An Artist's Surface

One of my biggest issues when it comes to actually drawing and sketching my imagination out, is that I never have something to draw on and the drawing I want to work on. Let me give you some context. I work on one or two pieces of art at a time. I often like to force my way through one piece, but I like to work on it in a secure and safe location. Meaning it needs to be the perfect hard surface and portable. Then comes size, which my paper is the Manga Deleter 11 X 17 paper, which means there aren’t perfect surfaces of that exact size.

So, l got exhausted from not finishing a drawing because of this issue, therefore I made my own.

I went to Lowe’s and got the material and purchased a Birchwood 2LX 2W at 1/4 thick. Cost about $18.00 for the wood, but I cut it with a hand saw and made two different-sized boards.

This is the Birchwood before the stain and varnish

This larger designed board was the main thing I wanted, but I had enough to make an 8 X 10.5 size paper board also. So, I cut that out and began sanding. Sanding down the wood helped me make sure there aren’t any dents or bumps to mess up my pen and pencil. So it took a day.

Size matters - not too big

Once sanded, I grabbed some brown Kona stain for the wood. I wanted this specific old wood and creepy Japanese memoir look. It’s meant to take some wear and tear, so over time it will look better, I hope. The varnish was annoying as I had to lay it on smoothly on one side for the paper to lay on, and the back side of the board was textured. I had to coat and then sand it after waiting an hour each time. I did this about 5 times, I think. Make sure to wear a mask, that wood and chemical comes floating off and after inhaling, well it sucks.

Staining the Birchwood with Kona Stain

Textured varnish for style

Cut out some art from a Korean art book

So here they are, the final boards to draw on.

It works nearly perfectly and feels very sturdy. I think I want to do a few more with better colors and stains. Which wood is best? Not sure, but excited to test them all out. ANY IDEAS?