Sketch

Dinosaur on a bicylce ink wash

| stepheningram

dinosaur on a bike

Dinosaur on a bicycle ink wash.

When I first started working with pen and ink, I used to color all my illustrations with ink, instead of watercolor. I had never used watercolor before, and for years I played with washes of ink.

Now I’m just on a small role, taking some Dr. Martin inks, diluting them with water and seeing what I could create.

Noting says fun than doing ink washes of dinosaurs, so this is the second in a series, until I get bored, of distracting projects that are too much fun.

Scanner may not pickup the color and gradations exactly, but it is pretty close.

Hope you enjoy.

Pen and ink sketch for SCBWI.

| stepheningram

Working on a image to submit to the SCBWI bulletin with my art group.

Wanted to draw a young girl that seemed to dress a little different from the regular mainstream.

Decided to do this completely in traditional pen and ink. I did an underlying drawing in pencil, inked on top, erased and scanned.

Moleskine Sketch Book Review with pen and ink

| stepheningram

Size:

11 ½ inces by 16 ½ inches.

Paper quality:

The paper is thinner than the smaller traditional sketchbook. It is much easier to crease the paper at this size, but a little care can prevent that. Light pencil marks will come off easily if you are using a good eraser. I suggest the “Faber Castell dust free” eraser.

Inking:

I use Rotring fountain pens with India Ink and the paper absorbs it rather well. I have not colored large masses in ink because I suspect the paper will bleed through since it is a lighter weight.

Binding:

I have to say that I am disappointed in the binding. I’ve superglued it to keep it together and I haven’t had a chance to fill many pages. I wonder if it was my luck of the draw, but I have dozens of the smaller sketchbooks and have not had a binding issue. I’m sure the glue will hold and it will not affect it in the long run.

Recommendation:

I would suggest buying this if you like trying to fill up complete pages with art. It definitely has a “coolness” factor that I like. Even though it seems a little bulky I do like it very much. Other than a small binding issue, it takes ink well and is much nicer to present sketches with than loose piece of paper.