I’m still working on getting my drawing habit back on, so of course yesterday I got totally distracted making something instead. My MIL bought me some A5 sketchbooks from Hobbycraft for Christmas, and the paper has surprised me by taking ink quite well. They’re good for putting in a bag and taking out, but they are a little flimsy for sketching in your lap, say.
So yesterday’s distraction was making a prototype folding drawing board. I thought if I had a couple of bits of plywood joined with some fabric, it would unfold to a nice stable surface. And if you had a suitable bulldog clip, it would a) hold the book to the board and b) placed across the join would strengthen the board.
I didn’t have two pieces of thin plywood. I did have some bits of strong cardboard from my recent Tiny Rebel beer delivery, some white duct tape, and a 3cm foldback clip.
Of course, a later Google search shows up that I am absolutely not the first person to think of this, although products for sale seem surprisingly thin on the ground. Maybe because the kind of person who wants one also tends to be the kind of person who makes this stuff.
The foldback clip might actually be a better option than the bulldog clip would have been. Flicking it back when I’m actually drawing keeps it out the way, and when it’s all folded up folding them down makes it much more compact. The cardboard version is really light too.
Dunno if/when I’ll get round to the plywood version I was thinking off. This will probably do me for now!