'm playing with pen on a 1/4 size portion of the page to do shorter sketches in a non-smearing medium.Thus I'm not drawn between color or black and white, smaller or larger, short sketch or longer study- one sketchbook, an extra tool and I have more choices and a better way to utilize more pages in the sketchbook.