Inktober day 1 Organic Piano
So this is day 1, using my own prompt list.
That was fun! Actually, my first idea for the prompt was something NSFW but I decided against drawing it (too many RL contacts, including family members, read this...) so I'm really glad![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aliax_alexandre did that instead! :D I went for slightly more conventional fantasy stuff: a tree with leaves that are ominously arranged like piano keys... I wonder what that sounds like?
Also, here's the material I used:
The Cappuccino Book (and its twin, the Grey Book) and I are old friends - I really like the slightly toned paper that's not quite as dark (or as yellowish) as Kraft paper but allows the use of white highlights. With 120 gsm (55 lbs), it's a bit thin for large-area ink washes, but it's the only toned paper I know with a surface sizing optimized for fountain pens, so I just have to live with that. (I'd LOVE a paper with identical surface but three times as thick. Unfortunately, no one manufactures that kind of thing.)
For drawing, I again used the Duke Confucius fountain pen with Fude nib, which I've discussed here at length.
The pen is filled with Noodler's "bulletproof" black, an ink I don't like much for writing (I prefer non-waterproof inks for that, they're easier to remove in case a pen dries out), but which works extremely well for artistic purposes. It's a light, warm black that dries with a matte finish, which makes it easier to scan or to take photos of. It's also archival, so it doesn't smudge once dry, and I don't have to worry about fading. Useful stuff.
For shading, I picked up a Faber Castell watercolor marker with pigment ink in Warm Grey III. These pens are a fairly new launch so this is the first time I have one. I found the shade a pleasant tone for shading in the book, cooler than the paper itself (which is appropriate for shadows, anyway) but not too contrasting. I have not used the watercoloring option of that pen yet, so I'm probably wasting good material here, but whatever. (EDIT: I have now, later, tried this: the watercolor effect works just fine, but as expected, only on watercolor paper. In the Cappuccino Book, watercoloring it gets a bit blotchy.)
The white ink was an emergency buy because I discovered my old bottle had dried out... This is a brand I haven't used before, Kuretake White Ink 30, which so far does what it's supposed to do, and (nice!) is waterproof after drying. A good product, and one that (unless it does something horrible in the meantime) I'll probably buy again. I'm using the ink with a waterbrush (Pentel).
The white highlighter pen, Neopiko Line White, is a bit too transparent for my taste. Whatever. It works. And to be fair, I haven't found a white pen that's actually, really, opaque anywhere yet, so at least it's not worse than all the rest. ^^ It's not perfect but the best one I've found so far.
Not in the picture are a mechanical pencil (Pentel Energize in 0.7; my favorite sketching tool, very old and very worn, broken clip and everything) and an eraser (perfectly generic; I don't remember the brand) for preliminary sketching.
That was fun! Actually, my first idea for the prompt was something NSFW but I decided against drawing it (too many RL contacts, including family members, read this...) so I'm really glad
aliax_alexandre did that instead! :D I went for slightly more conventional fantasy stuff: a tree with leaves that are ominously arranged like piano keys... I wonder what that sounds like?Also, here's the material I used:
The Cappuccino Book (and its twin, the Grey Book) and I are old friends - I really like the slightly toned paper that's not quite as dark (or as yellowish) as Kraft paper but allows the use of white highlights. With 120 gsm (55 lbs), it's a bit thin for large-area ink washes, but it's the only toned paper I know with a surface sizing optimized for fountain pens, so I just have to live with that. (I'd LOVE a paper with identical surface but three times as thick. Unfortunately, no one manufactures that kind of thing.)
For drawing, I again used the Duke Confucius fountain pen with Fude nib, which I've discussed here at length.
The pen is filled with Noodler's "bulletproof" black, an ink I don't like much for writing (I prefer non-waterproof inks for that, they're easier to remove in case a pen dries out), but which works extremely well for artistic purposes. It's a light, warm black that dries with a matte finish, which makes it easier to scan or to take photos of. It's also archival, so it doesn't smudge once dry, and I don't have to worry about fading. Useful stuff.
For shading, I picked up a Faber Castell watercolor marker with pigment ink in Warm Grey III. These pens are a fairly new launch so this is the first time I have one. I found the shade a pleasant tone for shading in the book, cooler than the paper itself (which is appropriate for shadows, anyway) but not too contrasting. I have not used the watercoloring option of that pen yet, so I'm probably wasting good material here, but whatever. (EDIT: I have now, later, tried this: the watercolor effect works just fine, but as expected, only on watercolor paper. In the Cappuccino Book, watercoloring it gets a bit blotchy.)
The white ink was an emergency buy because I discovered my old bottle had dried out... This is a brand I haven't used before, Kuretake White Ink 30, which so far does what it's supposed to do, and (nice!) is waterproof after drying. A good product, and one that (unless it does something horrible in the meantime) I'll probably buy again. I'm using the ink with a waterbrush (Pentel).
The white highlighter pen, Neopiko Line White, is a bit too transparent for my taste. Whatever. It works. And to be fair, I haven't found a white pen that's actually, really, opaque anywhere yet, so at least it's not worse than all the rest. ^^ It's not perfect but the best one I've found so far.
Not in the picture are a mechanical pencil (Pentel Energize in 0.7; my favorite sketching tool, very old and very worn, broken clip and everything) and an eraser (perfectly generic; I don't remember the brand) for preliminary sketching.
no subject
I love the idea of working on a non-white paper. Your art really pops on it.
I'm wondering if you have any recommendations for a cheap fountain pen for drawing/sketching (I'm UK based if that influences your advice at all)?
no subject
Of course, it depends on what you are looking for in a drawing pen.
If you want extremely fine lines, I'm quite impressed with the Platinum Preppy with EF (extra-fine) nib. It's cheap, it's well-made and it's the thinnest nib I own.
For "normal" fountain pen lines... Well, I'd say, anything that feels good in your hand. I mean, the selection is extremely broad. Still - there's this Chinese company called Jinhao, they make very nice, very affordable pens. The downside is they apparently don't do much of a quality control, so any pen you like, you should order three of, take the one that writes well and toss the rest. They're so cheap that even then, you don't pay much - and the good ones are really really good.
For broad and expressive, I can recommend the pen I'm using for Inktober, the Duke Confucius fude nib. I mean, it's completely useless for writing, but as an artists' tool, it's awesome.
Unfortunately I can't help you with italic nibs at all; I'm left-handed and the only italic nib I own that I really can use is a hand-modified one on a Parker Sonnet. And that's a gold nib that's neither cheap nor easily available.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2019-10-07 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)We definitely have some Jinhao's hanging around. I think I would like to experiment with a fude nib a bit, so maybe I will check that out.
Ah, I'm right handed for art and writing, but my Parker Vector seems pretty good for right now. I'm not sure I'd trust myself with a gold nib not to lose the pen at some point. But I know Sonnets are really nice.
Thanks for the recommendations, I'll have a poke around and see what's readily available for me. :)
no subject