Author: foxstudio

I'm a nature/wildlife artist. My art career began in 1976 as a sign painter's apprentice. I earned a BFA Illustration in 1989 from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I've worked as a freelance sign painter/graphic designer, then graphic designer/illustrator. For the past twenty-three years I've focused on oil painting, but am now also going full circle back to the media I first fell in love with, pen and ink. I'm a member of the California Art Club, an Associate Member of American Women Artists and a Fellow of The Explorers Club. My work has appeared in a variety of prestigious national juried shows since 2003.

by foxstudio

Great Pen And Ink Artists, Part 3: Edwin Austin Abbey

American artist and illustrator Edwin Austin Abbey was among the most respected, liked and admired artists of his day both by his colleagues and the public. He’s been a particular favorite of mine for many years. Abbey was equally excellent in pen and ink, drawing in dry media and oil painting. Although born in the […]

by foxstudio

Getting to Know Your Nibs

You’ve just bought a batch of dip pen nibs, a holder or two, a bottle of ink and a pad of paper because you’re finally going to try out this old and honorable method of picture-making. Where to start? The image above is how I solved that problem. I’ve done 14+ pages of these now […]

by foxstudio

Gearing Up for the 2022 Sketching Season!

My last post was on April 2, 2021. At that point, as I also noted today in my Fox Studio blog, I’d run out of gas and did almost no art for the rest of the year. But that appears to be over and I’m chomping at the bit to get out in the field […]

by foxstudio

A Bibliography of Pen & Ink Books for Artists

“White Rhino” by Susan Fox, 2018 PEN AND INK (Modern and in print): Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur T. Guptill; Watson-Guptill Publications, 1976, from the original 1930 editionPen and Ink Drawing by Aphonso Dunn; Three Minds Press, Woodland Park, New Jersey, 2015Pen and Ink Techniques by Frank Lohan; Dover Books, 2009; reprint of […]

by foxstudio

Pen and Ink Art for a Great Project…Coloring Nature

Last year, from an art friend and colleague, I learned about, and volunteered to create, art for a new coloring book project called Coloring Nature. Having taken up pen and ink drawing again a couple of years ago this was perfect! Most of the artists are actual scientific illustrators, but I have enough of a […]

by foxstudio

The Best Vintage Dip Pen Nibs for Artists

A couple of years a ago I got interested in drawing with dip pen nibs again, specifically the vintage versions. There’s a few of the same ones that are still in production today and I’m sure they’re fine, but the original pre-WW2 nibs were largely hand-produced by women (and that will be a fascinating story […]

by foxstudio

Getting Started- First Exercises

You’ve got some nibs, a holder, a bottle of ink and some good quality, fairly smooth paper. Now what? The first thing to do is to familiarize yourself with those tools. A great way to do that is to try out the exercises as shown in this post. I’ve not been able to find out […]

by foxstudio

What’s Your Line? Line Quality In Pen & Ink Drawing (Traditional)

Back in the late 19th into almost the middle of the 20th century a dip pen and ink on paper was the standard media for black and white illustration. Every magazine at the time depended on the skill of those artists to bring alive various articles and also many advertisments. Companies needed them for illustrating […]

by foxstudio

My Dip Pen Field Kit (For This Year)

I’m planning to start going out to sketch using dip pens at least part of the time this year. Back before WWII, steel nibs were made in the tens of millions in many countries. They replaced feather quills and after the 1840s were the only option available for writing and drawing with ink. Artists like […]

by foxstudio

Ten Brown Inks- A User Experience

For some months I’ve been thinking about the “perfect” brown/sepia ink . Not too dark, not too red, not too pale, preferably one that can be used in both dip pens and fountain pens, although that last one is negotiable because I’ve found and tested ten different inks and there are plenty to choose from. […]