Learning To Draw With Pen & Ink

[daniellem]

Excellent sketch, Lafountain! Thanks so much for posting -- how long did this take you?

[Lafountain]

Hi daniellem, thank you.

I think about two hours, but I do not remember. Definitely less than three hours.

Ciao

[akohtz]

Nice work Lafountain. I would have guessed longer than two. Something like that I'd imagine I'd put in 4 or 5 easily. I guess my times are getting quicker though.

 

Anyway, thanks for sharing it.

 

- Andrew

[Lafountain]

I think, Andrew, that my drawing may seem more complicated than it actually is.

Kind regards

 

Marco

Edited November 21, 2013 by Lafountain

[archi77]

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

 

Wow! If you drew this from an actual house, I want to know where it is so I can go buy it!! Absolutely beautiful...

[TMLee]

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

 

Awesome effort

 

Keep it up ....

[daniellem]

I haven't had the chance to jump into the next Lohan study, but I did get a chance to do a quick sketch over the weekend. Still finding that I'm having trouble figuring out how to go about texturing without guidance, but this one has turned out a bit better than some other recent attempts at doing a pen and ink drawing on my own...

 

 

 

The largest challenge was how to apply texture to the lighter areas without getting them too dark. I'm not very happy with how the wing feathers turned out, as I just didn't know how to approach them -- will have to play around with that some more.

 

I actually used a dip pen for this one (Gilott 404 nib) as I wanted to try out some Chinese stick ink that wasn't suitable for a fountain pen. I really liked using this ink quite a bit so I might just have to pull out the dip pen a little more often. I also used some ArtGraf water soluble graphite to help with shading. This was my first time trying the AquaBee Super Deluxe paper -- I liked it quite a bit although it doesn't hold up to repeated hatching as well as the Stillman and Birn paper does. Might have something to do with the sharper dip pen nib, though -- I'll have to give it another go with a regular fountain pen sometime soon. It handled the water soluble graphite nicely though.

Edited November 25, 2013 by daniellem

[akohtz]

I haven't had the chance to jump into the next Lohan study, but I did get a chance to do a quick sketch over the weekend. Still finding that I'm having trouble figuring out how to go about texturing without guidance, but this one has turned out a bit better than some other recent attempts at doing a pen and ink drawing on my own...

 

 

 

The largest challenge was how to apply texture to the lighter areas without getting them too dark. I'm not very happy with how the wing feathers turned out, as I just didn't know how to approach them -- will have to play around with that some more.

 

I actually used a dip pen for this one (Gilott 404 nib) as I wanted to try out some Chinese stick ink that wasn't suitable for a fountain pen. I really liked using this ink quite a bit so I might just have to pull out the dip pen a little more often. I also used some ArtGraf water soluble graphite to help with shading. This was my first time trying the AquaBee Super Deluxe paper -- I liked it quite a bit although it doesn't hold up to repeated hatching as well as the Stillman and Birn paper does. Might have something to do with the sharper dip pen nib, though -- I'll have to give it another go with a regular fountain pen sometime soon. It handled the water soluble graphite nicely though.

 

Danielle,

 

Wow, wow, and wow. I know that you see the room for improvement, but this is still very very good. You're already in a place that I'm hoping to get to ... the ability to start working your own images without the guidance.

 

Did you start with an initial pencil sketch of the bird? Your proportions are excellent. I like the way you depicted the feathering and the texture in the lighter areas. There's just enough to give the hint of the texture.

 

If this is where the lessons in Lohan's book is leading me ... I can't wait to get there.

 

- Andrew

[akohtz]

I completed a sketch this weekend too. Here's Demo 6 - The Wagon Wheel

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5478/11043254194_8b518b0f76_z.jpg

Edited November 25, 2013 by akohtz

[daniellem]

Andrew, thanks for the nice comments -- I did indeed do a pencil sketch beforehand. Then after inking in the basic outlines (and erasing the pencil), I did the wash with the water soluble graphite. Once that was dry I worked on adding in the details with pen and ink. I don't think I would have been able to get anywhere close to this without having done the Lohan studies first, but when I get lost with how do do a section I realize there's a lot more studying and practice left before I'll really be happy with how things are turning out in my own work. But for me, that's the fun part, and I'm seeing progress from where I was at many months ago which is encouraging. The other thing I have to work on is patience, always patience. I probably should have just stopped when I got stuck on the wings, and tried some different approaches on scrap paper before continuing. I think I'll come back to this subject and try again after a little time spent on working through some more of the Lohan exercises.

 

 

You did a great job with the wagon wheel. I thought it was very helpful how Lohan explained techniques for creating a sense of depth in this one, how to separate elements in the foreground from the background. The entire sketch has a nice sense of depth to it, but you did an especially impressive job in the wheel hub section. Nice work on keeping the detail and depth in such a heavily textured area, and making it so that all the details are separate and distinct, with a true three dimensional look. Very inspiring to see what you've achieved here!

[akohtz]

I thought it was interesting to look at all my Lohan demos together. Kinda like a progression. In only a few sessions I can see a distinct difference.

 

Sketches, by andykohtz, on Flickr

 

My Flickr account changed anyway and I wanted to repost my new photostream.

 

- Andrew

[notbob]

 

> Still finding that I'm having trouble figuring out how to go about texturing without guidance, but this one has turned out a bit better......

 

 

Are you kidding me!? Trouble? I should have such trouble. Yer highlighting is brilliant. The textures are touchable. And yes, I'd say better, by 10X. YOU should be writting a book. Both yer sparrow and this crow are masterful. Congrats on being the quickest study on P&E drawing I know.

[akohtz]

I thought I finished Demo 7. Then I turned the page in the book and discovered there was still a step 5 that I hadn't seen. LOL.

 

- Andrew

Edited November 28, 2013 by akohtz

[milkb0at]

I'm just writing here so I can keep track of this thread. I'm loving all the drawings and admiring the skill of people here.

[akohtz]

Okay. NOW demo 7 is done.

 

I love the technique for the trees in the background. Especially the look of the one on the right.

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3699/11111451066_fbd49f93ec_z.jpg

Stone Barn by andykohtz, on Flickr

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

And I love the way the blue ink looks!

[candidvn]

Lots of impressive paintings all of you've got there.

 

I'm quite lazy of drawing recently

 

Forget me not

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5541/11102407774_719cee7547_z.jpg

 

Golden rock Temple - Myanmar

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7372/10919108944_f0ea057401_z.jpg

[akohtz]

Nice. Eventually I want to learn watercolor techniques too. Yours look great.

 

- Andrew

[InvisibleMan]

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

 

I bought the book and got through the first two sketches. Your #1 and #2 look nothing like mine. One of us isn't any good

[archi77]

Candidvn, I love the flowers...

 

For those going through the Lohan book - what size paper/notebook are you doing the exercises on? I just ordered the book, and want to get a notebook before it arrives.

 

Thanks!