Monday, April 22, 2013

What's You Looking At?! - Ink and Wash - Stillman & Birn Zeta

Still working through Cathy Johnson's Ink and Wash mini course, I chose to use a dip pen and Noodler's #41 Brown ink in my new Stillman & Birn Zeta Journal.

I really had a lot of fun with this one.  The subject in itself for me was fun.  I sit outside on the porch and this wooden wind chime hangs to the left of where I sit.  It always seems the backside is to me (can turn all the way around as it hangs from a thick thread) and it makes me laugh with the way the neck and head turns as if looking back.  I did exaggerate a bit the turning of the head but what comes to mind is this guy saying "What's you looking at?!"

Best part was playing with this dip pen with the shape nib as seen in the illustration.  I have no idea where I picked it up but it's a load of fun to use.  The Noodler's #41 Brown is water resistant and bullet proof (which I'm still unsure just what that means); and stated under specifications on the Goulet Pen site it's slow to dry.   Add the type paper (Zeta) with internal and external sizing, the ink sits a while allowing you time to take a damp or wet brush and pull the color for shading.

Most is done with the ink to include the shading but added a little blue for the distant tubes and yellow for the beak plus a touch of Quin Bt Orange in the back area..

For this one I was going to sit outside and work the sketch to include the ink and wash.  No way!!!  At best I managed a quick rough pencil sketch using an HB mechanical pencil and then forced to return to the comfort of my table inside (reason noted on the page below).






4 comments:

Ann said...

I love your sketch - so charming! I may have to give the zeta book a try, it sounds promising.

Susan Bronsak said...

Ann.....thank you so much! I've tried all the main Stillman & Birn paper surfaces and like them all. I do favor the Beta and the Zeta because of the heavier weight paper since I use watercolor in all of them. I still love the Alpha's vellum surface but wish it were thicker paper. I scan all my work and found I end up with ghost images of previous pages if I sketch/paint front and back of the page. I'm sure if I learned how to properly photograph my work, I might not have that problem with the thinner weight paper of the Epsilon and Alpha.

larry said...

Love this sketch as it makes me laugh. Thanks for the steps as they really do help those of us who are less experienced. For what it's worth, waterproof should mean that you can't do what you do with #41 brown :-) Truth is, Noodler's calls things 'waterproof' if you can't make lines disappear with water when the ink is used on cheap paper - a far cry from what a watercolorist thinks it means :-)

Wear dull clothing and the bees will likely leave you alone.

Cheers --- Larry

Susan Bronsak said...

Thanks, Larry :-)) Glad it makes you laugh. I smile each time I see it too!

Thank you too on the water proof. ;-)

As for the bees........I can't wear any duller clothing than what I wear on the norm. Always grays, browns, blues, dk greens, and black. I don't wear cologne or hair spray but I AM wondering if shampoo might have something to do with it. It might just be me in general :-( lol