Pen and Ink - Resources for Artists

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Learn more about drawing with pen and ink

This lens provides information and advice for artists using pen and ink. Topics covered include tips and techniques for working with pen and ink, books about working in pen and ink and information about different brands of pens suitable for artists and ink brands and associated products.

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Making a Mark

Making A Mark....with Pen and Ink 

a small selection of pen and ink posts from my blog - Making A Mark

Making a Mark: The Pen and Ink Book
I am particularly fond of working in pen and ink as anybody who has reviewed drawings on my website will know. The Pen and Ink book by Jos. A Smith (published by Watson Guptill) is certainly one of the things that stimulated my interest. ............

At the time of writing the book its author, Jos. A Smith, was a Professor of Fine Art at the School of Art and Design at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York and had been since 1961. He obviously brought a wealth of practical information and experience to developing this book. I'd liken aspects of his style to a very contemporary version of Albrecht Durer. I would expect most artists to find the range of excellent artwork in this book by Prof. Smith and others to be extremely stimulating. All quotes included here are from the book.

The subtitle of the book is "materials and techniques for today's artist". One of the bonuses of the this book is his very comprehensive treatment of materials for drawing in ink

* 10 pages devoted to pens and brushes,
* another ten pages on inks and then
* 12 pages on paper and supports.
Making a Mark: The Rotring Art Pen
When I first started drawing in pen and ink I struggled to find a suitable pen to draw with. However, once I came across the Rotring Art sketching pen I was in raptures - it's a very nicely balanced pen which seems to make the lines flow very easily! My favourite is the one with the extra fine nib which I find I can use right way round and in reverse. There was no stopping me once I'd discovered their 'marron' sepia coloured ink as well - I started drawing absolutely everything in ink!
Making a Mark: Drawing A Head - 24th January 2008
Last night in my 'Drawing A Head' Class, I took a larger piece of paper and set myself a challenge. Three views of the same head - in pen and ink - and no outlining. I had to do all the studies by drawing the value structure using smallish strokes. Here's the result.
Making a Mark: Drawing a Head 14th June 2007: Models with 'hair'
I drew models with 'hair' in this week's drawing class - by which I mean models whose hair is a challenge to draw. One of our models arrived late this week so I started with a short pen and ink study of Flavio who has a Mohican and dreadlocks(!) and then did two studies of Chiara - who has a mass of gold-red ringlets. The longer one (top) is in pen and ink
Making a Mark: Art shops in London - Green & Stone
Green & Stone is a very impressive fine art suppliers. It's very much the way art shops used to be in the past and stocks a huge range of good quality art supplies. This is, thankfully, one shop which has not decided to target the art student or graphic design market - it's very much catering for those who want fine art supplies and good quality.......the range of inks that they stock is phenomenal. I saw the Haxink - which was very tempting..........

Pens 

Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd - Calligraphy Pens
Art shop with online purchase of art materials and art supplies.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd - Drawing and Sketching Pens
Art shop with online purchase of art materials and art supplies.
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd - Nibs and pen holders
Art shop with online purchase of art materials and art supplies.
Cult Pens
Cult Pens - Top-quality writing instruments at discount prices. Large range of hard-to-find pens, pencils and accessories.
The Cult Pens Guide to Technical Pens
Cult Pens Pencyclopedia Technical Pens
Cult Pens Pen Finder
Cult Pens - Pen Finder - find your favourite perfect pen pencil
Cult Pens Glossary
The Glossary is a collection of smaller articles and definitions, rather than the longer articles you'll find in the Cult Pens Pencyclopedia.
Roberson pens and nibs
Automatic Lettering Pens. Handmade in England for over 100 years, the hand-finished, smooth writing tip is unique: the pen can write and flow in any direction. The pen produces both very thin lines with contrasting thick lines. Easy to use for right and left-handed users, from young children to professionals-writing calligraphy, drawing illustrations, and making decorative creative mark designs. More than 100,000 sold worldwide. Users say: "Automatic Pens are best."

Reed Pens. Hand cut traditional reed pen for calligraphy and drawing. Square tip. Left oblique to order.

