A Dull Exorcism

Feb 07, 2026

As we languish through the winter doldrums, my head returns to the winter of last year when I had an unanticipated illustration project about which I am still quite chuffed. I realized I never shared about this project in my newsletter, so in an effort to alleviate some of these dull melancholy days, I will share this warming tale pertaining to–you guessed it: pencil sharpeners.

But firstly, a topically relevant prologue. I know you have all been fretting at the lack of any news of my sharpeners new home. It has been inconsiderate of me to leave you wandering in such a limbo and I beg your forgiveness for such negligence.

I am happy to report that all my pencil sharpeners are now safely installed and arranged in my new apartment. Given the size constraints of my new studio space, however, I have had to display them in a new configuration. In my previous three spaces, I had the sharpeners on shelves flanking a set of windows. In my new space I have had to join the two shelves into one large block. While I am still mentally adjusting to the change, I admit that this new arrangement boasts the advantage of more poignantly showing off the breadth of the collection. And while this may be visually overwhelming to some–I’ve noticed the unsettling impact on some visitors–I feel like it is a more honest depiction of my problem, and therefore myself. Consequently, while this lose of any merciful bifurcating windows is a pity, it ultimately saves me mental energy spent on the anxiety of concealment.

But what I really wanted to tell to you about is a most unlikely but welcome commission I received just over a year ago. I’m sure that some of you have heard of Field Notes or have even used one of their notebooks over the years. I have long admired the blend of classy and whimsical design that goes into all of their products. I was therefore delighted to receive an unsolicited message from them asking if I would be interested in doing a project with them.

Unbeknownst to me, Field Notes is based out of Chicago, which made me all the more eager to work with them knowing they are local. Also unbeknownst to me, Field Notes offers annual subscriptions in which they send out new versions of their notebooks to subscribers throughout the year. They send these bundles of notebooks inside small cardboard boxes and every year they have a different artist illustrate the exterior of the box. They asked me to be their artist for 2025 and furthermore, they told me that I could draw whatever I would like. I think you can see where this is going.

The only constraints given to me by Field Notes were that the design had to include their logo and that the printing would be done in two colours–in my case, an underlayer of white and a top layer of black. However, given the brown of the cardboard itself, I actually had three colours to work with. My concept was that I would cover the box with an arrangement of pencil sharpeners selected from my collection and drawn at life size. Then on the inside flaps of the box I wanted to draw a scattering of pencil shavings. I did a quick thumbnail sketch and then drew a few sharpeners directly on a cardboard box as a small proof of concept and sent them both off to Field Notes to hear their thoughts. They responded even more positively than I hoped they would and I jumped into action.

It is always great to be able to draw from life, or at least from reference photos you take yourself, so I carefully deliberated in front of my collection, spending an inordinate amount of time selecting which sharpeners would make the cut given the size constraints of the box. I tried to include several of my favourites as well as a good selection of some more common designs. I then painstakingly fussed and arranged them till I was happy with the layout and took some reference photos so that I wouldn’t risk bumping them around on my desk while I drew.

My approach to illustrating usually follows the same pattern with me first starting with a thumbnail sketch, followed by the pencil drawing, followed by outlining the pencil drawing in black ink, and then finally crosshatching it all to death.

In the case of this project, though, there was the additional step of having to add the white highlights digitally, thereby creating the secondary layer for the printer.

After I had done all this, I laid out the final illustrations on a template of the box in order to make sure they all fit properly to the specification.

And with that, the files were dashed off to Field Notes. A couple months later Field Notes announced that I was the artist they selected for their 2025 subscriber boxes and shortly thereafter I got to see the boxes in person for the first time. Being accustomed to seeing my illustrations reproduced in books and on other flat surfaces, it was a bit of a giddy thrill for me to see my drawings covering a three dimensional object for a change.

I now have a sizable stack of these collapsed boxes sitting around my studio and am trying to figure out how to best use and distribute them. If you would like one, continue to read below for more information. And in closing, here is my friend Alice–who lives with my friends Audrey and Eddie–making the box look far better than I ever could.

Cemetery Saturday

From left to right, St. Luke Cemetery and St. Boniface Cemetery, both in Chicago.

Given the onslaught of winter storms and polar vortexes across the majority of the United States over the past month, I thought it appropriate to share these recent snowy cemetery drawings from Chicago. As much as I love visiting cemeteries at any time, there is something poignantly magical and unsettling about visiting them under a new blanket of snow. The brightness of the snow in combination with its obfuscation and muffling nature makes me feel as though I must tip-toe around the cemetery. That the gravestones are simply sleeping in the cold and if I wake them they will quickly track me down by my trail of footprints in the snow.

The cemetery I currently live closest to–and consequently visit several times a week–is Bohemian National Cemetery. The most striking monument by far is a bronze figure entitled, “The Pilgrim,” sculpted by Albin Polasek. The figure is that of a cloaked woman walking toward a mausoleum that is approximately fifteen feet ahead. I try to visit her every time I go to Bohemian, but she is never more striking and ominous than under a fresh blanket of snow when she shelters from the ice beneath her cloak and the green patina of the bronze is the most saturated colour visible in the whitewashed cemetery.

“The Pilgrim,” located in Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago, IL

Jewels from the Collection

Since this is a post about pencil sharpeners, I feel entirely justified in highlighting a grouping from my collection. While I have over fifty different bakelite pencil sharpeners, these four are some of my favourites and I love getting lost in their galaxy swirls. I have nothing more profound to say about these. They are just pretty and I wanted to show them off.

Free Boxes

I would love to get some of these boxes into the hands of those who would like one. While I can’t sell the boxes outright, anyone who spends $10 or more in my Etsy shop and uses the code SHARPBOX10 at checkout will receive a free Field Notes box as well as 10% off their entire order. The code will remain active at least through the end of April.