Winter stagnation

Winter is my favourite season but the weeks that precede New Year’s Eve are seldom interesting. With Christmas ads in every corner, sun deprivation and inescapable boredom, this time of the year makes me a reckless consumer, even to the point of buying a gender-bending doll at the Christmas market in Colmar. Thanks to the incident, I have come to the realization that my blog has become annoyingly materialistic (or perhaps has always been that way due to the fact that I cannot draw people without shaming myself and anyone who’s unfortunate enough to come across my sketches). Still, my blog hasn’t worked for me since I came back from the UK and I need to do something about it. I will think of ways to come up with something different, more personal and fluid.

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Moleskine meditation

I’m trying to simplify life as much as I can, and every meaningful gesture begins with Art. Therefore, gone are the terracota pens of old, along with other artist’s paraphernalia featured on what remains my most popular blog post. From now on, creativity will embrace the repetitive pulse of the paper’s quiet breathing. Hwaet, the protocol for the reign of Moleskine The Second is as follows:

1. Use my brush pen to draw lines in Indian ink

2. Choose one colour among my small collection of inks and apply it somewhere in the drawing

3. Buy a proper bamboo pen before my talent decimates what remains of my aunt’s potted bamboo plant.

Or at least that’s what I believe I will do, having finished the second page and letting myself dream of the 51 still missing to complete the sketchbook. Hopeful beginnings, what do you know of boredom? Poor old life will never be simple.

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Rösti and the Federal Counsel

Summer’s gone, along with the idea of going back to England this year (no unknown dead rich relative mentioning me in their will so far), and I’m back on Scones and the Queen. I’ve briefly considered renaming it Rösti and the Federal Counsel  in order to be more in tune with my country of residence but this option had to be discarded for aesthetic reasons. Imitating the oaks in the nearby wood, I am shedding many of the brown leaves of my past, a process which tends to inspire uncontrolable bursts of ridiculous prose. I moved out of the mighty city of Yverdon this week-end and, as I still haven’t found my own flat, am squatting my aunt’s for two weeks while she’s exploring Crete. Much of my exciting life is now spent on the train to Geneva where I’ll be working as a full-time research assistant until Christmas.

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One Moleskine later

I have now filled my notebook with sketches and thoughts, all of which are published on this blog. It’s time for me to take a break while I wait and see if I find the money I need to go back to England soon, or if I’ll have to stay in Switzerland for another year in order to put a large enough sum aside for my PhD. If all goes well, I’m sure I’ll feel the drive to buy a new sketchbook and will be back on Scones&theQueen for a another round. It’s been a great year; thanks for following me, and I hope to get back to you soon!

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A Moleskine blog

Now that I’ve been blogging for two months, I’ve decided that it’s time to disclose a few informations on what I use to draw and write for Scones and the Queen. First of all, I’m sure most of you recognized the Moleskine sketchbook that is featured on all the pictures. I really like how sturdy it is, as well as the quality of the paper and the fact that it is not quite white. Unfortunately, I cannot use watercolours on it (although it may be a good thing to spare you that). My favourite pen is a Pentel brush with black ink, but I’ve started to use Faber-Castell artist pens in sepia more and more because of their natural tone and the different widths I can choose from. When all is done, I take a picture (usually on my window sill) with my new Canon camera, which I bought on purpose for my blog and my year abroad. I’m very happy with it and would recommend it to anyone. And finally, I use Photoshop for minor alterations, and WordPress, which is very user-friendly. Now, if you want to start your own journal, you know everything you need, but please don’t draw better than me!

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First entry

Hi everyone! As I’m leaving for England tomorrow morning, it’s time to get this started. Scones and the Queen is an illustrated journal which will keep you up to date with my academic year abroad, at the university of Kent, where I’m going to live and study for the next two terms. I’ll draw whenever I remember to and post pictures of each page as soon as I complete them. I’m not a very skilled artist, but hopefully my contributions will get better as I go along. In case you don’t find me too boring, please leave a comment.

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