Currently browsing Posts Tagged “pen and ink”

Feeling absolutely no inspiration to draw? Force yourself to do a self-portrait! For added difficulty, do it in smeary ink with a camera over your shoulder.

This blog used to be littered with unnecessary self-portraits, but it’s been a while. And now that I’ve started to figure out pen nibs, I couldn’t resist scratching out my mangy beard.

Goofy sisters drawn with the dip pen. Drawn at a smaller scale than the last ink drawing.

I’m excited–not because I’ve turned another pair of strangers o’ the week into bad caricatures–but because I did it entirely using a crowquill nib dipped in ink. I went a bit overboard on the hatching, but I blame that partly on the fun I was having just continuing to see what kind of marks I could make.

As you may know, I’ve attempted the whole dip pen thing before, with varying levels of frustration, but a few weeks ago I caught an interview with Mort Drucker (of Mad Magazine fame) in which he stated he uses Gillott 1950 nibs. So I impulsively ordered a bunch, while knowing full well that the nib doesn’t make the artist. (And I had already struck out with the Gillott 290.)

But darned if it’s not the first time I’ve actually enjoyed working this way. With this batch of nibs, the ink seems to flow just right. It’s really easy to control the line width, but there’s also a bit of unpredictability that keeps even carefully constructed lines looking loose and sketchy. And maybe I just got lucky, but there was no ink splattered in over an hour of drawing.

Back to real ink today, using a disposable fountain pen and brush pen. Playing around with how to apply Gibsonesque qualities to my usual cartoony style.

One potential labor-saving grace for this comic: fashion back then was really really boring and simple (especially among people like the characters in this story).

Since I’m gearing up to draw a comic book about turn-of-the-century gals, I thought I’d try my hand at drawing a “Gibson Girl.” My poor man’s attempt was exacerbated by my latest attempt at drawing with a dip pen. It’s uniquely frustrating, but seeing as it’s a skill many comic artists swear by to this day, I feel like I should make every effort to get the hang of it.