Adventures in Writing Part 2

Today is Howard Pyle’s birthday. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, he was an extraordinary “golden age” illustrator who was, among other things, quite masterful with pen & ink. In his honor, I have chosen today to give my new Namiki Falcon fountain pen a test run.

I was most interested in the Falcon as it has a unique nib. It appears to have a “beak” that curves down to the paper. It is also made of 14 karat gold which gives the nib added spring, allowing for some flexibility of line. As this was my first gold-nibbed pen I was curious to see how it differed from the steel nibs in my other pens.

Namiki Falcon nib with its "beaked" shape

Here it is in its box. As both Pilot and Namiki are the same company, the presentation boxes are similar. Although I have never been overly impressed by pens coming in “jewelry boxes,” I have to admit to something of a thrill seeing it presented so nicely when opened.

My new Namiki Falcon

This is a black resin pen with a SF (fine) nib. The resin pen is very light and I really like light-weight pens. I find them much easier to hold for long periods of time. The filling mechanism is similar to my Parker Sonnet and was easy to use. I have filled it with Noodler’s Bulletproof Black, an ink I know very well.

I began with a test page of practice strokes. I found that the pen holds a line very well, perhaps the best of all my pens. It also is light enough to “skip” well, very important for gradations of line in pen & ink. I liked using it posted (with the cap on the back of the pen) as I thought the balance was quite good that way. Without out it being posted, I felt that the pen was too light.

Varying line widths can be achieved with the Falcon by pressing straight down with it and not flexing it at all to the side. Although not as flexible as a true flexible nib pen (Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex or Ahab for example) it is still flexible enough to create a variable line.

Scribbles and other miscellaneous marks felt good. Then I tried some stippling. Stippling is a mainstay of pen & ink work. Back in the day when I used “regular” pens, as my old illustration teacher used to call them, we would choose a nib like a crow quill, stick it into a nib holder, and stipple away.  I was curious how the Falcon, with its unusual nib shape, would handle stippling. I found it to be quite excellent. I also did comparatives while I was at it with several other of my most popular “working” pens. Of them all the Falcon and the Noodler’s Piston Fill fountain pens performed the best. Bless the little Piston Fill, it really does perform well. :-)

But back to the Falcon. Preliminarily, I have found that it writes quite smoothly and its delicacy and consistency of line makes it a most excellent choice for pen & ink work. The nib in some ways reminds me of a crow quill. The crow quill created really fine lines that led to quite delicate work. The problem with it, as I recall, was that it never held enough ink and would quickly run dry. Not so with the Falcon. With its ink reserve inside it’s likely to produce quite a few marks before needing to be refilled. ;-)

Next test for the Falcon is a real piece of artwork. I’ve got that under way now and will post it here when complete.

P.S. For those of you who might be interested in those sorts of things, for paper I was using a Stillman and Birn Epsilon sketchbook.  

Drawing Contrast

 

Here is the next drawing my in pen and ink practice series. This exercise is primarily one of contrast. Light set next to dark and dark set next to light. Although that’s the basis of many types of art techniques, it’s especially true of pen and ink where contrast and ink marks are all you have to tell your story.

Although this drawing was done in (Noodler’s) black ink on white paper, the contrast difference would have just as easily been seen with another color of ink on white paper. As long as the ink color isn’t too light (sunny yellow on white paper might pose something of a problem) the mind will look for the contrast and interpret the image on the basis of that contrast. I’m planning to do one of my next practice pieces in colored ink to prove that theory. You can see how that goes in the next few days.  

Pen & Ink practice - adding various textures

I've been enjoying this current round of pen & ink exercises very much. They've been encouraging me to practice varying textures and, almost more importantly, make good note of contrast. Contrast is key in the effectiveness of a pen & ink piece.

It's a beginner's mistake to make everything uniform in "color," that is to say, not show enough difference between lights and darks. I have made this mistake many, MANY times and know that it takes some fly by the pants courage to stand up and do it right. I think this piece, although a bit overworked, does show the required contrast. It also succeeds in shape and texture.

And so we proceed onwards to the next exercise...

As a postscript I wanted to add something about the pens I used in this exercise. I experimented with a number of pens as the small size (5"x7") required great delicacy of line. After much experimentation I settled on one of my Noodler's Piston Fill fountain pens filled with Noodler's Bulletproof black ink. I was surprised that this pen had a delicate enough line to pull it off but it was perfect for the job! The Piston Fill seems to have a line similar in width to the Lamy Safari Extra Fine. Pretty cool to discover that one of my favorite pens for sketching was also perfect for this exercise too! :-)

Pen & Ink practice

Practicing drawing trees at Chez Jacroux

I have already noticed a few extra benefits to doing a regular comic once again. The routine will improve not only your drawing skills but also your ability to observe the world around you. Secondarily, you will quickly find out what you are weaker at drawing and can then work to improve those particular skills.

I have always been a bit wary of drawing trees and plants. Not that I can’t, but that I try to illustrate sometimes when I should interpret instead. You don’t always need to draw “that particular tree over there.” Instead, it is frequently more valuable (unless you are doing a study of an individual plant) to merely interpret the shape, light qualities and texture of the tree. Often that is enough information to make to tree look “real.” Too much detail can distract and, in some unfortunate cases, destroy the final drawing or sketch.

Tree drawings

Today I was practicing drawing trees in pen & ink. I was also breaking in a new Noodler’s Flex Pen (regular size not Ahab) in the Ivory Darkness color. It was filled with my favorite Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink. The new pen’s nib seemed a bit broader to me than the nibs on my two other flex pens. More like the nib on a Noodler’s Piston Fill but with a flex. Despite my initial surprise at the broadness of the nib, the new pen behaved itself well. I think it’ll be a fine edition to my working collection.