Quill Pens. Traditional quill pen made from goose feathers. Cut by hand then cured in hot sand. Also available uncut if you wish to make your own pens.
T N Lawrence & Son Ltd - Faber Castell Pitt Drawing Pens
Suitable for sketches, studies and ink drawings. Highly light-fast, waterproof drawing ink.
L. Cornelissen & Son
L. Cornelissen & Son - one of the central London art shops which I recommend. I saw Rotring Art Pens for sale there in May 2007 (F and EF sketch pens and calligraphy pens. See the downloadable catelogue for Drawing which includes Silverpoint; Pens & Nibs; Reed & Quill Pens; Inks - Pelikan & Roberson and the Pilot Pens Range
blotspens: Rotring ArtPens
UK based suppliers of calligraphy pens, fountain pen ink and a wide range of writing instruments. Also offers sundries such as rulers and adhesives
Pens for Art & Calligraphy - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Calligraphy, Pens & Pencils
Pens for Art & Calligraphy - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Calligraphy, Pens & Pencils
Pens for Art & Calligraphy : Chinese Reed Pens - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Chinese Reed Pens
Pens for Art & Calligraphy : Handmade Traditional Quills - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Handmade Traditional Quills
Pens for Art & Calligraphy : Zig Artists Sketching Pen - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Zig Artists Sketching Pen
Pens for Art & Calligraphy : Zig Scroll & Brush - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Zig Scroll & Brush
Water-based pigment; photo-safe, acid-free, archival quality, lightfast, waterproof; non-bleeding, xylene free and odourless.

Dip pens on Wikipedia 

A dip pen or nib pen usually consists of a metal nib with capillary channels like those of fountain pen nibs, mounted on a handle or holder, often made of wood. Other materials can be used for the holder, including bone, metal and plastic, while some pens are made entirely of glass. Generally speaking, dip pens have no ink reservoir; therefore the user has to recharge the ink from an ink bowl or bottle in order to continue drawing or writing. (However, there are simple, tiny tubular reservoirs that illustrators sometimes clip onto dip pens; these allow drawing for several minutes without recharging the nib.) Recharging can be done by dipping into an inkwell; however, some illustrators and cartoonists (who are the main current users of such pens) are more likely to charge the pen with an eyedropper or a syringe, which gives them more control over the amount of ink applied. Thus, "dip pens" are not necessarily dipped. Many illustrators call them "nib pens."

The dip pen has certain advantages over a fountain pen. It can use waterproof pigmented (particle-and-binder-based) inks, such as so-called "India ink", drawing ink, or acrylic inks, which would destroy a fountain pen by clogging it up, as well as the traditional iron gall ink, which can cause corrosion in fountain pens.

There are also a wide range of readily exchangeable nibs available so different types of lines and effects can be created. The nibs and handles are far cheaper than most fountain pens, and allow color changes much more easily.

Dip pens were generally used prior to the development of fountain pens, and are now mainly used in illustration, calligraphy, and comics (notably manga).

Fountain pen on Wikipedia 

A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. From the reservoir, the ink is drawn through a feed to the nib and then to the paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action. As a result, the typical fountain pen requires little or no pressure to write.

Filling the reservoir with ink may be done manually, via the use of an eyedropper, pipette or syringe, or via an internal "filler" mechanism, which transfers ink from a bottle through the nib into the reservoir. These mechanisms are typically pistons or rubber sacs. Some pens employ removable reservoirs, in the form of pre-filled ink cartridges.

Category: Image - :ParkerPens.jpg|thumb|These Parker Duofolds from the 1920s used the Lucky Curve feed system and self-filled using a "button filler". They were quite long; nearly 7 inches long when posted.

Penholders 

Scribblers Penholders
Penholders

Types of nibs 

Scribblers Calligraphy Blog ยป Nibs and Pens
Types of nibs

BOOKS: Drawing in Pen and Ink  

Books on Amazon

Henry Moore's Sheep Sketchbook

Amazon Price: $15.48 (as of 07/13/2009) Buy Now
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Wendy Jelbert's Line and Wash: Watercolour and pen techniques

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A Drawing Manual by Thomas Eakins (Primary Sources in American)

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Black and White - A Manual of Illustration - Wash and Line Drawing

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Making a Mark reviews......

