Earth to Hello Kitty’s!

One of the things Little One loves collecting and playing with is Hello Kitty’s! Today she received in the post a pair of cushions featuring just the faces which she is chuffed about. “But where should I put them?” she muses. She hopes they would look great on the bed. I’m sure they will! And so I decided to sketch about it with some Conté sticks on grey paper. It is not often I get to sketch, let alone with Conté sticks, which are clay-based drawing mediums mixed with charcoal or graphite and compressed into squares in cross section. They come in earthy tones including sepia, sanguine, bistre and a range of greys.

For the first time, I sketched with these sticks on grey paper, a page from my Strathmore’s toned grey sketchbook. It worked out beautifully, even better than imagined. It is like working on toned-tan paper except it’s grey and hence a cooler atmosphere. In addition to the sticks, I incorporated some black charcoal and white chalk, and wow! The combination of monotone B/W and earthy tones is amazing. A quick and simple sketch but experimenting is so much fun especially when the result is even better than expected. And of course, even better when Little One and the Hello Kitty’s turn out so adorable and kawaii!