Earlier this year I was gifted a pack of original A3-sized Tomoe River 52gsm paper. While I was very happy to receive such a wonderful gift, it immediately presented a problem for me. More than one, actually. First, what the heck am I going to do with A3 paper? It’s way too big for most practical uses and I hate to just cut it into smaller pieces. Second, this is some original Tomoe River paper, the “good stuff”. It should be used for something fun, right? After thinking it over for a bit, I decided to do some really big doodles.
An A3 sheet of paper compared to an A5 notebook
Here is the finished outline before adding color
I’ve never done doodles this big before. I’ve done plenty of A5-sized doodles. I may have even ventured to something a little larger once in a while. But A3? That’s twice the size of A4 and 4 times the size of an A5 piece of paper! But, in order to honor the paper, I decided to go for it.
March was the first month I tried one of these oversized doodles and I really enjoyed it. Giving myself an entire month makes a big difference, so that I don’t feel bad just working on it a little bit each day. I wanted to start with a pattern that is simple yet flexible, so I chose Circles. As I worked through the pattern, I realized that I didn’t have to fill the entire piece of paper, so this also gave me a bit of a flexibility in case I decided the paper was just too big to fill up.
I’m really happy with how it turned out and am excited to start my next A3 doodle in April. I think I already have a pattern picked out, but if you have a request for future months, please let me know!
Here’s the full doodle with color added
Pens used: Pilot Custom Heritage 91 with Soft Fine nib, Bonecrusher 7 Studios Velma with Broad nib
Inks used: Platinum Carbon Black and Sailor Studio 162
These are the inks and pens I used
Here’s a detailed look at the color
Comments 11
OMgosh! I love this! With the color, it reminds me of those Japanese paintings of tsunamis!
Author
I never would have thought of that, but now that you mention it I do see it as a wave!
Well done, John!
It takes some artistic courage to fill a piece of paper like that when you’re doing small, detailed work. I’m looking forward to the next one!
Author
Thanks, Ruth! While it was definitely intimidating to start, it was very enjoyable once it was underway.
Love it! Great and inspiring as always John.
Author
Thanks, Eric, and thanks again for the great gift!
Hello, Eric!
I don’t think I’ve seen your name pop up for a while. I hope you are well.
Ruth
Very nice work, John. Your efforts are inspiring. Can you tell me more about the inks you use (above—”Carbon ink” and “162” are what I can read) when you’re going to color over the doodling? All the inks for fountain pens I’m familiar with are water soluble, and they run or bleed when I use any kind of water soluble coloring medium over/around them. It’s my understanding that you should never use India Ink in a fountain pen. Thanks in advance for your advice!
Author
Hi Todd, thanks for the kind words! The Platinum Carbon Black ink is made for fountain pens and is extremely waterproof. It is one of the few permanent black inks I’ve found that doesn’t bleed when used with another ink that is water soluble. You are correct that India ink should never be used in a fountain pen, but there are plenty of waterproof inks that are still fountain-pen-friendly.
Thank You for the information, John!
Wow I absolutely love this! Ingenious!