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Zage56 — Assorted Pens and Ink
Published: 2010-01-12 06:57:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 6478; Favourites: 77; Downloads: 144
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Here is a part of my collection of pens, pen nibs and ink. I recently was showing my collection of pens to some teens, during the holidays. Yes, they never seen traditional pen and ink!I have been collecting traditional pens and pen nibs since I was 16 years old. The antique pens are ALLOT of fun to draw with. When you use an old nib ( from back in the day when pen and ink was common), they write are draw so wonderfully.
I have found very few modern pen nibs that compare to the old pens.
For some sketch artists, pen and ink can be so.. scary. It is permanent. I started off drawing with pencils, then to ball point pens, then to markers. I found both fountain pens and traditional pen and ink about the same time.
Fountain pens are great for traveling ( I usually keep them contained, for the occasional leaky pen).
I like to use different drawing medias. Traditional pen and ink is my favorite.
One hour Falcon pen and ink drawing.
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Comments: 36
I love that you did this. Seeing your gear assembled in this array in an ink drawing is... well, it just strikes me as a real expression of the Love you have for your craft. Nice stuff.
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Thanks! It is indeed a love for the craft. Seems not many people have a good idea what the old pen and ink is. I collect allot of the antique nibs. It is amazing how unique each pen is!
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Awesome in it's simplicity.
I love artistic utensils and couldn't resist this lovely picture.
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I'd personally be scared of working with an antique pen -- even though the older pens are often superior to our modern ones. One forgotten bit of cleaning and ...
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I hope to learn to use those one day
Have you seen this?([link] )
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Thank you! That is a beautiful article!
I do hope you can try out a variety of pen nibs as you experiment with pen and ink. That article said it well about the nature of ink!
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Ahhhhhh! Your tools of the trade, eh? Nicely done!
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They are awesome! I think you would enjoy using these pens! 
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Hmm where have I seen this collection before? 
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I never had the knack to draw with those.
I bet there is one nib that you might not have...the Esterbrook 914 Radio. The company went out of business many many many years ago and when cartoonist Charles Schulz found out - he had been using the nibs to draw his strip with - he bought out the remaining stock of 914 radios. Hundreds of boxes of them. He swore if he ran out, he would stop drawing the strip.
He never ran out.
He used a more common C-5 for the lettering...unless Lucy was having her usual screaming rant, then the bigger pens would come out.
He was using a scanner later in his career, but that was for his office assistant to send the finished drawings to the syndicate via e-mail attachment or cd. He had his physical collapse when drawing his final strips and one of the panels had not been finished being lettered: That assistant finished it on her computer, using...cringe...comic sans.
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I never heard that story about Charles Shultz.
Hummm.. R Esterbrook 914 Radio pen nib. I might have one. I do remember having a radio pen. I just don't know if it is a 914. After about a hour of squinting at the fine type on those old pens, I gave up. I do have the Speedball C-5. I bought allot of the Speedball pen nibs while I was college.
Many of the old nibs are still around. I can find unopened boxes of old nibs on Ebay.
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The story is sometimes used as a reference to how obsessive Schulz was within his own little world. He had to draw with those nibs. He had to travel only so far so he would be able to sleep in his own bed at night, no further. He was prima-donna like in several aspects. This is the way artists are supposed to be universally wired but I really don't buy into that.
I know he continued to use the same tools that were "state of the art" when he started his cartooning and would remain so into the 70s. I understand there are still some artists out there that still use the older tools, with the usual excellent results.
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Beautiful! You have such immaculate linework~ I've never drawn with a pen like that! I think I tried a calligraphy pen once a long time ago, but it was a newer, cheap one. lol Anyway, awesome work~ 8)
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Thanks!
The "magic" of pen and ink is in the nibs.
I would love to see you work with pen and ink! I think you would enjoy it! 
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Definitely a skill that takes a lot of work.
Strange how I remember fountain pens as a kid.
My kids ask "Fountain what?"
-Doc
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Yes, Pen and ink takes allot of practice. Drawing with a pencil, before inking is usually normal for a newbie.
I gave a fountain pen set to one of those teens. Fountain pens are great because the artist does not have to dip the pen nib in the ink well. The dip pens are great for the variety of points and lines they create.
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For some reason, using nibs tended to scratch the paper for me. I tend to always push the pen against the paper instead of being light.
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Paper! Yes, I have had that problem! For somebody starting out with pen and ink, an oval pen nib point is ideal. The tip usually is smooth and creates a beautiful bold line that does not catch the paper. Drawing with a Falcon pen nib, or quill pen nib, can be difficult for first time inkers.
Most paper usually does not do well with india ink. The nibs would catch the paper, and splat! Nastiness! Then there is inconsistent in paper quality. How many times I have worked in a drawing to find the paper bleed, just before I'm finished it. That is frustrating, to say the least!
Really good paper can be found in most art stores. Inexpensive paper can be found too: Southworth 25% cotton paper has been awesome. I like a smooth surface paper: it does not catch the nib.
Having a good combination of paper and pen usually helps allot for starting out with pen and ink!
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My art teacher gave me thick paper which ended making me scrape the paper, and then with the thin paper, I did long flowing lines, but they tended to change the thickness from time to time.
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