Inks - brands, characteristics and suppliers 

Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Sepia/Brown Inks
Art shop with online purchase of art materials and art supplies.
A range of sepia inks from Cornelissen, Higgins, Kremer, Roberson and Rohrers
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd > Black Inks for Drawing and Calligraphy
Art shop with online purchase of art materials and art supplies.
A range of 11 different black and calligraphy sepia inks
Heaton Cooper Studio Ltd - Coloured Inks for Calligraphy and Drawing
Art shop with online purchase of art materials and art supplies. Coloured Inks
Daler Rowney - FW Artists' Ink
FW Artists' Ink is an acrylic based pigmented water resistant ink in a range of 30 colours, all of which have either a 3 or 4 star rating. Such a degree of lightfastness over such a range of fully intermixable colours makes them ideal for use by artists' in the production of pictures for permanent display.
Daler Rowney - Kandahar Drawing Inks
Kandahar inks are brilliant transparent colours that flow easily from pen, brush and air brush. Ideal for line drawing, manuscript and design work. The colours are based on dyes chosen for their brilliance rather than their permanence, except black and white which are based on lightfast pigments. All except gold and silver (imitations) are shellac based and may be mixed one with another, thinned with distilled water and overlayed in use.
Roberson's Penman Ink Range Classical Transparent
A very thorough review of Penman Classical Transparent Ink by Jacqui Blackman
Roberson Drawing Inks
Roberson Metallic Inks: Pale gold, rich pale gold and copper. Non-waterproof.

Roberson Traditional Prout's Brown: Roberson was commissioned to produce this ink by Samuel Prout (1783-1852, a superlative draughtsman) who painted the buildings of Western Europe in faithful detail. Lightfast, based on Van Dyke crystals. This medium brown ink is ideal for sketching, giving even washes with a smooth dispersal of fine pigment. It can also be used for calligraphy and Chinese brushwork and dries to a satin finish.

Roberson French Sepia Ink: Indian ink. Water resistant once dry. Rich, warm golden colour that dries to a glossy finish. Use with a dip pen or brush. Produces a good wash. Particularly good for sketching.
Roberson - Pelican Drawing Ink
Drawing Ink A
Transparent, intermixable waterproof inks. Diluted with distilled water. Suitable for ruling pens, drawing pens, brushes.

Scribtol Calligraphy Ink
Especially free flowing, opaque, non-fading, black ink.
Sanford Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Ink - BLICK art materials
Intense, semi-flat black finish on most surfaces. For use with technical pens and airbrushes, dip pens or brushes. Waterproof, opaque, permanent, fadeless and acid-free.
T N Lawrence & Son Ltd Winsor & Newton Drawing Inks
Winsor & Newton Drawing Inks are formulated from a series of soluble dyes in a superior shellac solution. They can be applied with brush, pen or airbrush and are widely used by illustrators, designers, calligraphers and artists.

These inks (with the exception of the Liquid Indian Ink) are water resistant.
T N Lawrence & Son Ltd - Dr Martins Radiant Concentrated Watercolour Inks
These colours are produced in an extremely concentrated form to achieve the greatest possible brilliance and radiant tones in designs and illustrations on paper surfaces.

These colours are NOT lightproof or waterproof. Designed for work that is to be re-produced.
T N Lawrence & Son Ltd - Sennelier Indian Ink
(Also known as Sennelier Encre de Chine)A beautiful deep black Indian ink that is indelible and lightfast.When diluted with water it becomes less indelible. Excellent for calligraphy with pens, brushes and airbrush. Not recommended for fountain pens.
Calligraphy and Drawing Inks from Scribblers
calligraphy and drawing inks
Scribblers - Blot's Iron Gall Ink
Blot's Iron Gall Ink is based on a medieval recipe. The ink is a lot thinner than other inks and will darken after a while. It flows well and produces fine hairlines.

Sold in a wide necked jar for easier access when using an angled pen holder.
Scribblers Calligraphy Blog - blog posts about Inks and Paints
Inks and Paints
Forty Centuries of Ink by David N. Carvalho
Carvalho, David N.
Forty Centuries of Ink Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

(e-book)
Green & Stone Art Materials - pens and drawing/artists' inks
A very extensive selection of pens and inks - available from the shop in the Kings Road Chelsea or via mail order.
Pens for Art & Calligraphy : Inks - Shepherds Bookbinders Ltd
Inks - including Chinese Ink stone, Iron Gall Ink and sumi-e ink

India Ink on Wikipedia 

:"Indian ink" redirects here. For the play by Tom Stoppard, see Indian Ink (play).

India ink (or Indian ink in British English), or less commonly called Chinese ink since it may have been first developed in either India or China, is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing, and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comics and comic strips. Indian ink tends to clog fountain pens if not used for long time; it then becomes necessary to use water to unclog it. An exception to this is Pelikan Fount India, which does not contain shellac, the substance which causes clogging.

