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A love of Pen and Ink drawing.
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Posted
Interesting Lew, I’m always looking for something different when it comes to mark making!
I’ve got a small selection of special drawing nibs that I use in my Ackerman pens, I believe I talked Lew into buying one of these from the States, and a few others bought them as well.
Simple construction and don’t clog up, even with Indian ink.
I can give more info if anyone is interested…and on how to make a reed pen.
In fact there’s a great article on the site somewhere by the late Jason Bowyer, he gives an in depth explanation about making them.
But… I’m equally at home using my home made ready cut reed pen, the quality of line can be somewhat unpredictable, but that all adds to the adventure!
Posted
Some pen and ink artists work on a vast scale. I may have posted the first one before, I make no apologies for that.
Rick Shaefer at work...
...The final drawing...
Laurie Lipton does wall size drawings in pen and ink...
She literally needs a ladder to reach parts of her drawings.
Olivia Kemp is another. She draws vast imaginary landscapes...
...one of her huge drawings...
Kim Jung Gi was a very famous artist who drew huge pictures in front of audiences world wide...
Another of his vast drawings...
And I think an A3 size pen drawing is quite large...ho hum...I need to get serious.
...The final drawing...
Laurie Lipton does wall size drawings in pen and ink...
She literally needs a ladder to reach parts of her drawings.
Olivia Kemp is another. She draws vast imaginary landscapes...
...one of her huge drawings...
Kim Jung Gi was a very famous artist who drew huge pictures in front of audiences world wide...
Another of his vast drawings...
And I think an A3 size pen drawing is quite large...ho hum...I need to get serious.
Posted
I often look at pen drawings to see how the artist has dealt with certain things...sea and skies for example. Some manage to effectively draw sea with a few lines, others draw the waves in detail. William Wylie, the maritime artist, did both. Now these are etchings, not pen and ink, but I tend to lump them (incorrectly) with pen and ink drawings. The drawing is done with a stylus on a metal plate (like scratching), at the printing stage these lines are filled with ink. For me, the end result is pretty much a pen and ink drawing. Allow me some leeway.
In the pic above he's limited the drawing of the sea to mostly shadows, with the hint of waves here and there. Very skillful.
In this one, he's drawn much more of the sea. Marvelous work.
Some artists draw with just solid blacks, using little or no shading.
Above...Aubrey Beardsley.
Above...D Vincente.
Above...Harry Clark has really filled the page here, but it's all straight black and white.
Others do lots of shading...
Above Franklin Booth.
Above...Pablo Ruiz. Stippling.
Above...by Xovq.
I guess it's look and learn as they say (if only it were that easy).
In the pic above he's limited the drawing of the sea to mostly shadows, with the hint of waves here and there. Very skillful.
In this one, he's drawn much more of the sea. Marvelous work.
Some artists draw with just solid blacks, using little or no shading.
Above...Aubrey Beardsley.
Above...D Vincente.
Above...Harry Clark has really filled the page here, but it's all straight black and white.
Others do lots of shading...
Above Franklin Booth.
Above...Pablo Ruiz. Stippling.
Above...by Xovq.
I guess it's look and learn as they say (if only it were that easy).
Posted
You must have a certain sort of mind - which I haven't - to achieve the level of detail in some of the above; I use pen and ink, but not that way ... and certainly not at the scale of some of the drawings above... I'm just lost in admiration, it's a whole world beyond that of which I'm capable. Indeed, I wouldn't even try embarking on drawings of that complexity - but it's certainly good to see them, so yes, I share your enthusiasm Lewis: just not the ability. I wouldn't even know where to start....
A question for you inky types, though - I'm sure you use whatever comes to hand in terms of pens, and probably range wide over the whole gamut of available instruments, but do any of you work for preference with dip pens and bottles of ink? I use pens with reservoirs/converters, so don't have to keep dipping into the inkpot, but there is a satisfaction in using real Indian ink with pen or brush, or Chinese ink, with the stone and ink-stick - I don't see how you could use a dip pen with those massive drawings, not without having ink trickle down your arm anyway, but for much smaller drawings the dip comes into its own. In my one experience of providing illustrations for a book, and one of providing the artwork for a booklet on Romans, I used a dip pen and Indian ink, because of the character of the line it gave - and what do you think about technical pens, e.g. the Rotring range? I knew an architect who had been trained in the use of the last of these to produce his illustrative work (which always looked better than his buildings, but I daresay that's fairly typical); these days it'll all be done on computers: another skill on its way out.