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Pen and ink is beautiful. I love to cross hatch and do linear lines and make things flow together. Pen and ink is a lot of close hard work,
but the pay off is wonderful, and so rewarding. You could always add pen and ink to pastels, acrylics, monotypes and charcoal as the finishing touch. Cross-hatching is when you cross lines over one another and you could make them far apart or close together. This technique can be used in charcoal, pencil and pastels as well, and it is a good way to train your hand and mind to work together without thinking. Another words it is meditative. But for that matter any art form can become meditative when used over and over again. Remember you can overwork a pen and ink piece very fast, go slow and if you drip ink onto the page do not give up, use it to your advantage, create something new with that spot and make at least 2 more of the same on the page if you want, you might find a new way to express yourself.
Try to keep your hands soft; do not tighten up on the handle of the pen or the pencil. The softer the touch the better, you will see what I mean when you get use to it. There are many different colors in pen and ink and you can make it look like a wash of color when using a paintbrush. It will remind you of watercolor and is a lot of fun. But remember you can overwork the paintbrush way as well, so go with a light touch and less is best. With pen and ink colors you could use your imagination and mix it up a bit with pencil, pastel and acrylic. |