Artists using Pen and Ink (History) 

lines and colors - Franklin Booth
Franklin Booth owed his amazing style of pen and ink drawing to ignorance.

Booth was one of the greatest American illustrators and one of the absolute masters of pen and ink drawing. His style was the result of an isolated childhood on an Indiana farm and an innocent ignorance of the printing technology of his time.

When Booth was growing up, determined to be an artist and create illustrations like the ones he saw in popular magazines of the day like Harper's and Scribner's, he began to teach himself to draw in pen and ink by copying the illustrations as he saw them, not realizing that the illustrations were the product of wood engravings, made by specialty engravers by copying the original artists' works..........
lines and colors - Howard Pyle
Pyle revolutionized illustration, both through his own work, which introduced a new level of drama, action and visual excitement to what was largely a staid and restrained art form at the time, and through his influence on his students, who included some of the finest illustrators ever to put lines or colors on a flat surface. Collectively, Pyle and his students helped usher in the "Golden Age of American Illustration".

Pyle's impact on the art form known as illustration is hard to overstate. His Durer-influenced pen and ink illustrations are among the finest ever done. He was one of the first illustrators to embrace and understand the new four-color printing process, and his paintings are remarkable for their ground-breaking color, dramatic compositions and emotional impact.
lines and colors - Pen Drawing by Charles Maginnis on Project Gutenberg
There are some good resources out there on pen drawing if you dig for them, and you'll occasionally find some for free.

A case is point is the Project Gutenberg eBook version of Pen Drawing by Charles Maginnis. (Amazon listing here)
Pen Drawing, An Illustrated Treatise
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pen Drawing, by Charles Maginnis
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.
Black & White ImageS - Third Annual Collection
Black and White Images - The Third Annual Collection
"Oh man, what an inspiration! (Love these labors of love-congratulations.) Frost, T.S. Sullivant, Kemble and the rest; amazing how those virtuosos could make a penpoint sing. Drawing with a dip nib is hard: they blob, they run outa gas just in the middle of a line. Looking at old Life humor mags and seeing ads for pen-nibs made me realize that every kid in school had to learn to use a dip pen. You're publishing the guys who got straight A's...."
Art Spiegelman - cartoonist and historian
lines and colors - Sir John Tenniel
John Tenniel is best known (and rightly so) for his beautiful, imaginative, definitive and absolutely perfect pen and ink illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: And What Alice Found There.
lines and colors - Arthur Rackham
Rackham was a deft pen and ink artist and most of his paintings started as pen and ink drawings into which he worked layer after layer of transparent watercolor glaze, a painstaking method associated more with classical painting than modern illustration.
Elizabeth Nesbitt Room Illustrators Project
The Illustrators Project:Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)

Tip and techniques for working with ink 

DANIEL SMITH Art Supplies: Weekend Demo, July 19th with Marianne Perkins
The FREE weekend demonstration at the Daniel Smith Store in Seattle last Saturday was with Watercolor and Walnut Ink Artist Marianne Perkins - this blog post includes tips for working with ink.
RICHARD INK ? Fountain Pens: 7 Simple Tips on How-to Use and Care for Your Fountain Pens
RICHARD INK | RICHARDink.com - Fountain Pen Blog
Non-Linear-Arts: Ink Flow Comparisons
For this experiment, I tilted the board about 30 degrees and swiped a stripe of water with a fully loaded 1" flat. I'm using Fabriano Soft Press paper as I do for my sketches.

From left to right, here are the inks tested:
1) Pre-mixed Yahutomo Sumi ink
2) Parker Quink
3) Higgins Eternal
4) Noodler's Golden Brown
5) Waterman Havana Ink
6) Dr. Ph Martin Bombay India Ink
7) Daler Rowney Liquid Acrylic
8) Windsor Newton Ink
Utrecht Learning Center - All About Technical Pens
Mechanical drawings require precise, continuous lines of specific widths, drawn in a dark black ink. Technical pens have made precision line drawing possible for all artists, without the specialized training once necessary to achieve good results.

Blogs about pen and ink 

Pen & Ink in 'lines and colors' :: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration, comics, concept art and other visual arts
A blog about drawing, painting, illustration, comics, webcomics, cartoons, concept art and other visual arts.

