NUTS! The students screamed in unison when I showed them the subject for our pen and ink drawings yesterday at the Dundas Valley School of Art. Well, I’m exaggerating. They always wonder what will emerge from my bag of tricks and they’re forever keen to test their skills.
We covered a lot of ground yesterday. Let’s start with my demonstration. I drew a dish in pencil.
Next, I added some nuts. Two in the dish and one in front of it. I decided on a light source coming from the upper right. Look at the little study on the bottom right of the sheet. This helped me simplify the light and shadow pattern on my subject.
Those messy pen lines on the upper sheet are a result of another demonstration. The students asked me for my thoughts on using a traditional metal nib with a bottle of India ink. We’ve been using disposable sketching pens for our drawings in class. No muss, no fuss! The traditional tools can be messy. Spills. Heartbreaking blobs in the middle of a drawing you’ve spent hours on. So, the disposable pens are fine for our learning process. However, the metal nib, used thoughtfully and with care, can give a drawing a special quality.
The next image shows my setup and tools. The paper is Strathmore Bristol, vellum surface. The nib is a School 56 and it’s in a wooden holder. My ink is Speedball Super Black India Ink, my favourite! The wide mouth and base help prevent spills. The white tester card helps prevent blobs. I test the pen every time I dip it in the ink before I touch my drawing. I also clean my nib every 5 minutes or so with paper towel and an organic nib cleaning fluid (spit). Oh, and there’s my demonstration again with most of the ink work completed.
The students enjoyed the nuts.
Pen and Ink Studio Critique
Before I sign off, let’s take a moment to look at some of the personal projects. The sunflowers are a work in progress by Vicky. This is a full sheet of watercolour paper and she’s using calligraphy dipping nibs. I took this photo at the start of the class yesterday so there’ll be a lot more to see next week.
Pen and watercolour by Vicky
Here’s another drawing by Val. It’s a small piece, approx. 9 x 12″, and she’s combined pen with watercolour.
Pen and watercolour by Val
That’s it, in a nutshell! There’s one more week of Pen and Ink Studio at DVSA. I’ll be offering four one-day pen workshops this spring and they’re already posted on the DVSA website. Join us!
Tags: Barry Coombs, Canada, Dundas Valley School of Art, Ontario, pen and ink, pen and wash, pen and watercolour, Sketching, Speedball Super Black India Ink, still-life drawing, Strathmore Bristol drawing paper, Studio Classes, watercolor, watercolour
Barry Coombs Art Workshops 
24/02/2017 at 4:22 pm |
Organic nib cleaning fluid! lol
Your pen and ink work is always extraordinary. Would love to learn from you some day. Great work by your students. I love how you rendered the nuts.
25/02/2017 at 9:29 am |
Thanks for sharing. I like how you break down the drawing, very helpful.. Paintings of Val, and Vicky, very very nice.
Lois
28/02/2017 at 3:53 pm |
This is a very helpful demonstration and I really enjoy seeing the work by Val and Vicki. Very creative!