Chapter 3: Pen and ink drawing, part 2

Finally! Here are my collected drawings. First it took some determination to dare and draw lines that I could not erase, but I soon began to lose the fear of making a mistake and enjoyed it.

1. Art Pen and water soluble ink on cartridge paper, A4	Wash with water and watercolour, some details with pastel
2. Dip pen, permanent ink on Kraft paper, A5 My neighbour had adapted this old bathroom stove as a smoking oven for ham and such things. Meanwhile he has replaced it. I am glad I managed to draw and photograph the old stove before it was trashed. I was so taken with the stove that I left out all the things on the shelves. (Also I was too cold.)	Wash with water, pastels and gouache for highlight. I preferred pastels on the coloured papers because I could control the colours better.
For some time the weather was freezing, so I did drawings 3-6 from photographs.	It was a way to keep doing something, but I felt I copied the photographs instead of drawing the real thing and make my choices.
3. Fountain pen with water soluble ink on Kraft paper, A5 This old zinc bucket also seems to have been trashed since I took the photograph.	Watercolour wash, highlighted with white gouache and pastel.
4. Pitt artist pen on Kraft paper, A5 This pen forces me to make bold strokes, to simplify and not to worry too much about details. Good training for me!	Wash with watercolour, highlight with pastel  I first thought I would leave this drawing in black and white, but with rust and mould there are surprising colours on the old metal.
5. Calligraphy pen, permanent ink, on old cartridge paper, A5 I felt drawing from the photograph had an advantage here with all the details in the figure of the little cock. It is only as high as my middle finger.	with watercolour wash
6. Dip pen with permanent ink on Kraft paper, A5 Here also I was glad to draw from the photograph. Drawing the leaves and rubble was much less intimidating. With the coming of spring drawing outside was enjoyable again.	Watercolour wash, highlights with pastel pens
7. Fountain pen on Kraft paper, A5 I find this old zinc bathtub very charming, but I have never seen it being used, not even for my neighbours’ grandchildren.	water and watercolour wash
8. Pitt artist pen on cartridge paper, A4	Watercolour wash. This drawing and no 1 are the only ones on white paper. I feel they add a lighter mood to the other drawings done on old discoloured paper or Kraft paper.
9. Calligraphy pen with permanent ink on Kraft paper, A5	watercolour wash
10. Art pen with watersoluble ink on old writing paper I just love this old rabbit cage. The metal fastenings for the locks are interesting.	watercolour wash I had drawn the leaves of the nettles black, so I used soft pastels to add some green. They look so different on black and light background. Something to explore.
11. Art pen on old cartridge paper This is the new smoking oven. With wheel of the garden hose above it looks like the bottom half of an old sorceress on a kind of throne.	Washed with watercolour, it appears even more sinister.
12. Art pen with water soluble ink, A4 I had printed this sheet of cartridge paper some time ago from a gelli plate with acrylics.	As the acrylics will not take a watery wash I coloured the drawing with pastels, but I did not want to cover the colours of the print entirely. I think they contribute to a feeling of age and use.
13. Art pen with water soluble ink on Kraft paper, A5 14 All my drawings so far	watercolour wash and pastel pencils

I think it's time to have a break here, although the more I draw, the more things draw my eye, for instance
- the metal fastenings of the rabbit cage
- the nettles and the blackberry branches which cover the wooden walls
- the textures of wood, logs or chopped firewood
- lots and lots of circles, whole or shown in part, en face or in perspective: the ball, the chair, the meter on the old bathroom stove, the wheels of the garden hose and the folded garden chair, the chopping block, the hole of the bird house…

Posting is always helpful as a step back to look from another angle. I feel I should have used a greater variety of papers, pens and marks. I see that I have focused more on the motifs the garden shed offers than on my materials. 
 
Fortunately, I can always go out and draw some more 😊

Chapter 3: Pen and ink drawing – part 1

6.3.1 Mark making with pens
Pens used:

• fountain pens and a sketching pen (Rotring Art Pen F)
• dip pens with a metal nib and a glass nib
• markers: Pitt Artist Pen, Stabilo point 88, a ballpoint pen (blue)
• Rotring rapidograph
• biro

Inks and colours:

• water soluble inks in the fountain pens
• Schmincke acrylic ink in primary colours
• walnut stain
• shellac ink, black and bistre
• watercolour

Marks:
First I used my pens and inks on universal cartridge paper, 160 g/square meter, in boxes made with the template from Module 4.
The scans with the drawings are on the left, the washes on the right.

P 1: The Art Pen leaves a very strong line (below left).	Washing over it gives a dramatic effect. The washes are done with walnut stain (brownish) and acrylic ink in yellow and red, partly layered. The water washes are in the middle.
P 2: Usually I find felt tips too scratchy, but the Pitt Artist Pen is very smooth and lovely to draw with.
	P 3a: I like the muted, even dirty shades here. The shellac ink is not entirely waterproof.
P 4: The stippling below right reminds of signs on maps for wood and moorland.	P 4a: Bistre and walnut stain give a very similar colour. The orange wash is watercolour.
P 7: Upper  row right: the grid is also a kind of cross hatch – a very regular one.
	In between I scribbled on thick cartridge paper I had used as a desk cover. P 9 is Pitt Artist Pen over thick blobs of acrylic. P 11 is Rapidograph over a wash, P 10 is shellac ink drawn with a metal nib.
P 17: In the left box I used the walnut stain as ink with the metal nib and the newly bought black Pitt Artist pen on the right.	The lower boxes are waiting  to be filled.
P 14 and 15, below: Samples on brown Kraft paper.	The colours turn out even more muted and warmer than on the white paper.
P 16 and 16a: This sample is done on pages from an engineer’s sketchbook, from around 1910. The paper is a little stronger than ordinary copy paper.	It is slightly discoloured but has kept well. I like it a lot for its aged quality, and I love the old writing and the swirls the engineer put in between his numbers. The paper is not too thick, so I have to go easy on the washes.

This was fun! I feel I started a collection of reference material. This activity also seems to loosen the hand as a warm up for drawing. So I hope the weather improves enough for me to be able to draw outside around the garden shed.