Category - pen and ink
Scribblers Calligraphy Blog
This blog is brought to you by www.scribblers.co.uk.

The aim of our blog is to provide you with:
* news and information of future products and services we will be offering
* additional product information
* useful tips and techniques
* a calligraphy community for sharing and inspiring
Making a Mark: The Pen and Ink Book
A book review of The Pen and Ink Book by Jos Smith
Making a Mark: Van Gogh: Drawing media and techniques
Pen and ink: Van Gogh had a remarkable gift for pen drawing and graphic technique. This post focuses on Van Gogh's drawing materials and how they influenced his style.
Dordogne Painting Days: 'Wet' Sketching in Pen & Ink using washes - includes advice about materials & techniques
Dordogne Painting Dayspaintings & drawings from the south west of france
lundi 3 mars 2008
'Wet' Sketching in Pen & Ink using washes - includes advice about materials & techniques
Urawaza: Clean Pen Marks Off Your Hands with a Teabag
Whether you've got ink blots on your hands from working too hard or snagging that cutie's number at the concert

Online books about pen and ink drawing 

Pen Drawing, An Illustrated Treatise
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pen Drawing, by Charles Maginnis
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at at www.gutenberg.org

BOOKS: Calligraphy 

The Calligrapher's Bible: 100 Complete Alphabets and How to Draw Them

This easy-to-use self-teaching book has 100 sections for a complete A-to-Z calligraphy alphabet, with lessons on correct pen strokes and advice on avoiding errors.

Beginners will find sound basic instruction, while experienced calligraphers can extend their repertoire with letter styles that range from classic Roman to clean and elegant contemporary styles. In addition to analysis of each alphabet's features, the book's detailed instruction provides information on-
- Tools and materials
- Layout basics
- Numerals and punctuation
- Illumination and ornamentation
- Tips for the left-handed calligrapher . . . and more. Readers will also find examples by master calligraphers from past eras. This book's spiral binding ensures that pages lay flat when opened, allowing calligraphers to study and copy each pen stroke with ease. The Calligrapher's Bible is printed in color and features more than 350 illustrations.

Avg. Customer Rating: Amazon Rating

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Modern Mark Making: From Classical Calligraphy to Hip Hand-Lettering

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Learn Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering and Design

Release Date: 02/20/2001

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The Bible of Illuminated Letters: A Treasury of Decorative Calligraphy (Quarto Book)

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Chinese Calligraphy Made Easy: A Structured Course in Creating Beautiful Brush Lettering

Release Date: 04/01/2005

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My online portfolio - drawings in pen and ink 

Drawings in pen and ink

Flower drawings by Katherine Tyrrell
Flower drawings - the majority of which are in pen and ink
Interior Landscapes - drawings by Katherine Tyrrell
Drawings of Interior Landscapes - the majority of which are in pen and ink

Making A Mark 

Katherine Tyrrell writing about: - Making marks with pastels, pencils and pen and ink - Creating new drawings and paintings - Influences on developing both artwork and art careers - Interviews with artists - Information about resources for artists and art lovers ....and best viewed in Firefox

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Making a Mark reviews...... 

a consumer's guide to quality and value in art books, art supplies and services to artists

This blog highlights:
- book reviews (art instruction and art history)
- reviews of art media, art materials and art equipment
- reviews of places where you buy (art shops, online art suppliers and art bookshops)
- reviews of other products or services used by artists
- summaries of good quality and relevant reviews by other practising artists

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Communities and Forums for artists using pen and ink 

Pen and Ink - WetCanvas!
By popular demand, a special forum for the discussion of pen and ink techniques and works!
Pen and Ink, Illustration Art - ArtPapa forum
A forum about pen and ink drawing - not very active
The Fountain Pen Network (Powered by Invision Power Board)
Mainly for people interested in fountain pens rather than artists.

Who is makingamark? 

Comments and Suggestions 

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RolandTumble wrote...

Five stars, favorited & lensrolled--also Dugg.

ReplyPosted November 11, 2008

Lensmaster

RICHARDink

This is great info and it kept me busy for a while. Thanks.
You can check out my pen blog at
here. Cheers.

ReplyPosted August 23, 2008

harishpandey wrote...

I liked your Drawings of Interior Landscapes..

ReplyPosted May 08, 2008

by makingamark

I'm an artist and author who enjoys sharing information about art and and a member of the Giants 100 Club as of April 2009. Find out more about me in... (more)

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