Art Day: Art Tips – Pen and Ink

It seems that not many people do pen and ink anymore, so I’m going to give some basic tips for starting out with this medium. Maybe people will want to try pen and ink :) I used to do a lot of pen and ink art and have recently started again.

* Buy a starter pen set (get the one that’s for what you want to do, art, calligraphy, etc.) that has a holder and several tips.

* Try out all the tips to see what kind of lines they make and which ones you like best (there are big differences in pen tips)

* Waterproof ink is great because you don’t have to worry about it smearing after it dries (but it will smear when wet, so be careful).

* Wear old clothes and work on a vinyl or plastic tablecloth or surface (so you don’t ruin good clothing or tables).

* Keep a small piece of drawing paper by your work surface so you can tap extra ink off the end of the pen and/or test the line. Sometimes I need to refill my pen, but I want a really thin line (and don’t want to change tips) so I run the ink down on the scratch paper until it’s the way I want it for the real drawing.

* You can do a light pencil sketch before you use ink if you want to plan out your drawing.

* You can use a brush to create watercolor-like effects with ink. (More on ink washes next week.)

* Ink now comes in all sorts of colors. You don’t have to just use black, although there is a certain beauty in black and white. (More on colored inks next week.)

* If you have any pen and ink tips, please share them in the comment section, or if you blog about them, let me know and I’ll include your link. Thanks!