Birthdays All Around...and Toys For Me

Happy Thursday the 13th!!.....Look at me, blogging twice in one week, you lucky ducks!!

  First off, I have a couple birthdays to announce. My grandson Shane is seven whole years old today!!!  Happy Birthday Shane!  I can't believe how fast the years are flying by. Please Shane, slow down will ya.

  For some reason, most likely "pilot error", my phone won't let me crop photos. I downloaded IOS 10 yesterday and since then,   all H E double hockey sticks has broken loose. I'm sure I will figure it out eventually.

   And, one other birthday to announce. My baby Sadie has turned seven whole years old too! Same thing goes for you Sadie, knock it off! stop getting older because your dragging me along with you! She is taking advantage of her birthday and is being lazy. Well deserved.

  New toys came in yesterday. I am not affiliated with this company in any way, I am just, so far, a new customer trying them out.

  I am going to assume that this is a fairly new company. I have not checked out their website yet but in my search for some new pens, I came across these. Like I said in my last post, I have been using Micron pens and I do like them but, they just are not holding up with all the inking I am doing for #Inktober. I had read an article about Airship and their Autoquill technical pens and they received some good reviews.

  I found them on Amazon and decided I would give them a try. They come in a three set, a six set and a 10 set. The price was right and again, the reviews were excellent so,  I bought the three set to start with. I have found that I gravitate to the smaller nib sizes. Maybe because I am not a cartoonist. In looking at other artists work that they are posting for #Inktober, I am seeing that the artists who do a lot of cartoon images, tend to use the larger nib sizes as their drawings require bolder line work. Since I'm a realist artist, the smaller nibs allow me to get that tiny detail in much easier than the larger nibs do. I mostly reach for my .02, .03 and .05's. Yesterday's #Inktober sketch, was all done in the smallest nib size of .005. It's very tiny and delicate, and I was able to get some very tiny fine lines with it........

 So far I have just messed around with these new pens, making lines etc. Today, when I do my #Inktober sketch, I will officially break them in.

  I'm glad that I decided to participate in #Inktober this year. I had dabbled in inking but had never taken it seriously. I am enjoying it to the point where I am investing in new inking supplies.Who doesn't like new toys? I do have another toy coming all the way from Japan that I just ordered last night. It will take a while to get here but I am looking forward to trying that out as well.

  Now....I have some studio organization to take care of, then my #inktober sketch and then some commission work. Off I go. Have a great day!

Playing With Pens......It Could Be Worse

Hey!!!...........Yep, it's me. I know, I know,  It's been awhile. It's not an excuse but, I have been so busy and it keeps getting harder and harder to keep up with everything. I do miss blogging though and I'm happy to be back, even if it's for this one post. No....seriously,  I will try to do better.

  It is now day 11 of #Inktober.  I am still hanging in there. Actually, I am enjoying it although it is time consuming. I decided I would stick to a theme so I wouldn't have to think about what to sketch every day, at least not for the most part. I came up with an animal theme with a few Halloween related images thrown in for good measure. After all....it is October.

  The one issue I am having is, my equipment is giving me fits. I, up to this point, have really never invested in inking supplies. When I decided to join in Inktober this year, I had to spend a bit of money and buy some gear.

  I was pretty used to using Pigma Micron pens which, if you don't know are technical pens with a fiber nib. They come in a wide variety of nib sizes. I DO like them, don't get me wrong but, after about day 4, and of course 4 sketches, a few of them have started skipping and drying up.

  I really don't think it is the nibs themselves that are causing issues, although, the tiny nib sizes can be rather delicate. I have a feeling that they are just simply running out of ink quickly. I'm not rough with my pens and I don't draw with a heavy hand.

  So, because Microns are disposable, ya end up just tossing them which, I know is rather wasteful, I decided to purchase a Copic refillable Multiliner pen. Just one, a .05. They are pricey so buying a whole set was out of the question for now. I like it. It's pretty similar to the Microns but, I am hoping the ink lasts longer. The nibs in the Copics are replaceable too so that's a plus.

 Well........I got to thinking, how about I try a dip pen. It's "old school" but sometimes that can be a good thing. So I bought one and it arrived this morning.  It is a Tachikawa nib holder......This is it............

Unfortunately....I don't read Japanese so I have no idea what the packaging says. I imagine they are instructions for use but, no worries,  I think I can figure it out on my own.

I also purchased G nibs, which I think are a good basic drawing nib. There is also a Maru nib which  I am interested in trying as well. I like the fact that it came with a cap to protect the nib. Since all you need to replace are the nibs, and those last a long time, I think this pen will be much more economical to use in the long run. From what I understand, there is a learning curve to using this pen but, that's okay with me, I'll get the hang of it. Some artists don't like having to constantly dip the pen in ink as they are drawing but I think that the dipping part of it just adds to the overall experience of inking.

I suppose now, I will get "hooked" on buying all kinds of pretty inks to use with it. Nothing wrong with more art supplies. And, just in case I find I don't enjoy drawing with a dip pen, I did buy some new technical pens as well. They should arrive tomorrow and I will give those a whirl too. I think trying new tools can be fun!

So...today for day 11, I have drawn this.little guy below. I use a Prismacolor Col-erase pencil to do my preliminary sketches with. They are erasable to a certain extent although they do leave a ghost image behind. but, I kinda like that. it adds to the sketch in a weird sort of way.......and as soon as I publish this blog post, I am going to ink him in. I don't think I will use my new dip pen yet. I want to try it out on some cheap paper first and practice just controlling the pen for now. 

I had better get to work. I will post my finished ink drawing up on my Facebook feed as soon as I finish it. Have a great day y'all!