Rob Adams a Painter's Blog painter's progress

July 29, 2014

Textures with Pen and Ink

Filed under: Drawing,How to do,Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Rob Adams @ 1:58 pm

I said I would do this a while ago. So here it is, my take on pen and ink. Pen was really the first medium I seriously worked at. Oh there had been scribbles in pencil and daubs in the vile paint they make school children use but it was the first medium I seriously set about learning. At first I used Rotring pens. I had them from doing mechanical drawing for A levels. It seemed natural to carry on and sketch with them. There is not a lot to recommend them you have to hold them square to the surface, they give an unvarying line and block at the drop of a hat. However since I had never drawn with any other sort of pen I thought they were great. I still have a full set in a special box. My next discovery was dip pens made by Gillott compare to Rotrings they were wonderfully variable in line thickness and quality, this came at a cost of difficulty of use and the nasty habit of dropping a big blob of ink on your almost finished masterpiece! Lately after a foray into using fibre pens, (the same problems as with Rotrings) I have settled on using fountain pens with flexible nibs. They don’t quite offer the variety of line that the dip pens do but are far more convenient to carry about and sketch with.

When we think of pen and ink we think of line. If there is tone it is a watercolour wash or a simple hatch each contained within an outline. You can however use pen and ink in a purely tonal manner, which opens up great possibilities for expression and mood. Here I am just going to consider hatching. Most people seem to do stippling, hatching and cross hatching and that is all. There are however a huge variety of methods of toning areas with a pen. I have done a few examples below to try to give an idea of the variety possible. I will leave it up to you as to how you use the textures to describe surfaces. I will just say that when drawing a tree or a wall you cannot copy every little shape, you need to find equivalents. Before you jump in to draw a line of distant trees do a quick test to find out what mixture of line weights, density and variety will give the overall impression. The same with stone or brick walls. If you do every brick or every stone it will look dead and lifeless. In real life we actually don’t see every brick, the eye only needs a few hints and clues to fill in the detail for you. Lastly I have added  a few examples from other artists who use pen in a tonal manner.

 

pen and ink, hatching, tutorial

There we are, I hope that gives an outline of the possibilities. Experiment to find your own variations. I will deal in a later instalment with how I apply these textures and how to exploit the white paper and the use of solid blacks. Now some examples by far better artists than I to show just what can be done. If you click on the pictures you will get a high res version.

Herbert Railton, Pen and ink

This is by Herbert Railton truly a master of leaving lines out! Look at how he has left the top of the railings white and only defined the top edge with breaking the background texture rather than by defining with a line. He also is very good at using texture in an inventive and varied way to add colour and interest.

 

Joseph Clement Coll, pen and ink, drawing tutorial

This is Joseph Clement Coll. He often defines with line but notice how he breaks it here and there on the left hand figures legs. Then on the same figure’s cuffs he leaves the edge line out making the cuff feel white. See how he uses the delicate line on the woman’s dress to contrast with the more robust line of the other figures. Above all look at what he has left out!

 

Walter Jardine, pen and ink, drawing tutorial

This one is by Walter Jardine and is a master class in the use of weight, direction and texture to describe different tones and textures. He uses nearly every trick in the book in this one!

 

Franklin Boothe, pen and ink, tutorial

Here is Franklin Boothe in action. Here he uses a limited repertoire of hatching patterns to achieve a completely tonal effect. Very precise hatching some done with a rule. Even the ruled lines have variation however as he is using a dip lining nib. He also uses scratching out here and there. To do that you must use high quality bristol board.

 

Daniel Vierge, pen and ink, drawing, tutorial

Lastly a small drawing by Daniel Vierge.

Finally some useful Links.

 

Drawing With Pen and Ink. by Arthur Guptill

Pen Drawing by Charles Maginnis

Pens and Ink

 

July 22, 2014

Competitions, Clubs and Criticism

A lot of my painting days out are done as part of a group. With the Wapping Group painting every Wednesday and the Brass Monkeys every other Sunday I keep quite busy. I do feel perhaps I am not doing enough going out and painting by myself. The dynamic is quite different with a group of fellow painters, very pleasant of course with chatting and coffees to punctuate the painting. I think most of this posts offerings are in the group category. Rather a large gap in posting this time too as my laptop died and needed bits replacing.

I also attended the Pintar Rapido competition in Chelsea which was great fun. I was a little more organised this time and went there a few days before to decide on a subject. The previous year I wandered about looking for one and had to settle on a subject I wasn’t wholly in tune with.

The results when seen in the exhibition were as last year a mixture of all styles and levels of attainment. Interesting to see what I guess are art school students trying to paint the real world. They have almost no skills as such and have this naive idea that if they just go for it then a miracle will occur. Alas miracles are thin on the ground, but their self belief in unshakable. I talked to a few and they all seemed to feel skill was a minor consideration in painting. On the other hand they all seemed to admire it in others. I didn’t say I felt it was vital, as I wanted to gauge their feelings on the matter rather than impose my own views.

