Ah! The magic of drawing with pen and ink! Take one line, add another, and another and before you know it something takes shape! The best way to develop your pen work is to practice. In this lesson, we are going to explore different pens, markers and techniques for beginners of pen and ink drawing.
First things first: all the PENS!
There are a lot of different pen brands out there. The best way to find your favorite is to buy a few different ones and try them out. Generally, any set that comes with a scale in point size. Below you can see a range from a point size of 0.05 to 0.8 along with a brush tip. In addition to the actual size of the pen's tip, how hard you apply pressure when drawing can change the line weight (or darkness) of the line.
In addition to a set of pens with a range of point (or tip) sizes, there are also markers that further expand your mark-making potential such as the Prismacolor marker below. There are two sides: an angled flat tip and a pointed tip.
Techniques: putting pen to paper.
Go to the library, a bookstore, anywhere where you can access books with illustrations and techniques to practice. There are a lot of great resources out there. One that is a favorite of mine is Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptill.
Take a look at Figures 1-2 and practice each section on your own. Pay attention to the little things like, how hard you are pressing down on the paper, the angle and position of your hand and how the different techniques change in texture, value, form and even mood.
tip: It is likely that you should break this lesson into part, practicing different charts on different days. You are learning a lot of different application techniques and it's just nice to break those up more! Also, your hand will get very tired after all this crosshatching and stippling!
Studio Practice
Exercise 1: Value Scales
Choose a line style or pattern and practice making 5 step scales that create a gradient from light to dark.
Exercise 2: Experiment with various combinations of line, pattern and shape
Use your practice from the last exercise to apply to an imaginary form such as a cube or sphere to create the illusion of light, shadow and form.
Exercise 3: Applying our new skills to drawing objects
Find 3-6 objects with different shapes, textures and values. Draw each object using whichever application technique you think best represents the object (and its setting if you choose to include that).
Vocabulary
Point size The measurement of the end of a pen that creates a thicker or thinner line.
Line weight The density or darkness of a line that is affected by the pressure applied while drawing.
Gradient A gradual transition or change from one space to the next and usually refers to a change in color, pattern or value.
Value How light or dark something is.
Crosshatching Using overlapping lines at different angles to create tonal value (light and dark areas).
Stippling Using the tip of the pen or marker to create dots on a page, where closer dots create darker value and dots spaced farther apart create lighter value.
Lesson Plan and Worksheets
Sources
Reference Material Guptill, A. L. (1978). Rendering in pen and ink. Watson-Guptill.
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