First, i start with the sketch, be it on my ipad or in a real, live sketchbook.
A church doodle. I really wanted to frame the town and the setting sun, as though the viewer was with the boy and the cat.
Then, I printed out the clean lineart from my ipad and transferred it using tracing paper.
I set up camp at my desk with all my tools and stuff.
Black Magic India Ink, a cup of water, a cleaning kleenex, two crow quill pen nibs (102), and a pen holder. I switches nibs whenever one started to act up (probably every 30 mins or so)
This is my “scratch board.” after dipping the nib in the ink, a draw a couple of lines to make sure it’s all flowing okay. Make sure to clean off your nib every couple of dips! ink clogs up the channel and cakes on, making the nice lines not as clean, and can cause splatters and such.
A quick, important note: when you are inking, have the channel of ink FACING the direction you’re drawing. if you were to look straight down the barrel of the nib, it would make a C. Drag the C in a line, with the concave part facing the direction of the line, if that makes sense.
The beginning is always the worst o_O
I realized after I removed the blue tape that the lines were JAGGED. The tape prevented a smooth line down the edge, unlike paint. I’m still working on figuring this part out.
working on the columns and clouds. Shadows are where I struggle the most in rendering. Also, do not draw clouds without a reference, they’ll look like trees…
Taking a break from dumb clouds to work on a wall! much more fun:) I liked making each brink textured and interesting.
Here I forgot to take pictures, because I had to wait on new nibs and got REALLY excited when they came it.
The city and tower are done. I am trying to figure out the sky and sea.
The boy is now done. Tyying to get really fine strokes for the sky.
Done! I peel up the tape and grab my eraser.
I like how it turned out, though it wasn’t quite what I had pictured. In some ways, I like the sketch a lot more, but I believe that this is compositionally better.
back and forth with the sun and the boy. Compositionally it’s chef’s kiss :)
The Aesthetique :)
I will be doing more of these in the future! If I remember to take pictures… If you have any comments or questions, let me know! More pen and ink artists are what this world needs >:)