Learning To Draw With Pen & Ink

[Sailor Kenshin]

That is wonderful. Of course, you know the rule here: you MUST disclose ink and paper!

 

Okay. Done.

 

Step by Step Pen & Ink Sketching by Frank J Lohan

Demonstration 1 - The Barn Door

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/10738832363_0e917159a2.jpg

The Barn Door - Step 1 by akohtz, on Flickr

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3728/10738833743_c6e41fa477.jpg

The Barn Door by akohtz, on Flickr

 

[cybaea]

That is wonderful. Of course, you know the rule here: you MUST disclose ink and paper!

 

And pen!

[akohtz]

 

This is very very good beginning!

 

Thank you everyone. I'm glad it's well received.

 

That is wonderful. Of course, you know the rule here: you MUST disclose ink and paper!

 

 

Good point.

Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher and a Noodler's Nib Creaper flex pen.

Some cheap 24lb paper I have in a drawer.

 

- Andrew

Edited November 8, 2013 by akohtz

[daniellem]

Nice job on the first demo, Andrew! Did you do a pencil under-sketch or did you just jump in with the inked lines?

[akohtz]

Nice job on the first demo, Andrew! Did you do a pencil under-sketch or did you just jump in with the inked lines?

 

 

 

Pencil first, then pen.

 

I started with a rough trace from step 1 with the pencil, did some adjustments so the perspective was right, and then inked over that for the completed first step.

 

I'm not sure I like the paper I'm using. I'd like to get some bristol board like he suggests in the book, but that will make the initial trace more complicated. I might have to invest some time practicing the grid overlay he talks about.

 

- Andrew

[akohtz]

I am so glad I found this thread. This book is fantastic. I never thought I could produce something like this.

Step by Step Pen & Ink Sketching by Frank J Lohan

Demonstration 2 - Rough Stone

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7363/10750077703_920bdd6977.jpg

Rough Stone by akohtz, on Flickr

 

Thanks for the book recommendation and the encouragement to step out of my comfort zone and try something new.

 

- Andrew

 

[TMLee]

I also had a lot of pages to catch up, after few months of absence.

Wow, people are good!

 

Now that the weather is getting colder, I stay more home around pens and paper, (as opposed to being outside with my camera) and I started drawing again.

 

Today I received in the mail a Wingsung 201, a very nice and lighht pen, with a gold 12K F nib. The nib is supposed to be soft and springy, but it is not really so. However the pen is absolutely great in the aspect that it draws a thin consistent line and never skips. Not even when drawing.

So i decided to draw a tiny cute bird from a picture I saw on the net, during slow hours in the office.

 

Very nice !

[akohtz]

I finished the dreaded 3rd demo in Lohan's book. Several people will attest that it looks quite daunting when you're just getting started, but the results are very fulfilling.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/10833298683_a975c3c04c.jpg

Château in France by akohtz, on Flickr

 

The first two sketches only took me about 2.5 hours each. This one, however, took me over 8 hours. Half of that time was easily spent on the initial pencil sketch.

 

I don't know if anybody else besides me is still working their way through Lohan's book. How far have other's of you gotten?

 

- Andrew

[daniellem]

 

The first two sketches only took me about 2.5 hours each. This one, however, took me over 8 hours. Half of that time was easily spent on the initial pencil sketch.

 

I don't know if anybody else besides me is still working their way through Lohan's book. How far have other's of you gotten?

 

- Andrew

 

 

Wow, Andrew, that is seriously impressive! Really amazing job on #3 -- and glad to hear that you had fun with it, too! I think that has been one of my favorite demos so far, although I truly have enjoyed them all. I am still working my way through the Lohan book -- but I'm taking it slowly, mostly because the day job takes up most of my time and energy. So I make progress in fits and starts when I get breaks here and there. For the longer exercises, which do take a bit of time, I'll be starting #8 next. But I've also done some shorter ones from the back of the book -- or from a couple other pen and ink books that I have lying around -- when I know I only have a small bit of time, or when the particular subject is what I'm in the mood to work on right then.

 

So I figure I'll be at it for quite some time!

 

Please keep posting your progress, it is VERY inspiring!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Just. Wow.

 

I'm sort of doing NaNo and have fallen off the sketch wagon, but enjoy seeing what you all are doing!

[akohtz]

 

 

Wow, Andrew, that is seriously impressive! Really amazing job on #3 -- and glad to hear that you had fun with it, too! I think that has been one of my favorite demos so far, although I truly have enjoyed them all. I am still working my way through the Lohan book -- but I'm taking it slowly, mostly because the day job takes up most of my time and energy. So I make progress in fits and starts when I get breaks here and there. For the longer exercises, which do take a bit of time, I'll be starting #8 next. But I've also done some shorter ones from the back of the book -- or from a couple other pen and ink books that I have lying around -- when I know I only have a small bit of time, or when the particular subject is what I'm in the mood to work on right then.

