Inktobober - yama-budo

Inktober entry and a day off!!!  Below is using the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with a Spencerian modification. It took a bit to get used to the softness of the nib, but now I feel I can consistently produced thick and thin lines.

And here are some doodles with a glass brush and a dip pen (blue pumpkin nib).  Just randomness.

Inktober Part One

So, there is this thing called Inktober that I found out about last year. . .in November. And I was like, "What?!? How did I not know about this?" But this year, I am ready, sort of. Below are some quick sketches using two different Pilot Iroshizuku inks: yama-budo (burgundy/pink) and ina-ho (brown/gold) drawn with a glass brush.  Lettering with a blue pumpkin nib.

Fun with Ink

Trying out my new glass brush (yes, glass).  It is super cool and you can get an amazing amount of line variation by changing the angle of the brush to paper.  Here is a quick sketch of a horse in ink.  I like this Super 5 ink (Delhi), it is as soft yellowy-orange.  And it is yet another three legged horse, of course, of course.

                             Super 5 Delhi ink (glass brush and blue pumpkin nib)

And here I am just having fun with a high shading ink (Apache Sunset), blue pumpkin nib and some water.  

                    Noodler's Apache Sunset ink (blue pumpkin nib and pilot parallel pen)

Fun with new ink

Trying out new samples of Pilot ink.  From left to right is Ama-Iro (sky blue), Ajisai (hydrangea), Shin-ryoku (forest green) and Yu-yake (sunset).  These inks are quite vibrant and make nice washes.  I put shin-ryoku in a new Lamy (neon green) and have enjoyed writing with it.  Once I finish the chiku-rin in a different pen, I am going to try the ama-iro. I love how intense the tree in the second picture turned out.

Sketches in Brown Ink

Some random sketches/doodles using Noodler's Kiowa Pecan ink. While it may not be water resistant and therefore not good for water color under drawings, I like taking advantage of its beautiful shading (shifting from dark brown to an almost yellowy raw sienna) and water solubility to create fun washes.

            Blue Pumpkin nib with Noodler's Kiowa Pecan Ink (and a bit of water color)

Calligra-Friday

                        Blue Pumpkin Nib with Noodler's Kiowa Pecan Ink

Calligra-Friday and Backyard Tree!

Calligra-Friday and my neighbor's tree collide in today's post.  I wanted to try out my new Caran D'Ache watersoluble wax pastel crayons, and what better subject that my favorite tree?  Exactly.  And to complete the sketch, I found this quote from Hal Borland.  The quote was a perfect compliment, especially using Pilot Isoshizuku chiku-rin ("Bamboo Forest" yellow green) ink. 

                     Watersoluble crayons and chiku-rin (Isoshizuku) ink on 180lbs paper

The Brause No. 361 "Blue Pumpkin" nib is notoriously difficult to control for mere mortals like myself (the nib exhibits a great degree of flexing but holds limited amounts of ink when dipped and therefore runs out of ink quickly).  People have created nib reservoirs for the Pumpkin (and the Rose) with masking tape.  It works, but is only a temporary solution.  However, I saw someone on the interwebs take a reservoir from Brause Bandzug italic nib and attach it to the Pumpkin.  And wow, does that little reservoir make a huge difference.  Glad I have my own personal McGuyver in Tina who kindly did the nib "surgery" for me.