Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Pen and Ink Sketches

Back in October, my two granddaughters presented me with some art goodies for my birthday.  One of the gifts was a large spiral sketchbook picked up at one of the local stores.

The paper is definitely not artist grade paper and a bit of a challenge to work in......however, I'm enjoying the challenge.  Plus.... each week when the girls come to stay with me in the afternoons, they check to see if I have started using their gifts.  I had to do something as I sure didn't want to hurt their feelings even with the multiple sketchbooks I have currently going.

One of the pluses I'm finding to this paper is the fact my pen skips across the surface allowing for super light / fine lines as I work the illustrations with ink only.  I can slowly build up the tones by going over the areas several times.  It's definitely easier to build up than it is to take away ink ;-)

The negative is the pen nib picks up paper dust and I have to wipe it now and then.  Not too big of a deal though and happens mostly with the Pilot Prera than it does with the Noodler's Flex pen.

I may dedicate this sketchbook to pen and ink only.




2 comments:

Diane said...

I had a journal like that, a gift from a daughter. It does take some time to find what will work and then really dedicating some more time to getting through the book. Who would have thought there were so many different kinds of paper in the world? Certainly our thoughtful gift-givers have no idea.

Susan Bronsak said...

Hi Diane!! As I continue working in this sketchbook, I'm really liking what I can do with the pen and ink on the pages. Just shows we can adapt ;-)) And I love seeing my granddaughters faces each time they look to see what I've done next in "their" book.