It'll be a while before the final scan is ready, but I thought I'd give FPN a sneak peek

Oooooooh...very nice.

This is beautiful work in a difficult medium.

Did you use black ink only? If so, your cross-hatching work, creating the illusion of degrees of grey in the Aurora bottle, is particularly skillfully done. Thanks for posting.

caliken

VERY, VERY, NICE!!!

Outstanding!

OK....so, let me tell you that I was wondering where the drawing was in the journal.

This is clearly the work of a master. I am impressed.

Beautiful!

Excellent work Mr Splicer

How long did this take? What pens used? What Paper? What ink? What size?

Awesome! Me likey!

WOW! You should sell similar drawings on FPN of the most popular pens & inks. Maybe make a calendar?

Oh wow. This piece leaves me speechless! How long did it take?

Wow! Now I know where all my artistic talent went - to you!!! I would buy a calendar of your work as well.

Todd

Wow!

What they all said! Superb.

Holy (ink). That thing is (my eyes, my eyes!) awesome.

Wow! The attention to detail in the wood grain of the table, the texture of the bookmark in the journal, and the crosshatching in the ink bottle is just phenomenal! The pen looks like you digitized in Photoshop from a photograph, it is so well-done.

I can tell you love to draw!

Wonderful work, and most impressive.

Hope you share more.

Zoe

WOW!
Amazing hatching! Yes, yes, I too would love to see more!

Beautiful!

Incredible! Well done.

Wow! Thank you for all the kind words!

I hadn't thought of a calendar, but I will now. This is the first in a series (something I hate to say when I have just one piece to show, but I have others actually started so I can 'fess up to my plans) and I don't yet have twelve planned. I'll dive back in to pairing pens and ink bottles, but I might have to buy more pens and inks to use as models!

I had been planning to offer prints of the drawings in a series limited to 51 prints (seems like a good number even if I don't include a '51' in the series though I likely will--I like my '51' quite a bit) of each. I've gotten good results with giclée (fancy version of inkjet) prints on double-weight Somerset paper, but those prints aren't cheap and I'd have to sell each for $75 or $100. A calendar is a great idea and I could offer those for significantly less, even at relatively short runs.

Here are the parameters of the series: each will have a pen and an ink bottle, and each will incorporate the ink color into the drawing. I made an exception with this drawing and will with any black inks I choose to portray, because any difference between the drawing ink and the black FP ink would be distracting rather than appealing.

The pairings I have in the works are:

Rotring Newton/Private Reserve Copper Burst
Rotring Millennium Edition ArtPen 1998/Visconti Sepia
Omas Emotica/FPN Galileo Manuscript

Soooo I need eight or nine more and finish them in the next couple months in time for a 2009 calendar eh? Yikes! But I'll apply some elbow grease and see how much I can do and how fast.

I'm happy to take suggestions for pen/ink pairings, but y'know, no guarantees.

To answer a couple of questions, this took about sixty hours (yes, I clock in at the studio!) and was done mostly with rapidograph, though I also used a brush at a couple points. I have a long-handled Kaimei fountain brush-pen that I use in the studio, and I adore it. The drawing is 9 inches tall by 12.75 inches wide. And yes, it's all black ink, mostly ink from a Rotring cartridge, though I also used Rotring ink from a bottle in my Isographs (which are like Rotring Rapidographs but do not take cartridges).

Again, thank you! It's really nice to read all the very kind comments!

Fantastic work

Too cool! I though you were going to tell us that it was really charcoal not ink! You are quite the art'ist!

So talented!!! Please do a calendar.

Not just gorgeous; VERY gorgeous! Nice work, Splicer!

I'd buy a calendar of this as well!

Bravo!!!!

Very nice! It's now my screen saver...if that's OK!

It would be great if you could have one drawing for each of the flagship pens. You've got an Edson. Perhaps add: MB149, '51', PFM, M800, Paragon, Vanishing Point (?), etc. and the associated manufacturer's ink. See this thread for ideas.

Beautiful drawing.

But recursion drives me nuts. Careful, or you'll turn into Escher or Magritte or something.

WoooHoooo - great job !

Wow.

Just, wow.

Heck, I might even be willing to lend you a couple of models.

Really beautiful work

Nice work,Splicer! You have quite a talent there!

John

You should see his prints. Amazing stuff!

