Broke fast at Prairie Joe’s in Evanston this morning. Caught Marshall at work behind the counter. Back from SCAD where he focused on sequential art, Marshall looks to ply his skills in tattooing if not animation. All the best young man.
There are faster mediums besids felt tip markers; watercolor, for one, can prove quite expedient in capable hands. But I return to ink not only because I love it’s presence on paper, that it’s minimal aqueous nature means I can give fairly heavy coverage without buckling and over saturating the paper, and the range just within the shades of grey, that lend dramatic value statements, plus the bold and subtle stroke potential can convey the mark vocabulary of medium such as charcoal, graphite and grease pencils, especially when working on on a wide array of drawing surfaces.
Over the years on this blog and in my posts on Facebook and other blogs, I have demonstrated that versatility especially when incorporating my hands to manipulate and broaden the mark making capability of ink mediums. When felt tip markers are combined with ink from ballpoints, gel pens, and fountain pens (a personal favorite) on paper where sizing and texture can be taken advantage of, the range becomes rich enough to suggest charcoal, watercolor, crayon, and helps articulate and imply surfaces as diverse as shiny metal, weathered wood grain, fabric, leather, beard stubble, satin shirts and silky hair.
I personally enjoy drawings that not only capture the look and feel of different surfaces and optical effects, but evidence the means by which the human hand plays a role in delighting and convincing the eye.
The above sketch, drawn from life, was executed with Pitt Artist Brush pens – Cold Grey IV, Warm Grey IV, Cold Grey VI, Black, and White. Fountain pens Pelikan M205 medium nib, Pelikan M215 bold nib, Platinum Carbon ink, Â on a Strathmore tan sketchbook.
For the 5th year, I will head out across the country, this time trekking down the middle, from the mountains to the Mississippi, over the Oglalla and amber waves of grain, to sketch and share craft and discoveries with a whole mess of folks. To follow my journey, go to: doncolleysroadtrip.com.
 
The trek began with an 8 hour layover at the Twin Cities airport and  a late arrival in gorgeous Bozeman. From there I made it to the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument. Go. Hallowed ground. The markers indicating where the combatants fell give and amazing sense of the raging and rambling nature of the battle. From there, Sheridan, Wyo, and a long bus ride to Fargo, where the biplane was drawn at the Fargo Air Museum. The West has to be experienced by bus by car and by train with frequent stops.
All drawings executed with various fountain pens, Lamy Accent, Graf Von Faber-Castell Classic Ebony, using Platinum Carbon ink, grease pencil, and a ide array of F-C Pitt Artist Brush Pens in several types of sketchbooks: Strathmore toned sketchbooks, Moleskine landscape formate watercolor sketchbook, Stillman & Birn Epsilon, Tomoe River Paper sketchbook, and a ledger book from the 1950’s.
Made it to Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky but only had slightly less than two hours to take in and draw on those glorious grounds. Ink in a Tomoe River Paper sketchbook.
The above 3 drawings were executed on the bus ride to Louisville.
A coffee shop drawing of a fellow who held the expression of a seriously skeptical customer to what ever it was the other fellow was proposing. Next, on of Jeremy’s students in a drawing class followed by Jeremy himself explaining a concept to another student. Immediately above, a sketch of the Bardstown Road VFW that was begun on site but largely completed from memory. And Big Ed drawing at the same VFW during an Urban Sketching workshop coordinated with the Pearson Art Center.
faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens, fountain pens, Zplatinum Carbon ink, in Tomoe River Paper and Moleskine watercolor sketchbooks.
 
 
 
