Background information
I’ve been doing a bit of Urban Sketching recently, and I’ve been asked about my pens a few times, so I thought I’d post about them. I use fountain pens because they are refillable (in almost any colour you want!) and because they are really…
Continue reading Fountain Pens for Sketching
This piece was done as a demo for Basingstoke Art Club, which I am a member of. I was originally asked to do a short talk on my techniques for the AGM Zoom meeting, but – as I’m not a very confident talker – I…
Continue reading Lean on Me (with video)
Never put Indian ink in a fountain pen, unless… the pen is a Pilot Parallel the pen is a safety pen the ink and the pen are both modified to form a system the pen has been specifically designed to use Indian ink Pilot Parallel…
Continue reading Fountain Pens for Indian Ink
A fountain pen is defined as a pen with an internal reservoir of liquid ink. If you’ve ever used a dip pen, you can appreciate the benefits of this deceptively simple idea. In general, it seems to be only those pens with a direct line…
Continue reading Fountain Pens
Kaolin is another name for china clay. It is widely used in the paper industry as a a filler or as a surface coating to improve whiteness, texture and print adherence. It is also used as a filler in some white paints, to extend the…
Continue reading What is kaolin-coated board?
Indian ink was invented by the Chinese (who later traded it to India) while the Europeans were still playing with rocks in the neolithic age. The ink’s black colour comes from lampblack, traditionally made from the fine, sooty residue from oil lamps. It’s essentially a…
Continue reading Indian Ink