I like this idea, though I want to avoid getting into the question of what's really the flagship pen and don't want to limit myself that way. If I do "mostly" flagship pens I'm still reserving the right to also do images of lower-end pens. Ultimately, it comes down to what pens and inks appeal to me, and in what pairings.

While I'm not ruling out including a pen and an ink of the same manufacturer, I am avoiding it. If a case becomes compelling, I'll do it but I don't want the series to start to look like I'm shilling for anyone. I'm considering a Lamy 2000 (or Studio?) with a Lamy ink bottle, but there's something that resonates between the designs and I see a connection there. Likewise, I can see an argument for pairing a '51' with a bottle of Superchrome. But I don't want to pair up ink and pen just because they have the same brand.

Found this finally, This is great looking work I didn't remember that this was the pen I saw today ... WOW very nice. I'll have to check out the rest of the comments as I'm likeing the way things are sounding

Sweet idea about the calender Not sure I could swing a print, but you never know I'm up for a VP drawing though

very cool

Wow, so cool, so fascinating, especially the detail -- the wood grain, and shading, the bright highlights on the pen, and the like. Thanks for posting.

Doug

Wow...i am so impressed!
Just beautiful!!

And...i just looked into that Kaimei fountain brush-pen. I just might have to get that for my artwork...it looks wonderful! And the long handled one is actually affordable!

I did just order the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (hasn't arrived yet). Do you have any experience with this pen? It is a lot cheaper...i wish i had known about the Kaimei...

~Jas

WOW!!!!
Splicer, I am just overwhelmed!!! The drawing is so good, the detail is great!!!
You have been blessed with great talent.

I'd buy a few copies if you ever offer a calender.

+1. Go with what inspires you, not what others want to see. Given the image you've shared here, the results will be wonderful.

The Pentel might be the best bang for the buck, especially if you're carrying it around and there's some chance it could be lost. It is a real brush, and so well worth the upgrade from the even cheaper Tombow, Pigma and (another disposable I can't recall the name of) models, which are really flexy-tipped markers. They can be a lot of fun too but the Pentel provides a real brush experience.

Kuretake makes a brushpen for about as much as the long-handled Kaimei. I think either of these is a nicer brush than the Pentel, but at something like three times the price. The bristles are synthetic "white sable" like you might find on a standard drawing brush; the Pentel has coarser bristles and doesn't have quite the effortless flowing feel that these do. The difference is pretty subtle though.

For a little over twice the price of those is the standard-length Kaimei, which has natural bristles. It is a nicer brush than either the Kuretake or the long-handled Kaimei, but the difference is even more subtle than the difference between those two and the Pentel.

If you're on a tight budget, get the Pentel and never look back; it's a good brushpen and it will make you happy.

Even though I have both Kaimei models and prefer the brush of the short-handled one, I use the long-handled one in the studio. I like having the longer handle and to me that makes more difference than the natural bristles. It's a lot less convenient for carrying around, though.

So, to wrap up a very long-winded recommendation, I'd say you couldn't go wrong with the long-handled Kaimei at home or work and the Pentel for walking around with. My only caveat there is that the Pentel and Kaimei brushpens don't take the same cartridges.

Not in the same league, but I've used Sai watercolor brushes (these seem to be disposable) and Elmer's makes these brush-pens with plenty of ink supply. They're easy to use and I even like some of the colors.

Splicer...i like long-winded!
Thanks so much for the comparison of these pens...very informative, and helpful.
For now, i'll be happy with the arrival of the Pentel...which should be early this week!

Wow!! To see some of my favorite things captured so wonderfully by your artistry is such a treat! Bravo!!

I heard ya about the hours. I'm not a good a drawer as you are but some of my drawings take me 5 hours to do and it's only a portrait of about 5 or 6 inches square. I do primarily pencil drawing (graphite, with leads of various degrees of hardness-8B to F).

I just draw "underground" style comics & cartoons, so when I see real artwork like yours I'm like WOW....

Curious how long you spent on it each "session" or whatever. I use .18mm rapidograph & staedtler karat aquarell pencils for cartoon art.

That small though, I have to give eyes a rest after about an hour or two-- just can't distinguish different shades in colors anymore.

So sixty hours-- dang that's an accomplishment!

How long did it take you in terms of days or weeks spent on a project with that kind of detail?

--Bruce

Can't really add much to all of the compliments that you have already received, but wow, amazing work. A calendar would be a great idea.

sorry for such a stupid question...

but...
what pen is it?