Pen and Ink Techniques

Pen and ink drawing can be as delicate or as bold as your whim or style desires. Drawings done in pen and ink are often very individualized and unique depending on subject as well as technique. I will not pretend that I know all there is to know about this subject, in fact I still consider myself learning new methods all the time. But the amount of detail you put into a piece is dependent on your patience. 

This picture is one I did several years ago with technical pens. I will use it as an example. It was done on Bristol board, which is best for pen and ink.  Of course before you begin it is always best to have your drawing composed and sketched. The amount of detail you put into your sketch depends on how confident you are with pen and ink. I have started drawings that did turn out well based on a loose sketch, but if you are just starting it would be wise to layout everything in pencil before you begin.

One of the most important things to drawing, let alone a pen and ink drawing, is conveying the idea of texture. You can do this in pen and ink by the type of stroke, or spacing strokes either wider apart or even breaking the strokes up. Here are a few examples.

Notice that the dress is actually built up of cross hatching, a technique in which you cross the strokes at differrent angles gradually building from light to dark. It gives the impression of folds, going almost straight black in the shadows of the dress.

The cover of the book is done in linear lines going at the same angle, breaking at the design on the cover and drawing the lines closer at the edges giving the book a 3rd dimension.

The hair is built up of lines that follow in a curling path; this is where you need to have a good idea of where you are going. You have to leave areas open for curls that will lie on the top to show depth.  Also leaving white areas for highlight and drawing the curls closer together to show shadow. In the detail of the neck line, the lace work is composed of lines that flow in the same direction, no cross hatching.  Also the lines follow the curve of the neck piece giving a webbed, transparent look. The amount of detail you wish to put in is dependent on how patient you are and how much time you wish to commit to the piece.

One thing to remember is that you are going to make mistakes. Mistakes don't mean that the piece is ruined. There are several ways to correct especially if you work on Bristol board. Electric erasers are available that will actually "shave" away a layer of the paper taking the ink with it. Of course over doing this will shave a hole into the paper, so be careful. Some artist use liquid white, but it has a downfall. It will be whiter than your paper and often will draw the viewer's eye right to it. There are times I have actually taken a pen knife and shaved away delicately at a line and redrew it. If you are planning on doing prints, you can correct many a flaw digitally with Adobe Photoshop or other graphic programs.

A pen and ink drawing is often like a jig saw puzzle. Like in any drawing you have to work out your composition, your light, as well as how much negative space you want to leave. Sometimes a lot of negative space can be helpful to draw the viewer's eye in.  

MATERIALS

Technical pens are great but if you want something maintenance free there are other options. Crow quill is the oldest and still widely used. Easy to maintain but can be messy. Crow quills require that you dip them in ink and you can be in the middle of that stroke and find it going dry on you.

Micron pens are another tool that you may consider. You use them up and throw them away, much like felt tips, but with a finer and stiffer point and depending on the size you can get as much detail in as with a technical pen.

Ball point pens are under rated and actually give one the ability to "shade" by building tones with pressure much like a pencil. I will create a lens on that later.

If you are interesting in seeing more of my work, or even purchasing it, Through A Glass Darkly is my online shop.