 

So I figure I'll be at it for quite some time!

 

Please keep posting your progress, it is VERY inspiring!

 

Danielle,

 

Thank you. I think the #3 demo might be the coolest looking one in the whole book. That's why I decided to do the whole image from the final step rather than the single tower he focused on for the lesson. That really increased the time and effort, but I learned a lot doing the second tower on my own without his step by step on how to complete it.

 

It is time consuming. The pencil sketch for #4 just went on paper tonight. I'm hoping the lessons from #3 will help this demo go faster.

 

I looked back at your sketches throughout the thread and realized you've really finished a lot. Your work is inspiring me to keep going as well.

 

- Andrew

[akohtz]

Okay. Demonstration 4 is done:

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2845/10881508226_8ec61ae4c4_z.jpg

Brick Walls by akohtz, on Flickr

I'm still using my Noodler's creeper flex pen and Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher ink. The paper was different. I bought an actual sketch book on impulse when I was in Barnes and Noble. Overall, I like the feel of this paper better than the loose stuff I was using before.

 

The paper is like 105g and very white. It said it was good for all sketching and light washes. I tried redoing the barn door demo with a light wash in this book. It warped just a little but did hold up really well.

 

Again I did the pencil sketch first. I used a tracing paper to pull off the initial outline of the building and rubbed it onto the sketch paper. Then I set to work with the pencil putting in Lohan's suggested details. Then I dove in with the pen. Leaving all the bushes in the front till the end felt really awkward at first. At the end though it all made sense. His steps work, even if they don't seem quite right at first. By the end of the drawing you'll start to understand why he did it that way.

 

Hope you all enjoy. Thanks for letting me partake and share.

 

- Andrew

[Sailor Kenshin]

I want to live in that house!

[fiberdrunk]

I really love all the sketches in this thread. Well done, everyone! I think I'm going to have to get the how-to book y'all have mentioned. You make me want to learn!

[daniellem]

Andrew, demo 4 looks great. Makes me want to go back and re-do that one! When I started out, I was in such a rush to get to the inking part of things that I didn't take enough care with the initial pencil sketch, and of course that became very obvious in the final drawings.

Really nice job with everything, but I especially like the way you rendered the shrubs, flowers and tree -- everything is just tied together so nicely.

[akohtz]

Andrew, demo 4 looks great. Makes me want to go back and re-do that one! When I started out, I was in such a rush to get to the inking part of things that I didn't take enough care with the initial pencil sketch, and of course that became very obvious in the final drawings.

Really nice job with everything, but I especially like the way you rendered the shrubs, flowers and tree -- everything is just tied together so nicely.

 

Thank you. I'm having to force myself to slow down and take the time with pencil. The pen work is just more fun. LOL.

 

I like the way the flex pen helped me do the dark areas on the bushes. I just bore down on the nib and gave it quick wide strokes to to create the dark looking parts of the shrub. I completed those areas in just a few strokes. With a typical nib I figure I would have needed to do many more layers of lines to get a similar look.

 

The pen I'm using is great, but I want new ink. You use the Platinum Carbon Black right? How does it do with this style of sketching and how does it handle in your pens? I might get a sample of Noodlers black and Platinum Black from Goulet and just try them out.

 

- Andrew

[daniellem]

I do use Platinum Carbon Black; it is probably my favorite black ink. It's a good match with the Noodler's pen because that pen is so easy to take apart and clean. The Platinum Carbon Black has a reputation for being high maintenance with regards to cleaning, although I have to say I've never had a problem with it, even after leaving it in a pen for awhile. But it is one ink I won't use in my vintage pens just because most of those are more difficult to clean than most modern pens. (Although now that I say that, I've used it quite a bit in my Pelikan 120 which is not a modern pen, but is an easy pen to clean...)

 

I also like Noodler's black and use it often. It's quite a bit less expensive than the Carbon Black too. I just bought a bottle of Iroshizuku Yama Guri after seeing weltyj's beautiful sketches done in it, but haven't had the chance to try it out yet. Hopefully soon... I'm looking forward to that...

 

Given how much you are enjoying this, I also want to recommend the Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbooks for pen and ink work; they are a bit expensive but worth every penny. That paper handles pen and ink work so nicely.

[akohtz]

Thanks for the feedback and info Danielle.

 

I finished Demo 5

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/10959260294_4c3fe39c9d_z.jpg

The Old House by akohtz, on Flickr

[Lafountain]

I did this drawing with pens Lamy Safari M and Pelikan M205 BB. Ink Lamy black. The size is 36x48 cm. Represents a ship leaving the port of Venice through the Bacino di San Marco. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[Lafountain]

I did this drawing with pen and ink Lamy Lamy Safari M black. The size is 36x48 cm. Represents a ship leaving the port of Venice through the Bacino di San Marco. I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2013 by Lafountain