Pen and Ink Drawing: Dive in the Deep End!
Try a few different approaches. Try pure contour drawing with interesting and elegant line. Try hatching and stippling to give the impression of tonal value, or add an ink or watercolor wash. Its important to start off with the right equipment - a fountain pen generally won't do the job so choose the right drawing pen. If you're using a dip-pen, you'll need to select and maintain your pen nibs.
I like to draw with fiber tip archival pens - Pigma Micron are nice, as are Copic Multiliners, and there's a dozen other reputable brands around. Look for ones with archival pigment ink if you want your work to have longevity. They don't have the interesting and varied line of a dip pen, but they are clean and convenient. The ones I use the most are probably the Artline brand - they're available at our local newsagent, so I always have a few to hand so that I don't end up doodling in blue ballpoint or my daughter's glitter pink gel pen.
Comments
Helen, you’re such an encouragement! Fab, fab fab! You’re articles get the artist in me going and want to draw!
Thanks
Helen,
Thank you for this gentle kick start. I have been toying with the idea of pen and ink, have been carrying a sketchbook and using graphite pencil. I think I will give pen and ink a go… thank you for all you do.
Trish
just finished doing three examples of ‘life srawing’ techniques using a pen, though I don’t believe in the stay inside the lines concept, so much.
posted on youtube, they are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atDdVYZpFXs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwzhFrzDd0w
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKrnMrhzB2k
Helen, Your excellent suggestion reminds me of a DVD (I rented from Netflix) called “The mystery of Picasso” that was enchanting and inspiring to watch. The viewer feels like he is looking over Picasso’s shoulder as he executes about twenty different drawings in black ink or in color inks. If you see the film, you will see the process better than I can explain it–the viewer is actually looking through from the other side of the “easel” — it’s all displayed at one point in the film, and it felt like time travel to watch this documentary from about 1959. One does not get a perfect idea of how long it took him to make the drawings, but they talk about it briefly…Renoir’s grandson was one of the makers of the film.
Thanks, Mike! That’s lovely to hear. I hope you’re having fun with your drawing!
Trish, do give it a try. It’s one of my favorite mediums. It can be quite inexpensive too. It -is- very different at first, so don’t be put off if you aren’t happy with your first attempts.
Beth, I’ve seen an excerpt of that video on YouTube. I’ll have to look for the DVD. It’s amazing to watch him draw – so totally casual and sure of himself. I’m so envious of his line. Maybe you need a touch of arrogance to draw well.
thanks this has been very helpfull to me
“A fountain pen generally won’t do the job”??? Why not? You don’t even explain why you don’t consider a fountain pen a drawing tool.
A good number of my ink drawings are done with an Esterbrook fountain pen. There are many, many bloggers who use the Lamy Safari to draw with.
There are no rules to drawing and sketching and making art or just doodling. There are people out there doing amazing things with plain old ballpoint pens. Google it.
http://noerasing.wordpress.com — take a peek and see exactly what a fountain pen WILL do.
Chris, regular readers of my blog know that ‘no rules, only tools’ is something I subscribe to. In my personal experience, a fountain pen, as I said “generally won’t do the job” and I mean GENERALLY. If you find a good pen that does work well for you, fine and good. However the type of fountain pen lying around in your drawer (from the gift set you got six Christmases ago) is unlikely to be a decent drawing tool.
There are artists doing fine work with all sorts of mediums. I can’t speak for all of them, only from my own experience, and if I preface ever single thing I write with “so far I have found” and “in my experience” it’s going to make pretty boring reading.
I stand my my opinion on Fountain pens. Most have a very firm, stiff nib that doesn’t give you any variation of line. This can result in a very scratchy looking, wire-like drawing that does not convey the artist’s sensitivity. For example, in the blog you linked to, the drawings have a uniformity of line. This is particularly apparent in the kitten drawing, where the pen is unable to suggest the fine-tipped softness of natural hair. The same drawing done with a flexible dip pen would have had infinitely more life and energy.
Regarding ball point pens, we in fact have a very good example in our gallery by V. Whitehead. However, despite how fine the drawing is, I’d not recommend it as a medium, unless the artist has chosen a pen with archival ink, or is happy to have a digital copy of the artwork as a lasting record.
Vintage pens can be found with flexible nibs, some can be fairly inexpensive. I’ve been using an Esterbrook with a 9128 nib for a while now and I love it. It’s certainly more flexible than most of the drawing pens available out there. Pitt pens, Rapidographs, etc., which make lines of only one thickness. Old Waterman nibs are famous for their flex, the flexiest of those being the infamous Pink nib, which is generally described as a “wet noodle” by those who own and use them. It’s the holy grail of flexible fountain pen nibs. There are even some modern pens with slight flex, the Namiki Falcon being at the higher end of the price scale and the Lamy Safari (which, from what I’ve read, has more spring than actual flex) being at the lower end.
Then again, some people prefer a uniform line, and for them a decent stiff-nibbed fountain pen will work just fine. Even a Pilot Varsity (or V Pen, depending on where you live) will work.
I just get a little worked up when people perpetuate old myths about fountain pens that are so ingrained in the minds of even people who’ve never tried them. “They leak, they splatter, they’re hard to write with, the ink smears, etc. and so on.” And there are people who are amazed when they learn that it’s possible to draw with them.
The most BASIC drawing tool, the humble pencil, produces essentially one size of line, maybe two if you turn it on its side. And NOBODY would suggest that a pencil makes an unsuitable drawing tool…
Just a little p.s.
This is a wonderful drawing of, of all things, a power drill. This is not my drawing and I don’t know the individual who drew this. I just found this on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyslagle/1875657158/
Drawn with an old Waterman fountain pen.
I’ll definitely look out for one of the pens you mention, Chris, I’d love to give it a try.
I understand where you are coming from on this: I guess it’s like people dismissing colored pencil as insipid when they’ve only ever used cheap children’s pencils. An artist’s colored pencil can deliver colour as rich as oil paint.
The drawing you link to – and the others by the same artist – are very fine indeed. It’s worth noting that the style of drawing works well with the medium – the clean, fine line is used in a clean, controlled technique like that of an old-fashioned (and I mean that in a good way) etcher.
Which is not to say that a pen of the quality you describe couldn’t be used expressively.
If I can find a decent fountain pen, I’ll review it and add it to my list of pens. I won’t edit my statement above, as readers are able to follow the discussion in our comments and can see that maybe they should give the RIGHT fountain pen a try!
We’ll have to agree to disagree on the pencil issue though. A simple B or 2B pencil is capable of an immense variety of line