Thursday 12 February 2015

Pen & Ink

I love Pen & Ink studies but have never been very good at them myself. I think the main problem is the hatching. I'm never sure which way to hatch, when to cross-hatch, and which direction to hatch in. Some of my early attempts looked like camouflaged zebra's playing twister. Anyway, since my last 4 or 5 drawings have been detailed pencil work taking quite a long time I decided to let my hair down (what bit I have left) and have another go at Pen & Ink.

This first drawing is of a small building I came across in a farmers field in Wales. I have no idea what it is used for. The pallet leaning against it gives an idea of scale and there's barely enough headroom to stand up inside. I used a set of 5 Pilot DR drawing pens for this one.

Having heard good reports about Pigma Micron Fineliners I ordered a set of 6 in different sizes. They dropped onto my doormat with this mornings mail and I was keen to try them out. The subject I chose was this small dry-stone wall that I saw in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales. I can't say I noticed a great deal of difference between these pens and the ones I used for the previous drawing ... they seem equally as good.

I feel as if I'm beginning to make a little more sense of the hatching now and I guess it's like everything else .... practice makes perfect. I really need a lot more practice but these are so quick and enjoyable that shouldn't be a problem. lol.

17 comments:

  1. I was happy to read in the end that you were slowly getting the hang of it all, because I think these are both lovely. You are very good at this. Congratulations to you John :) Take care!

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  2. You did a fantastic job with the hatching and gradations in values! That's what I struggle with, too, when using technical pens. I really like how you did the plants, keeping white spaces showing and creating the depth and texture. Thanks for being an inspiration!

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    1. Katherine, having seen your work these comments mean a lot. Thank you very much.

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  3. Well if this is what you can do with ink now John, I can't wait until you get into your stride!

    I like the hatching in different directions: in a strange way it almost seems to suggest different colours.

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    1. Thank you very much Keith. Obviously drawings such as these rely heavily on tonal values which is something I struggled with when painting. This is forcing me to pay them much more attention.

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  4. Letting your hair down... indeed John. I now have images of long haired hippies and heavy metal rock stars in my head after that comment. lol. What a cool dude you are for producing such wonderful pen and ink sketches. They look fabulous with lots of variety and interest in the pen marks. You are a natural with this medium.

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    1. What an image that is ... and no one has called me a cool dude before. LOL.
      Thank you for such a lovely comment Laura.

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  5. I'm not sure I know what 'hatching' means, but you surely did an amazing job on these two ...glad you let your hair down :-))

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    1. Jane, hatching is the name given to the close diagonal lines of shading. Thank you for your lovely comment.

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  6. Your work with "hatching" is outstanding John!! I love the bridge ...the details are wonderful!!!

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  7. It doesn't look like you have any problems with hatching to me! These look perfect! Really, these are fabulous drawings! I have those pens too... I like them, particularly the 005 which is really fine :0)

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    1. Thank you Sandra. I haven't done much with the Microns yet and am looking forward to using the 005. Not sure my eyesight is good enough to take full advantage of it though. LOL.

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