Drawing My First Trip to Mars / by Mirena Rhee

Drawing My First Trip to Mars

I draw with dip pen and ink on really smooth cotton archival board. If there's any happiness in making art this sort of state where I draw these lines is where I'm the happiest I guess a kind of a zone state. I pay attention to very small things actually I pay attention to just one thing and that is the line that's coming out of that pen. I could say the entire universe converges on the tip of the pen in these moments.

When I stop drawing is when I actually dip the pen in ink and make sure to make a few doodles on a small piece of paper so it doesn't leave a large stain on the drawing by accidentally spilling more than necessary ink.

No matter what happens I know that I can always go back to drawing a line and everything will be fine. There's supreme calmness to it because there is no mixing paints and application of paint there's no much worrying about the surface as much or the technology of painting. There is technology to drawing but I have it down so this is where I'm at a perfect state to just be one with the drawing. I really like the sound the pen makes and like the the marks it leaves on the paper.

I use English and German inks because they're a lot more delicate, higgins ink is too thick and the lines too coarse.