For anyone who’s always wanted to sketch but doesn’t know where to begin my first downloadable pdf tutorial “A Beginner’s Guide To Sketching, Part 1” is now available here in my Fox Studio Etsy Store! I strongly believe that art is for everyone and that anyone can learn to sketch or draw as an enjoyable […]
Read More…William Heath Robinson was one of the most popular and beloved illustrator/artists of late 19th and early 20th century England. He was also a master of pen and ink. He first became known as a book illustrator and I’m posting examples of that from a two-volume set of “The Works of Rabalais” from my own […]
Read More…Steel pen nibs were made in a seemingly endless array of sizes and designs for over 100 years. There are a very limited number still being made today. All of them are based on the necessary shape of a barrel that was curved, plain at one end to fit into the holder and the slit […]
Read More…There were many hundreds of millions of steel pen nibs manufactured between 1840 and the late 1940s. They were all people had to write with and were a huge improvement over the swan, goose and crow feathers which had been used since the Early Middle Ages. They only started to truly be superceded by fountain […]
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A week or so ago I experimented with a variety of inks on the sketchbook and drawing papers I like best to find out how water resistant they are on each one. What I want to do is go out into the field with my dip pens and watercolors, draw something in ink and then […]
Read More…I’ve done pen and ink work for a LONG time, since the mid-1970s. Back then I used Speedball and then Brause steel nibs for lettering, along with turkey quills for medieval and celtic illumination. For commercial work it was Rapidiograph technical pens or bust. I recently unearthed a folder with tearsheets of drawings I did […]
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Charles Dana Gibson, the legendary late 19th century pen and ink artist, was an Influencer long before the term came into use to describe someone on social media who “influences” their followers’ tastes in clothes, food, music, where to go on vacation and other lifestyle choices. He drew all kinds of people, as you’ll see, […]
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All my Etsy listings in my Fox Studio shop are now 20% off in the site-wide holiday sale that’s on now through Dec. 3! Affordable original oils, drawings and downloadable coloring pages. You can see everything on offer here.Here are some examples of what’s available… A sample of the oil paintngs…
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Like, I suspect, most pen and ink artists, I’m always interested in new and interesting inks. And I just found some on Etsy that I tried out yesterday and will be using from now on to supplement the various, more standard black inks I use. NOTE: the seller specifically states that these water-based walnut inks […]
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Long before I was an oil painter I worked in pen and ink. I used it in my graphic design and illustration business, for medieval and celtic calligraphy and illumination and for sketching. In the last year I’ve kind of gone full-circle back to my beloved black and white work. I’ll still be painting in […]
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SketchWild 