The Beauty of The Lowly Pen

“Joy Ride” – Pen and ink on Strathmore paper. © Katie Kath 2022. Do not use without permission.

For today’s sketch I turned to a favorite go-to implement: a smorgasbord of pens.

Simple but mighty, ink pens are one of my top choices for sketch materials. In fact, when teaching Drawing I or Intro classes, the first thing I do is banish pencils (at least, mechanical or similar types with erasers. Charcoals and chunky, non-erasable pencils were allowed, but I digress) much to the chagrin of the students. The “no pens allowed” rule is actually a technique I stole from a former Drawing I instructor and it’s one of the best ideas I think anyone has every had.

The reasoning behind this is that it’s easy for the eraser to become a crutch to any artist. Obsessing over details and the tendency to focus on “mess-ups” instead of what is truly important about a piece–composition, technique, a conveyed emotion or feeling–can quickly overtake an artist and thus sabotage the visual integrity of a drawing.

So there you have it, folks! A quick, frizzy sketch of two kids and a bike in motion, no erasing, using several of my favorite pens: Zig Mangaka 2, Sakura Microperm, gray tone Mildliner, and Le Pen, all from my absolute-favorite pen shop: The Goulet Pen Co. They even include a DumDum pop with your order! (At least, they used to.)

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Rainy Day Dark Field

“Caught in the Rain” – dark field monotype print. © Katie Kath 2022. Do not use without permission.

Today I was out on an excursion (read: errands) and as I was completing my transaction I watched the outdoors become an increasingly menacing shade of gray. Luckily I managed to load up everything and stuff my son into his car seat just as the first humongous drops were starting to pelt at the windshield.

And then: le déluge.

Frantic shoppers were dashing out of the store in that awkward jog that happens when you realize that splashing around too much will ruin your shoes, yet if you don’t book it pronto you’ll arrive at your car as a drowned rat.

The scene was just screaming to be turned into a dark field print, since these prints lend themselves so beautifully to rough-sketch, textured atmospheres. The final result is from my imagination, but inspired by what I saw from the car in the parking lot.