Pen & Ink Drawing Books

[Octo]

The Write Stuff thread "Learning To Draw With Pen & Ink" is inspiring. What are some good sketch books for pen and ink, or at least characteristics to watch for?

 

Thanks

[daniellem]

Frank Lohan's "Pen & Ink Techniques" is a great place to start -- the tools and materials section is a bit dated, but the instruction itself is very clear and accessible. He includes a lot of step-by-step instruction which I've found very helpful. He has a bunch of other books out there that focus on different subjects (for example "Wildlife Sketching", "Sketching Birds", etc. but "Pen & Ink Techniques" is a great place to start.

 

Arthur Guptill's "Rendering in Pen and Ink" is a classic and probably one of the most comprehensive books you can find on the subject. It's been in print for a long time and as such the tools and materials section is very dated, but the instruction is timeless and covers a massive range of techniques and styles.

 

A more modern book is Claudia Nice's "Drawing in Pen & Ink". I don't think you could go wrong with this one, but she doesn't delve into as much detail as the books above.

 

"The Technical Pen" by Gary Simmons is also very good -- it's written specifically for technical pens (Rapidographs or the like) but other than the sections specific to use and care of those pens, most of the rest of the book is relevant to any method for pen & ink drawing. The material is presented in a very unique and compelling way, with lots of examples for trying different techniques. The book itself is out of print and hard to come by, but you might be able to find it at your library or a used bookstore.

 

Everyone learns differently so I'd definitely recommend checking these out from your library before purchasing to see which one speaks to you the best!

[Courfid]

Daniellem already made some great suggestions. Depending on what kind of style you wish to draw with, some manga technique books (especially those from the 80s if you can find them) might prove useful.

[aenjin]

If you're just starting out, look for spiralbound pads, they'll be easier to draw on. If you are working 'dry' (not adding washes), then it's easier. Most drawing (not sketching) paper pads will be fine. I'd avoid lower-end recycled paper pads since those and sketching paper are more likely to have fibery surfaces that nibs will snag on. If you can get your paper from a store, feel the paper, it should be smooth, not rough, and not very porous.

 

If you want to add ink or paint washes on top of your pen & ink drawings (made using waterproof ink I should hope), it's more of a challenge to find the right paper. Then look for sketchbooks with heavier weight paper that has internal/external sizing ('sized to accept wet media' etc.), like mixed media/multimedia or watercolor paper.

 

Generally, higher the paper weight, the better it will hold up, but not all heavy papers will have the smooth finish, so watch out for that. In general for beginners I would say avoid higher-end watercolor papers like Arches since that kind of hard sized surface is tough going for nibs. Canson, Strathmore, and Hahnemuhle are some good brands. Your standard Rhodia-type-and-better bound books are fine in a pinch, but for dry techniques only.

[Courfid]

Wow, ignore my other post, got the question wrong as well!

 

I would recommend some cheap sketch books; whatever you can find really. Sketching is not producing finished artwork. Lots of people (especially in the west, from what I have seen) have a very strange (IMO) view on what sketching is. It seems to be all about making showcase drawings nicely collected in books nowadays, rather than taking a normal notepad and go exploring (sorry for the derail!). This is just my opinion, of course, but it's well worth considering I think? I've studied art in Russia, and early on we got used to using everything from cardboard to toilet paper really, so I'm biased!

 

 

That said, The only characteristics to be concerned about depends on what you want to do. If ink and watercolor/gouache/wash etc, then yes, heavy paper is the way to go. Incorporate highlights? kraft paper sketchbooks or Muji scrapbooks for example are nice choices (the latter is ridiculously cheap as well, and takes ink pretty nicely; great for sketching.

 

Happy sketching!

[Octo]

Thanks for the great suggestions. There are several threads running in the Write Stuff forum that are so inspiring that they make one want to try to draw with FP. My last drawing lesson was in sixth grade and that was ... a number of years ago. :embarrassed_smile: It's good to have some guidance on sketch books/pads.

 

Thanks.

 

Edited to add: Bad thread title, sorry.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Octo