On a recent work trip to Tokyo, I popped into the Shibuya branch of Tokyu Hands, a kind of department store with a pretty awesome stationery section. I picked up a new dot pad! I thought nothing could beat my Rhodia dot pad, but this one is spiral-bound, which means it lies flat as I sketch, and it’s got really stiff front and back covers, which means it won’t buckle as I’m sketching at weird angles. I’m in love. If it had perforated pages, my (sketching) life would be complete.

I don’t know if it’s the new pad, or my recent attempts to introduce a bit of colour into my designs (and Instagram feed), but I’ve had a fairly productive sketching week. Working with two colours (rather than my usual black or blue) has opened up some new sketching directions….

Of course, I had to mix order (the black bars) with chaos (the red bars). Whereas the black bars are spaced evenly apart – two rows and two columns away from their neighbours – the red bars can appear anywhere, as long as they’re not touching another red bar. Yes, even with chaos, I need to impose a few rules 🙂

This design could easily be made into a quilt pattern using rectangles and squares.