Tutorials – SketchWild

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 […]

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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 […]

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New Sketching Tutorial! Now In My Etsy Store!

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 […]

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Getting Started: Seeing Simple Shapes, Part 2

Continuing on from Part 1, which you can read here, I want to show you another way to approach seeing the big shapes and capturing those before you dive into detail. At the top is a finished pen and ink drawing of a white rhino. But you can draw just this… and anyone who has […]

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Trees And Plants- Nib Try-outs

I’ve spent the last three mornings “test driving” a variety of dip pen nibs. There are quite a few nibs intended for drawing, but most were made just for writing. Some are very fine, some make a heavier line, others are monoline or do both thick and thin lines. Most are not expensive, one to […]

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Working With A Two-Nib Technique

I got my dip pen and ink out this past Friday morning after toning some canvas panels for upcoming paintings. I’ve been accumulating quite a few old pen and ink instruction manuals, mostly via archive.org, but also “real” books. At least a couple have mentioned that some drawings may require two or even three nibs. […]

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Dip Pen Nib Try-outs

After a 20+ year hiatus while I focused on oil painting (which I’ll still be doing because I love that too), I’m circling back to my first love…pen and ink. Particularly dip pens, which is what illustrators and artists have largely used from the early 1800s until well into the early/mid 20th century. (Fountain pens […]

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Getting Started: Good Pens For Beginners, Part 1

There are zillions of pens to choose from out there. In the photo above are, from left to right: Sakura Micron, Copic Multiliner SP, Pilot Precise V5 EF, Pilot V Razor Point EF, Platinum Preppy fountain pen, Sakura Gelly Roll, Mitsubishi uni-ball Signo; below from front to back: Pilot Extra Fine fountain pen, Platinum Carbon […]

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Getting Started: Seeing Simple Shapes, Part 1

People who start out drawing (instead of painting), like I did, may end up only seeing line, not shape. It took me quite awhile to not only see shapes first, but to think that way. When you go out to sketch in nature, it can be overwhelming. So much to choose from, often limited time. […]

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Why Sketch From Nature?

I don’t think I can say it much better than British artist Frank Brangwyn, but I’ll add my own thoughts, too. “Get some paper and a pencil. Not a beautifully bound sketch book – they’ll be afraid to spoil the paper! I often sketch on the back of an old envelope. Fear is the first […]