In the exhibition it was plain that some of the buyers didn’t think craft mattered either, but on the whole the well crafted sold better than the randomly intuitive, which is cheering. Another thing that struck me when whispering critical comments to a companion is how thin on the ground criticism is. We were whispering in case the artist was hovering nearby and our opinions overheard. In essence so that the person who might be the most likely benefit couldn’t possibly hear! Passing comment to the artist doesn’t really happen in the clubs either. I do sometimes offer an opinion if I see something really wrong that is easily corrected but try and restrain myself for the most part as offence is a very likely result.

It’s not that the criticism isn’t made, we judge and evaluate automatically. We also share our views with each other… but almost never with the artist themselves… which is odd really as they would surely be the ones most likely to get the most out of it. The result is that you tend to only hear anodyne  positives or inscrutable silences. I am in the habit of forcing the issue and asking for comments. This makes some uncomfortable and others will just tell you all is well whatever the real state of affairs!

Politeness is of course the reason for this lack of plain speaking. There is the uncomfortable fact that none of us welcome hearing that one of our efforts falls short and even less that it has fallen short in some way we hadn’t spotted. The truth is though we would all benefit from the clear sight of an uninvolved eye however bad the news, especially if that eye is educated.

What is needed I suppose is a forum where praise is banned and only observed room for improvement is mentioned. You would need rules of course. A comment like, “That is rubbish!” is of no use to any one. But a comment like “The perspective is out on that building.” or  “I’m not sure about that red patch as it takes the eye too much.” is useful as it gives a clue about putting something right. I have seen some attempts at this, the most successful being in the Life Drawing forum on WetCanvas. There people commented on anatomy and other aspects without too much bad feeling being expressed. However I think a forum where only critical comments were expressly required might work better. There are some I suppose for whom any negative comment is undermining and damaging for confidence, but IMO excellence in art (or indeed anything else) is a hard road and if you are that delicate then perhaps serious pursuit of it isn’t for you. On that harsh note some pictures… feel free to make painful but valid comments!

 

Erith, yacht club, drawing, Thames, Wapping Group

A day out with the Wappers at Erith Yacht Club. Very hot day and I was late getting there. I had just received a set of new sketch books with reproduction “Turner blue” paper. I hatched the sky but should have blocked it in with the white acrylic pen as the line work is too fussy. I might start to use white chalk as Turner himself did.

 

Erith, Thames, watercolour

I liked the way the light had developed so I did the same scene again. I am rather liking doing watercolour on the hot pressed paper. I tried using it years ago with little success but rather like its qualities now. I softened the clouds a little after this was scanned. I was pleased at how easy that was.

 

Amboise, france, watercolour, chateaux

Another historical paper effort. This is on “Girtin” type paper. Again an interesting effect. Wet into wet is almost imposssible as the paper cockles brutally.

 

Amboise, Romanesque, france, watercolour

This is the door of the church of St Denis in Amboise. The Romanesque part dates from 1107AD. Denis lost his head due to an axe. After his head was chopped off Denis is said to have picked it up and walked six miles from the summit of the hill preaching a sermon… 12in by 9in Watercolour. Done on Arches 140 paper from a large roll, I’m very glad I stocked up before the quality dropped!

 

Ransomes Dock, thames, London, Barge

Another Wapping day. This is Ransomes Dock near Albert Bridge. 10in by 10in. I thought of taking this further but decided not as it might ruin the feel which I rather liked.

 

Albert Bridge, Oil painting, plein air, thames, London

I had a short while on the foreshore to paint this as the tide raced in. Albert bridge is very pretty but I don’t like bridge pictures a great deal and wonder now why I bothered to paint this… dull but worthy alas! 10in by 16in.

 

portobello, london, pen and wash

This is Portobello, a great day with the Brass Monkeys. The road was full of life despite is being a non market day. I am enjoying the pen and wash it is great fun to splash over the pen work.

 

portobello, london, watercolour

Another very quick sketch, leaving out the pen this time. Portobello again.

 

portobello, london, pen, drawing

Last one from Portobello… it’s that Turner blue again.

 

Sloane Sq, chelsea, London, Pintar Rapido

Here’s my effort from Pintar Rapido. Not the greatest photo of the painting as I forgot to snap it in the open air and had to take the picture in low light at the exhibition. 12in by 16in Sloane Square, Oils. I had set my heart on a rainy painting and the forecast looked to be on my side. When I arrived the streets were wet from earlier rain but that was the last rain we saw! The reflections therefore are imaginary. I enjoyed painting it hugely and was delighted that it sold. If the buyer reads this they are welcome to bring it to my studio in about 3 months as it will need varnishing!

 

Rob Adams, Pintar Rapido

Here I am painting away in a somewhat colour coordinated manner.

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