Breaking in my new pen

Noodler's Flex pen in Ivory Darkness color.
The pen color is striated in black and white.

Planning and catfish

This was my week to write up my next set of 90 day goals for the business and for myself. I find this process somewhat stressful, as creating specific/time-bound goals is always tricky. Not only do you need to get things done by a certain time but you also need to be willing to succeed. For many people, the fear of success is a constant challenge. I am one of these people and I need to monitor my progress carefully in order to make sure that I’m not dismantling my progress even as I make it. The same is true for my health and fitness. I know what is most healthy for me but do I make that a way of life? Not hardly. *chuckle* But I’ve been thinking that it may be time to do better. After all, there’s no downside and every reason to recommit to health. So why not?

Taking a little break from my planning sessions, I did a pen & ink drawing for the Noodler’s company's 2011 art contest. I think it’s quite cute. I don’t want to show it off yet, as they should be the first to see it, but here’s the little guy I drew on the envelope.

On the envelope he said, "Please...no folding or bending! OK?"

Adventures in Pen and ink: it’s all about the line.

As I inch towards the completion of my first coloring book, I wanted to stop and reflect for a moment on the importance of good ink. I have already talked a bit about the fact that I’m a pen fiend, always looking for a pen that can perform well in pen & ink work. I am VERY picky. For my coloring book images I have been using my Noodler’s Flex pen (bless its little split nib!) and a couple of Pitt pens for heavier lines.

Having found a couple of pens that I like, the next thing to discover was a good ink to put in them. I have used Higgins Black Magic ink for dip pens for a long time but wouldn’t dare put that in my fountain pens. I don’t even want to guess what that ink would do to them! Instead, I've gone for proper fountain pen inks. I have tried both Noodler’s and Platinum inks so far. I really like Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink for drawings. It’s not as dark as black but still pretty dark. It’s waterproof and doesn’t have a terribly long drying time.

I also keep a little “stable” of pens on my taboret filled with a variety of colored inks. Sometimes, I'm testing the inks and sometimes, I just like having certain pens available with certain inks in them.

Here’s my current line-up.

Parker Sonnet with Noodler’s “bulletproof” Black
Flex nib #1 with Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink
Flex nib # 2 with Noodler’s Blue Nose Bear (I haven’t really put this one through its paces yet. But I'm excited about it.)
Piston fill # 1 with Noodler’s Lexington Grey ink
Piston fill # 2 with Noodler’s Polar Brown ink (A good brown so far!)
Platinum Preppy fountain pen with Noodler’s Nikita (I like this ink – it’s fun.)
Platinum Preppy fountain pen with Noodler’s Squeteague (I LOVE this blue-green ink. It's very pretty.)
Platinum Preppy marker with Noodler’s Whaleman’s Sepia (Too dry for my fountain pen I like it in the marker. Also, it turned the chamber of my Flex nib clear demonstrator neon green. :-( No one knows why.)

For those who don't know about Platinum Preppies, they are pretty decent cheap fountain pens. Sometimes they will give me a drip of ink but they are great for testing ink samples. I like having them around and for the price – they’re really great!

Ink sample sheet

Falling In Love All Over Again

My new Noodler's piston fill fountain pen
Did I mention that I got it in turquoise? I love turquoise!

Okay, okay I'm a pen snob. I admit it. I have many drawing pens and am constantly searching for “just the right one.” Recently I got so disgusted while working on salable clip art that I went back to using nib pens for my studio work. Thus far they're the only pens that have given me the line quality that I've been looking for. Of course, while they're wonderful for studio use, a nib pen is not a good choice for outdoor sketching. Not practical and extremely messy if your ink bottle finds a way to leak. So what to do?

I have a Parker fountain pen that I just love for writing and drawing too, although it has a bit of a heavy line. Recently I have been reading about the Noodler’s Flex pen and was interested in trying it out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one reading the good reviews (including Nina Johansson’s, thank you Nina for the great review!) and the pen has been sold out all over the Internet. And though I have inquired in no less than four states at pen shops, no one has it stock.

A fan of Noodler’s ink, but with no previous knowledge of their pens, I went to the University bookstore in Seattle (a great store by the way, in case you ever are close by) and tried out another Noodler’s pen, the piston-fill fountain pen. It was love at first line! The nib is medium-fine and creates a wonderful line. The pen is lightweight and Matt says that it looks very good in my hand. (He’s even more of a pen snob than I am!). It’s true that it’s a single line width, but it’s such a nice pen that with a Pitt brush pen along for adding thicker lines, I’m all set. The barrel twists to fill with ink and it seems to hold much more ink than many pens with ink converters. The windows in the barrel let you know when your ink supply is getting low. After a weekend of drawing with it, I’m totally hooked. Kudos to Noodler’s for making a great pen!

Here's another sketch I made with my new pen and watercolor pencils. It's a canid skull from the "Wolves" exhibit at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

Canid Skull, pen & ink with watercolor pencil

PS. I did manage to order a Noodler’s Flex pen this morning from Goulet pens. What nice people! They also sell ink samples so I’ve got a few colored ink samples coming along to try out in the new Flex pen. After I’ve had a chance to try it out, I’ll let you all know how it stacks up against to my new favorite turquoise Noodler’s piston-fill pen. My hope is that together, they'll be an unbeatable pair.